Extra-credit burrito leads to school scare
I wasn’t going to post on this because I thought it was more of a gaff than an error in policy. However, a record number of readers have forwarded the story to me and if I’m outnumbered that heavily I’m probably the one who’s wrong. Here’s the story:
A concerned citizen spotted a male juvenile carrying a suspiciously concealed item into Marshall Junior High School early Thursday morning.
Police were called. The school was locked down. Adjacent streets were closed and law officers were perched on roofs with weapons.
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Third-grader arrested for disorderly conduct
Espanola school councilors have an effective tool to use when browbeating 8 year-old children into submission - the cops.
The boy’s mother, Angelica Esquibel, said he was sent to the school office Thursday when he raised his voice to a teacher after hitting another child with the basketball.
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The counselor told him officers would handcuff him and put him in a cell “until he changes his attitude,” Esquibel said.
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Two officers tried to tell Jerry to go back to class and told him he had a choice � class or jail, Esquibel said. When the boy got upset and loud, they handcuffed him, she said.
The police report says Jerry was arrested, taken to jail, booked and released to his parents.
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Teacher has kids tasting flavored condoms
About the last thing I would expect a teacher to tell girls in the 9th grade is to put his condoms in their mouths. The New Mexico Health Department disagrees; they think it’s wonderfully appropriate.
According to a report in the Santa Fe New Mexican, parent Lisa Gallegos said that when her 15-year-old daughter balked at putting a condom in her mouth, instructor Tony Escudero told her, “Come on, sweetie, have a little fun.”
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“I agree with sex ed 100 percent,” Gallegos, whose daughter attends Santa Fe High School, told the paper. “I also teach it here at my home. But I think that was inappropriate and wrong 100 percent.”
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Pills vs. Talking
Chad Taylor is a concerned father and when he noticed that his 12-year old son Daniel was suffering severe side effects including weight loss, sleeping problems and lack of appetite he took the boy off of Ritalin. The side effects faded but Daniel’s disruptive behavior returned.
Daniel seemed unable to sit still and was inattentive. His teachers ultimately learned that he was no longer taking Ritalin.
School officials reported Daniel’s parents to New Mexico’s Department of Children, Youth and Families.Then a detective and social worker made a home visit.
“The detective told me if I did not medicate my son, I would be arrested for child abuse and neglect,” Taylor said.
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Some grads kept from ceremony
Most principals in Albuquerque’s public high schools dole out the same punishment for seniors caught violating school rules - they are banned from walking in commencement ceremonies.
Various schools have banned students from graduation ceremonies for drinking alcohol or for graffiti. In one case the principal is allowing the students to redeem themselves by performing community service.
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APS official hails truants’ penalty
Parent Charged Under Truancy Law
Governor Bill Richardson signed a truancy bill with the toughest penalty yet - driver’s license suspension for chronic truants.
This is one of those dangerous actions that does not immediately appear dangerous. The problem is that it ties a civil right (driving a car) to an unrelated criminal misdemeanor (truancy). There is no difference from making a law that your license will be suspended if you bounce a check or get into a bar fight. The crime and the punishment are completely unrelated.
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…is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Zero tolerance plan embarrasses district
[Rio Rancho] The latest episode involves a 13-year-old middle school boy who was suspended for five days for having heartburn-relief medicine - for controlling intestinal gas - in his possession. Somebody alert the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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In previous “zero tolerance” cases in Rio Rancho, school officials suspended: a high school freshman girl for having a tiny pocket knife in her backpack; a student who drove a car to school, saying he was unaware it contained a hunting knife and a loaded gun; a ninth-grade girl for sporting pink hair; a student for manipulating a soda machine to dispense two sodas for the price of one; and a high school sophomore for possession of “a sharpened object” - an altered plastic spoon-fork, or “spork.”
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