Jim at ZeroIntelligence has a long report on the despots of the Katy (TX) Unified School District:
Katy ISD has a reputation for excellence and a get-tough approach to discipline. That tough discipline is changing the spirit of excellence to one of fear.
Alyssa Nemec went to the gym one morning to join some friends. She took a sip of an offered soda and then discovered it had alcohol in it. She left immediately. Later that day she was called to the office where she did her best to help them get to the bottom of the situation. Once she admitted to taking a drink of the soda her help was no longer needed. Alyssa was suspended and then sentenced to 60 days of alternative education. She was not permitted to participate in scholastic functions including her own cheerleading or watching her brother's senior year of football. She received the same punishment that the student who brought in the alcohol received.
There's more, unfortunately; the zero-tolerance rules in place mean that parents who do the right thing and report small infractions see their kids given big-time punishments.
And then there are the questionable punishments for he-said/she-said infractions (from Best of the Web):
The father of a nine-year-old Ansonia [CT] boy is questioning his son's three-day school suspension from school. Jason Pardy says the suspension for inappropriate touching was too harsh. He says his son accidentally brushed a girl's backside during a game of tag.
However, school officials say the incident was thoroughly investigated and the penalty fits the offense. Pardy says his son, a third-grader, was playing tag with a girl last Friday when he accidentally grazed her buttocks with his hand while tagging her. The girl later told teachers the boy had grabbed her backside.
Unless this "thorough investigation" had an adult witness or the act on videotape, I find it hard to believe that the school did anything other than take the girl's complaint at face value while ignoring the boy's rebuttal (pun intended). I suppose the next step will be to outlaw tag altogether; after all, when kids are running and poking each other at high speed, is is reasonable to suspend every kid who accidently touches the wrong spot?
Posted by kswygert at April 5, 2004 02:26 PM