Honor Roll High School Student Faces Expulsion

[wag1911]

Anyone need high blood pressure medication after reading this story?

Girl runs afoul of gun rules - Daily Inter Lake: Local/Montana

I wrote a letter to their board to put a little pressure on them to decide this in a just manner. If you feel so inclined you are welcome to use my letter as the basis for one of your own:

Honorable School Board Members,

Before deciding upon the punishment for Miss DeReu, please consider the following facts:

1) Miss DeReu honestly explained her situation to the Principal's office,
2) She has an exceptional academic record,
3) She posed no risk or threat to anyone at the school.
4) You could very well determine this young woman's future, for worse, with your ruling

Some of you claim that you have no choice but to expel her.......but you do have the choice, it's whether or not you have the moral character to stand up and fight injustice. As many of you realize, zero tolerance rules do not allow for common sense and are only reasonable when the people who are making decisions lack the ability to make principled decisions. I certainly hope this is not a reflection of your judgments. Adherence to policies without the use of common sense will adversely affect this young woman's future.

A stern warning is in order, and I believe she has already served a lengthy suspension, but potentially destroying this young woman's future by expelling her is an injustice that you would not want to have done to your children. I also urge you to expunge the record of this incident to allow her to seek post-secondary opportunities at major institutions.

May Wisdom by your Guide


Admin: Email Addresses http://www.sd6.k12.mt.us/mail/FAQ-emails.pdf


Mike Nicosia Superintendent
Alan Robbins Principal
Scott Gaiser Asst. Principal

School Board Members: Email Addresses http://www.sd6.k12.mt.us/mail/Trustee-email.pdf
Jill Rocksund
Dean Chisholm
Barbara Riley
Darrell Newby
Gail Pauley
Jim Henjum
Larry Wilson
Scott Emmerich

 

[jedi]

Hum... I'm sure those that BLASTED the guy in Indy that "forgot" his gun in his bag that went thru the TSA scanner and got arrested will be in here shortly also BLASTING this kid as well for forgetting her rifle in the pick-up along the lines of "irresponsible" gun owner.


Other thread here:
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...f_mine_made_a_big_mistake_gun_in_airport.html

 

[booey50]

she may not be irresponsible gun owner, but the rules are the rules...glad she is only getting expelled for 21 days instead of a whole year...

 

[wag1911]

she may not be irresponsible gun owner, but the rules are the rules...glad she is only getting expelled for 21 days instead of a whole year...

Ummm, no, she is suspended for 21 days and set to be expelled pending the school board's decision.

Correct, rules are rules.....let's not let common sense get in the way of them.

Zero Tolerance = Zero Intelligence

 

[jontheturboguy]

Zero tolerance was created in a school district's handbook to take away the RESPONSIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND COMMON SENSE THOUGHT PROCESS from school officials.

When something like this situation arise, no need to have backbone, moral standards, a brain, or a guiding compass. No. Just reply "zero tolerance."

 

[sepe]

Is she suppose to get a free pass because she makes the honor roll? If she broke the rules she has to suffer some. You can't just say because you help the overall school GPA and test scores, you don't have to follow the rules. Why even have any rules if everything is going to be done on a case by case basis and based on the GPA and possible morals of the student?

 

[Principal Skinr]

The time for people to go after a zero tolerance policy in their schools is BEFORE this happens to a kid. Check with your local school district and find out if they have a zero tolerance policy. If they do, put the pressure on until they get rid of it. It takes judgment out of the equation in any given situation, and will at some point, cause harm to someone who doesn't deserve it. As a school administrator, I loathe the idea of zero tolerance, and this case is exactly why. When I was younger, and looking to move into administration, I did not even apply in districts where they had zero tolerance. Fortunately, many of them don't, but many still do.

By the way, Guess whose district has zero tolerance? Our beloved State Superintendent, Tony Bennett's former district, where he was Superintendent. He never spoke out against it, to my knowledge. I'm certain it has victimized people at one time or another.

 

[Principal Skinr]

Is she suppose to get a free pass because she makes the honor roll? If she broke the rules she has to suffer some. You can't just say because you help the overall school GPA and test scores, you don't have to follow the rules. Why even have any rules if everything is going to be done on a case by case basis and based on the GPA and possible morals of the student?

Every criminal court in the country takes into account prior behavior and record when considering punishment. This is why anyone in a district with zero tolerance needs to push to change it BEFORE it causes punishment that doesn't fit the crime. I taught in a district in Houston, Texas, where a girl was expelled for having a nail file. Another was expelled for having two Tylenol tablets. Did they break rules, yes. Did they deserve the punishment they received, no freakin' way.

 

[cburnworth]

Zero tolerance is a UTTER BS policy. I agree she shouldn't have brought the gun to school, but it wasn't that long ago that you could have a hunting a rifle in your car.
She should have just called a family member & kept her mouth shut about it. Yes I agree she should not be suspended. She made an honest mistake, but was totally upfront about it.

 

[sepe]

The comments on that article stated that a kid had done the exact same thing before. The students should know that the zero tolerance policy means just that. It also stated that the district has the ability to suspend/expel for an amount they feel is proper. She SHOULD have been suspended pending the board meeting. The board has to decide what they feel is appropriate and having the exact same thing happen before there is no reason for them to go light on the 2nd person. If she just gets suspended or expelled she should be happy there aren't criminal charges.

 

[Doug]

It used to be that a person's "intent"was considered. I believe the the term is "mens rea," which means "guilty mind." A person must have intended harm for a crime to have been committed.
"Mens rea" is no longer required in most gun laws. If you are found with a gun on school property, you can be charged. The prosecution does not need to prove you had any evil intent. The innocent and the guilty are treated the same.
"Zero Tolerance" means, "I don't have to defend my actions; I can hide behind the rules." It goes along with the same reasoning that says, "If this student is not expelled, you have to allow gang members to roam the halls with AK-47's."

Special note to parents: The school employees DO NOT have your children's best interests in mind when it comes to disciplinary matters. Instruct your children not to speak with any teacher, counselor, principal, or law enforcement officer unless you are present and you have discussed the situation with them. Too many times, students are tricked into admissions that get them in trouble. Not that long ago a member's daughter was disciplined after she refused an offer of prescription pills. Teach your child to parrot the phrase, "No parent, no talk." Also, make certain they know that the school officials may lie to them to get them to talk and/or confess.

 

[Arm America]

The punishment does not fit the crime.

I see a parallel to the screening by TSA at airports.

Lets strip all individual's of their rights because of actions of a few.

 

[Doug]

The punishment does not fit the crime.

I see a parallel to the screening by TSA at airports.

Lets strip all individual's of their rights because of actions of a few.

Yes, I see what you mean.
I do not know if any citizen has any rights whatsoever when dealing with the TSA, but my impression is that a child has no rights of any kind when dealing with a school.

 

[wag1911]

...If she broke the rules she has to suffer some. You can't just say because you help the overall school GPA and test scores, you don't have to follow the rules.

Re-read the article. She is already suffering some and possibly much more. She has already been suspended for a minimum of 3 weeks and I suspect the lost work will hurt her grades tremendously.

Is she suppose to get a free pass because she makes the honor roll? If she broke the rules she has to suffer some.

Her academic record should be taken into account because she would be punished MORE than other students when it comes to the ability to be admitted to a major college/university. Therefore any punishment involving permanent record will be more harsh for her than most others.

Why even have any rules if everything is going to be done on a case by case basis and based on the GPA and possible morals of the student?

You have them to set the framework for determining what behavior is not acceptable so that it may be punished.

 

[wag1911]

The time for people to go after a zero tolerance policy in their schools is BEFORE this happens to a kid.

Much agreed

 

[rjstew317]

The comments on that article stated that a kid had done the exact same thing before. The students should know that the zero tolerance policy means just that. It also stated that the district has the ability to suspend/expel for an amount they feel is proper. She SHOULD have been suspended pending the board meeting. The board has to decide what they feel is appropriate and having the exact same thing happen before there is no reason for them to go light on the 2nd person. If she just gets suspended or expelled she should be happy there aren't criminal charges.

so your saying this girl (who tried to do the right thing) should have her entire future flushed down the toilet because she made a mistake?and criminal charges, seriously?

 

[sepe]

I'm not saying she should have criminal charges. I'm saying she is lucky she doesn't. Back when I was in school you were allowed to have your shotgun or rifle in your vehicle if you were heading to school from hunting or heading out right after school. The issue I have is people wanting to make special rules because the girl is on the honor roll. Did she have intent to harm anyone? No, but that doesn't change the fact that she could be facing SERIOUS charges if the school system and police felt she needed to face those charges. She would've been better off if she could've gotten a family member to come with the keys and take the vehicle off school property. If it would've been me, I wouldn't have called the office to tell them I had a rifle in my trunk. My call would've been to a family member that had a spare key, which at least 3 did when I was in high school.

 

[wag1911]

The comments on that article stated that a kid had done the exact same thing before.

Can you tell me the date/time stamp of that comment? I couldn't find it.

 

[indyjoe]

What have we learned here? Concealed is concealed. Wonder if the dogs would have found based on gun powder spell or if they were only looking at drug smells.

 

[rjstew317]

and contraband sniffing dogs combing the parking lot? are next years school uniforms going to be orange jump suits?