...now she's suspended all year.

Quote:Administrators at a Dallas County, Missouri, school read a teenage girl's diary, discovered a reference to marijuana within its pages, and suspended the girl for the rest of 2014.

The punishment was imposed last May, but the girl's father just went public with the situation. According to The Springfield News-Leader:

Quote:Tom Grayhorse said his daughter, Krystal, had never been in trouble before she was called into the office and suspended May 9. Originally, she was ousted for 10 days, but it was quickly extended through the end of the 2014 calendar year.

Unable to finish her junior year, her grades plummeted and she lost out on credits needed for graduation. Grayhorse hoped the district would reconsider, allowing her to return last month so she had a chance of graduating with her class in May.

"I was really frustrated," he said last week. "I thought when school started, they'd wake up."

Grayhorse said his daughter left her journal at school, where it was discovered by school administrators. In the diary, Krystal wrote about experimenting with marijuana and considered bringing it to school. But no marijuana was found in Krystal's possession, nor was she given a drug test. Grayhorse said the diary entry may have been a fictional story rather than a concrete plan of action—he can't say for sure, since the school never gave the diary back.

The official cause of suspension listed on the disciplinary papers was "possession of a controlled substance," which Grayhorse said is absurd given that she didn't possess any drugs:

Quote:"Her 'possession' constitutes writing something?" he asked. "That is the alleged possession?"

Grayhorse said the notebook passages, which he was told about but never saw for himself, were cause for concern, but the punishment — not being allowed to return to school for seven months — was too drastic.

District officials maintain that Grayhorse has not revealed the full story, but they can't elaborate, due to privacy laws.

This would not be the first time a student was disciplined for actions that stemmed from a fictional story taken too seriously by tone-deaf school administrators. But even if Krystal's conduct was worse than Grayhorse admits, only under the absurdity of "zero tolerance" could a full-year suspension be justified.

Even if you're against decriminalization/legalization of MJ, this is still wrong on all counts.

1. School officials have no reason to be looking at her diary in the first place.
2. Suspending someone for what they write in their diary is complete BS.
3. No drugs were found in her possession.
4. There was no evidence that what she wrote in her diary was factual.
5. No drug test was done to see if MJ was even in her system.

If I were the Grayhorse family, I'd sue the school district back to the Stone Age.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/09/15/girl-w...iary-schoo

Public schools are a haven for shallow, insecure tyrants. These administrators should be put in jail.

(09-17-2014 08:17 AM)Love and Honor Wrote:  ...now she's suspended all year.

Quote:Administrators at a Dallas County, Missouri, school read a teenage girl's diary, discovered a reference to marijuana within its pages, and suspended the girl for the rest of 2014.

The punishment was imposed last May, but the girl's father just went public with the situation. According to The Springfield News-Leader:

Quote:Tom Grayhorse said his daughter, Krystal, had never been in trouble before she was called into the office and suspended May 9. Originally, she was ousted for 10 days, but it was quickly extended through the end of the 2014 calendar year.

Unable to finish her junior year, her grades plummeted and she lost out on credits needed for graduation. Grayhorse hoped the district would reconsider, allowing her to return last month so she had a chance of graduating with her class in May.

"I was really frustrated," he said last week. "I thought when school started, they'd wake up."

Grayhorse said his daughter left her journal at school, where it was discovered by school administrators. In the diary, Krystal wrote about experimenting with marijuana and considered bringing it to school. But no marijuana was found in Krystal's possession, nor was she given a drug test. Grayhorse said the diary entry may have been a fictional story rather than a concrete plan of action—he can't say for sure, since the school never gave the diary back.

The official cause of suspension listed on the disciplinary papers was "possession of a controlled substance," which Grayhorse said is absurd given that she didn't possess any drugs:

Quote:"Her 'possession' constitutes writing something?" he asked. "That is the alleged possession?"

Grayhorse said the notebook passages, which he was told about but never saw for himself, were cause for concern, but the punishment — not being allowed to return to school for seven months — was too drastic.

District officials maintain that Grayhorse has not revealed the full story, but they can't elaborate, due to privacy laws.

This would not be the first time a student was disciplined for actions that stemmed from a fictional story taken too seriously by tone-deaf school administrators. But even if Krystal's conduct was worse than Grayhorse admits, only under the absurdity of "zero tolerance" could a full-year suspension be justified.

Even if you're against decriminalization/legalization of MJ, this is still wrong on all counts.

1. School officials have no reason to be looking at her diary in the first place.
2. Suspending someone for what they write in their diary is complete BS.
3. No drugs were found in her possession.
4. There was no evidence that what she wrote in her diary was factual.
5. No drug test was done to see if MJ was even in her system.

If I were the Grayhorse family, I'd sue the school district back to the Stone Age.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/09/15/girl-w...iary-schoo

I am usually one that believes schools go too far in many situations, but I think there might be more to the story than the dad is admitting. In another article it was reported that the dad said the school had told him that she had confessed to having drugs on school property and swallowed them to avoid detection. If that is the case, then he is out of gas. If he truly wants to resolve the situation, he should get the truth from his daughter and plead to reduce the suspension based on all of the facts.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/student-s...0_28078330

Once again a slam dunk. School officials have to report incidents like this and they must take action. It's legally CYA.

If this kid gets an overdose and it is later found out that they knew of the diary and did nothing, the school could be held liable.

Reporting it and suspending her for an entire academic year are two entirely different issues, Fit.

They have no proof (other than the article that says the girl confessed to swallowing drugs?) that the girl had any drugs in her possession? If the article about the confession is true (and If it's not just a story made up by the school officials to cover their asses), then the school has something to back up their actions. But otherwise, they went too far in their response.

It's invasion of privacy regardless and there is no proof she did drugs or brought them to school, unless they have her voice recorded saying she did so.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

(09-17-2014 08:29 AM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  I am usually one that believes schools go too far in many situations, but I think there might be more to the story than the dad is admitting. In another article it was reported that the dad said the school had told him that she had confessed to having drugs on school property and swallowed them to avoid detection. If that is the case, then he is out of gas. If he truly wants to resolve the situation, he should get the truth from his daughter and plead to reduce the suspension based on all of the facts.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/student-s...0_28078330

Verrrry interesting...

FTR, I'm heavily against legalization, but if all that happened was this girl puffing smoke and putting it in her diary then that definitely doesn't warrant a full year suspension. That's more absurd than firm's racism claims in the other thread...

(09-17-2014 11:52 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(09-17-2014 08:29 AM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  I am usually one that believes schools go too far in many situations, but I think there might be more to the story than the dad is admitting. In another article it was reported that the dad said the school had told him that she had confessed to having drugs on school property and swallowed them to avoid detection. If that is the case, then he is out of gas. If he truly wants to resolve the situation, he should get the truth from his daughter and plead to reduce the suspension based on all of the facts.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/student-s...0_28078330

Verrrry interesting...

FTR, I'm heavily against legalization, but if all that happened was this girl puffing smoke and putting it in her diary then that definitely doesn't warrant a full year suspension. That's more absurd than firm's racism claims in the other thread...

She was suspended from May to January...so not really a full year (more like half a year). I haven't made up my mind on the penalty, but, if it was in place, people should argue the penalty and not go after the administrators who have to enforce it. But, I could be persuaded one way or the other with more information as to what happened.

IMO, there's definitely more to the story -- my experience dealing with people in these situations tells me that. She was originally given 10 days (which sounds like a usual 1st offense penalty) and AFTER a hearing it was increased. The father is not arguing that she didn't have drugs, but instead, his argument is focused on whether they actually found the drugs. He sounds like either an enabler or he just doesn't believe her drug usage is that serious.

(09-17-2014 12:26 PM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  

(09-17-2014 11:52 AM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(09-17-2014 08:29 AM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  I am usually one that believes schools go too far in many situations, but I think there might be more to the story than the dad is admitting. In another article it was reported that the dad said the school had told him that she had confessed to having drugs on school property and swallowed them to avoid detection. If that is the case, then he is out of gas. If he truly wants to resolve the situation, he should get the truth from his daughter and plead to reduce the suspension based on all of the facts.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/student-s...0_28078330

Verrrry interesting...

FTR, I'm heavily against legalization, but if all that happened was this girl puffing smoke and putting it in her diary then that definitely doesn't warrant a full year suspension. That's more absurd than firm's racism claims in the other thread...

She was suspended from May to January...so not really a full year (more like half a year). I haven't made up my mind on the penalty, but, if it was in place, people should argue the penalty and not go after the administrators who have to enforce it. But, I could be persuaded one way or the other with more information as to what happened.

IMO, there's definitely more to the story -- my experience dealing with people in these situations tells me that. She was originally given 10 days (which sounds like a usual 1st offense penalty) and AFTER a hearing it was increased. The father is not arguing that she didn't have drugs, but instead, his argument is focused on whether they actually found the drugs. He sounds like either an enabler or he just doesn't believe her drug usage is that serious.

We'll see... I'm with you, I want more details to make my decision.

Once the school discovered who the diary belonged to they should have stopped reading. And I would imagine the girl would never consent to school admins reading her private stuff.

Like most people, I have been conditioned by lifelong experience to (I.) doubt what parents say about their own children (especially if the child is in trouble), and also to (II.) expect public-school discipline to be vindictive, arbitrary, irrational and neurotic.

So without trying to divine who is telling the truth (or who is telling more of the truth than the other), let me just say this situation reminds me of a long-hoped-for wish that I have occasionally posted on this forum in the past: Separation of School and State. Let parents/guardians who want their kids to navigate a "Zero Tolerance" environment have that opportunity. And let parents who want something different for their kids have their opportunity. And require neither to financially support/subsidize the other.

(09-17-2014 01:27 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Like most people, I have been conditioned by lifelong experience to (I.) doubt what parents say about their own children (especially if the child is in trouble), and also to (II.) expect public-school discipline to be vindictive, arbitrary, irrational and neurotic.

So without trying to divine who is telling the truth (or who is telling more of the truth than the other), let me just say this situation reminds me of a long-hoped-for wish that I have occasionally posted on this forum in the past: Separation of School and State. Let parents/guardians who want their kids to navigate a "Zero Tolerance" environment have that opportunity. And let parents who want something different for their kids have their opportunity. And require neither to financially support/subsidize the other.

That's it, right there.

(09-17-2014 01:27 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Like most people, I have been conditioned by lifelong experience to (I.) doubt what parents say about their own children (especially if the child is in trouble), and also to (II.) expect public-school discipline to be vindictive, arbitrary, irrational and neurotic.

So without trying to divine who is telling the truth (or who is telling more of the truth than the other), let me just say this situation reminds me of a long-hoped-for wish that I have occasionally posted on this forum in the past: Separation of School and State. Let parents/guardians who want their kids to navigate a "Zero Tolerance" environment have that opportunity. And let parents who want something different for their kids have their opportunity. And require neither to financially support/subsidize the other.

I understand you to a point. These rules didn't pop up overnight. They were added to a school board calendar and notice given for open comment period. These rules or guiding principles are passed in open sessions. The problem is that many people do not get entirely involved in their children's school district. Many people pretend that their city council and school board are not elected and hold open meetings. Then we have "complaints" when these types of situations come about. People need to get engaged in their kids' schools or they'll get the schools they deserve.

I don't know what happened to warrant a 180 day suspension. Something obviously came about to move the penalty from 10 days to 180 days. Without waiving privacy rights, we will never know enough about THIS situation to figure out whether the penalty was warranted.

She should sue the heck out of them.

(09-17-2014 09:15 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  If this kid gets an overdose and it is later found out that they knew of the diary and did nothing, the school could be held liable.

Thank you so much, plaintiffs' attorneys! We couldn't have destroyed our schools (at least, not that quickly) without you.

Ow yeah, that's real probable.
They could just inform her parents and law enforcement,
not that law enforcement could do anything.

Does anyone here think a teacher would be suspended for a year if s/he dropped his/her diary and there was a mention of pot in it?

(09-17-2014 01:40 PM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  These rules didn't pop up overnight. They were added to a school board calendar and notice given for open comment period. These rules or guiding principles are passed in open sessions. The problem is that many people do not get entirely involved in their children's school district. Many people pretend that their city council and school board are not elected and hold open meetings. Then we have "complaints" when these types of situations come about. People need to get engaged in their kids' schools or they'll get the schools they deserve.

I'm all in favor of parents getting involved in their kids' schools. But -- IMHO -- it is not right for a school paid for and sustained with taxpayers' money to effectively tell a presumptive taxpayer (i.e., a parent/guardian) "Don't complain that your little angel got shafted by our Zero Tolerance policy. You skipped the PTA meetings, so we don't give a sh*t if you like it or not."

And besides, even if the parent had gone to every Parents' meeting and every School Board meeting and every whatever-other-kind of meeting, that still would not be a reliable safeguard against unreasonable enforcement of unreasonable "rules or guiding principles."

(09-17-2014 01:50 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  Does anyone here think a teacher would be suspended for a year if s/he dropped his/her diary and there was a mention of pot in it?

There are teachers accused of sexual abuse that are still on payroll. It's called the union.

Teachers, administrators and the police are probably doing a lot worse
than what she wrote down.