I have had a problem with "zero-tolerance" policies in our schools for some time.
We now have another perfect example of how stupid it is, and how badly it needs to be done away with.
A local school district has suspended a member of the Young Marines youth leadership group after students saw drill props in her vehicle.
Marie Morrow, a 17-year-old senior at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, is serving a 10-day suspension. Her punishment could be extended at an expulsion hearing later this month.
Morrow is a student leader in the Douglas County Young Marines, a group dedicated to teaching leadership and life skills.
Cherry Creek Schools suspended Morrow after other students reported seeing guns inside her SUV, which was parked outside school while she was in class.
The school also called police, who seized the three drill team guns made of wood, plastic and duct tape. Police told Morrow to claim them in time for her after-school drill practice off-campus.
School administrators, however, were less understanding. The guns were declared "authentic representations of genuine weapons," triggering a mandatory expulsion statute in state law.
There’s no freaking excuse for this – ridiculous – willingness to place all judgment at bay. A young woman who has what amounts to a toy gun in her car – one that she has a legitimate, benign use for – may get thrown out of her school.
There are a few people worth contacting about this, starting with:
1) Cherry Creek School District
Superintendent: rmcintire -at- cherrycreekschools.org
Board of Education: ccsdboard -at- cherrycreekschools.org
2) Principal of the High School
Brooke Gregory
egregory -at- cherrycreekschools.org
3) Contact local elected officials in Aurora, CO and ask them to intervene.
State Senator Nancy Spence
nancyspence -at- qwest.net
State Representative Cindy Acree
cindy.acree.house -at- state.co.us
It’s a catch-22. This level of stupidity makes you understand why legislatures took decision making away from principals and administrators like this.
Of course if they took a deeper look they’d start to wonder why these people hold these positions if they are clearly incapable of exercising good judgment.
The incident with the “Young Marines” drill team leader and the obviously dummy rifles may reflect community conflict as well as brain-dead, zero-tolerance enforcement. A quick search found that the Cherry Creek School District was the district from which a geography instructor was dismissed in 2006, but later reinstated, after being caught turning his classes into “extended rants”:http://michellemalkin.com/2006/03/02/unhinged-teacher-caught-on-tape/ on the evils of Bush, America, and capitalism.
(Apologies for the Michelle Malkin link, but the links to the original news sources are broken.)
This is a prefect example of an organization bowing down to the gods of process. There is a fantastic post and comment thread on this topic over at the Belmont Club titled The Buck Passed Here.
The end results don’t matter, just make sure the process covers your ass.
_You know what I’ve noticed? Nobody panics when things go “according to plan.” Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all “part of the plan.” But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!_
The Joker, The Dark Knight
I’ve sometimes wondered if “zero tolerance” in these instances is actual stupidity, or instead represents an effort to “program” the students to be so antsy about drugs or guns or whatever that they’ll continue to avoid them even after escaping the school administration’s grasp.
Brett, it’s stupidity. Remember your Napoleon: Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
School bureaucrats are many things, but Machiavellian isn’t one of them – unless they’re teacher’s union officials.
I’m familiar with that saying; It does contemplate some things being beyond the capacity of stupidity to adequately explain, which is how I view zero tolerance.