Posted on 06/18/2005 8:15:49 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Before the parade passes her by, Tiffany Hasley will stand up for her right to perform with the Beatrice High School marching band. She'll be on the corner of 13th and Court streets in Beatrice at 8:30 a.m. this morning, all lined up for today's Homestead Days Parade.
Clarinet in hand, standing tall in her stiff new band shoes, she plans to leave quietly when school officials tell her she cannot march. Because the home-schooled eighth-grader does not want to make a scene, just a point. That is: Home-school students should be allowed to participate in any public school activity, as long as they pay taxes and live within the school district.
"I'm not in tears," she said. "But I'm kind of mad. My band teacher says I'm a good student. And I am first-chair clarinet."
Beatrice High School officials told Tiffany last month that she would not be able to participate in band next year as a ninth-grader. The school bars home-school students from being in activities regulated by the Nebraska School Activities Association.
Tiffany's parents, Ron and Vicki Hasley, plan to fight the school's decision, maybe even in court. But, at least for this summer, they figured she could still play with the band.
That's not the case, they learned Wednesday when band director Bruce Greenwell told Tiffany just before practice that Superintendent Dale Kruse decided she should sit out Saturday's parade. On Friday, the Hasleys received a formal letter from Kruse stating the same.
"They say she isn't registered, but no one has to be registered until school starts this fall," said Ron Hasley. "Really, quote me that policy. Show me that statute."
Both Kruse and BHS activities director Randy Coleman were unavailable for comment Friday.
But Roger Harris, attorney for the Beatrice school board, said the decision is consistent with school policy. No one can play in the band unless they are registered, full-time students at the school, he said.
"Even though marching in the parade is an informal thing, it's not open to just anyone," Harris said.
"Say a student from Wymore wanted to march. Would anyone care? Probably not. But the perception is, ‘This is the Beatrice High School band,' and we have to protect that."
Whether homeschool students can be in marching band is at the discretion of each school, said Jim Tenopir, director of the NSAA.
Band members can practice or perform at non-NSAA events such as parades or high school football games. But for competitive activities, the NSAA only allows students from accredited schools to compete against other students.
NSAA eligibility rules ensure that high school students keep up their grades and attend school regularly, or they cannot compete, Tenopir said.
Enforcing the very specific and rigid rules among homeschoolers would be impossible, he said.
"You are probably not going to hear a parent say, ‘I caught my kid smoking so please don't let him play football,'" Tenopir said.
But some state senators would like to change both school policies and NSAA rules to include homeschool students.
Legislative bills addressing that issue have been introduced for the past few years, most recently by Sens. Phil Erdman and Mike Foley. But none of the bills have made it out of committee.
Ron Hasley said he's "a constitution kind of guy," who will pursue the issue, not only for his daughter but for other homeschool students.
"I pay taxes," he said. "I'm asking for a service, and I'm not getting it. I hope what happens here sets precedence for the state."
Mom of the other 2 and I have already started laying down the rules of how Tuesday is going to be handled. Mine was whining because they won't be able to use the go-cart - at the same time she was whining about the road rash she got from falling off it this afternoon........
I'm not a very kid friendly kind of person, but this gal is the closest friend I've got here and I really adore her dad. Her husband isn't exactly thrilled about it, but he is the one that told her to take her dad for the tests that he has to have and to me it was a no-brainer to say I would go down and deal with the kids.
As to dinner - that is also a no-brainer. I'm going to make a salad out of leftover scallops and shrimp that are in both of our refrigerators........and there is always the old kid stand by - HOTDOGS!!!!!!!!!
Why are you so insistant on attacking the homeschoolers? You're as bad as the homeschool fanatics that have told me I don't care about my child because she goes to public school.
There is good and bad in any education system - working on the good to eliminate the bad is what we need to be doing. Not denigrating those who are trying to do just that.
I think younger (elementary school) kids are happy about hanging out with Mom. My two youngest children can't stand the thought of spending all day with other kids their age who are acting up or don't want to learn anything. OTOH, my middle schooler is getting tired of hanging around with me and his 'baby' brothers. He LOVES homeschooling but misses not being in the 'know' about what's going on at the school even though he has tons of neighborhood friends, classes, homeschool group activities, and sports teams to keep him busy.
LOL :-) She must have got a kick out of that...good for her!
I was rejected by the one I wanted to attend because they had filled their "quota" from the section of Brooklyn I resided.
That sucks. I grew up on LI and always thought that those specialized schools sounded great.
Things will change eventually...everything always does. I just hope it's for the better :-)
Why not?
What's the logic behind your demand? And who died and made you dictator?
Public school is not like the Catholic Church. Catholics can't "pick and choose," cafeteria style, from a religious dogma. But why couldn't students pick amongst programs that are most suited to their goals?
I no longer have a dog in this fight. I did some years ago, when we took our youngest child out of public school --a school that was going steadily downhill.
We did want him to be able to stay in the one good program left, which was band The band teacher was overjoyed that we wanted to keep him in, because she had no other decent trumpet players!
But of course, the bureaucracy had to be consulted; and of course, the bureaucracy's answer was: "No." Why? For the same reason you gave: "You can't pick and choose."
But that is not a reason. That is just the lazy reflex of a rigid, outdated, union-controlled bureaucracy.
Btw, we did find a band school just for homeschoolers. And happily for us, it turned out to be better than the public school's program. So the episode turned out to be their loss, our gain --except that we're still forced to pay thousands of dollars into a cr@ppy public school system.
"What's the logic behind your demand? And who died and made you dictator?"
If you'd bothered to read through the rest of the posts, you would have seen some fine examples of the logic behind it. A public school educates the children within its district who are registered at that school. There is a reason for that, as the school does so with limited resources.
If any school-age child within a reasonable distance of the school was able to pick and choose among the schools available for each program (oh, let's say math at one school, band at another, school lunch at yet another) each school would be rapidly overwhelmed by the demands. Not only do schools have the ability to deny their programs to students who are not within their district or who are not registered, but in the case of overcrowding, public schools can also cut off registration. Sorry if you don't like it.
What on earth are you talking about? We're talking about students within their own districts, where their parents PAY THE PROPERTY TAXES that pay for those very schools.
Your argument about hopping about between districts may or may not have merit (and I don't think it does); but it has nothing whatsoever to do with this case.
Not only do schools have the ability to deny their programs to students who are not within their district or who are not registered, but in the case of overcrowding, public schools can also cut off registration. Sorry if you don't like it
Think you're pulling a fast one there? Uh, not so fast: "Not within their district" does not equal "not registered." What does "registration" have to do with anything except the small recesses of a bureaucrat's mind? And, pray tell, why couldn't a part-time student "register" with the school just as a full time student, for that matter? Public colleges handle that situation all the time.
Sorry if you don't like it
The only thing that's sorry here is that you have such an arrogant --and at the same time, muddled-- argument.
No, my argument isn't arrogant. No more arrogant than your assumption that I'm being a "dictator" or whatever insulting term you chose to throw first.
And again, as sooooo many people pointed out in prior posts, "I pay taxes therefore I have the right to pick and choose among services" is not an argument that will fly. People who don't have kids pay property taxes to support schools too. Does that mean that my 50 year old neighbor gets to wander across the street to the elementary school and help himself to a school lunch? No.
Since you thought my earlier statement was "muddled," I'll try to use smaller words for you.
Government services are provided to people who qualify for those services. School age children who are not registered at a particular school do not qualify for the services provided by that school. Get it?
There is good and bad in any education system - working on the good to eliminate the bad is what we need to be doing. Not denigrating those who are trying to do just that.
You remind me of someone who walks in on the end of a two way conversation and admonishes one of the participants without having all the facts.
FYI, Born in a Rage set the record straight in her post #323. But if you are still suspicious about me and think I've "attacked the homeschoolers", please educate yourself in the following posts on this thread. Check out my comments to GBA and others in posts 19, 78, 83, 234, 237, 239, 247, 248, 266, 294 and 299.
It was then that Diva jumped down my throat in her post to me #301, only because I described situations that I've known about for some home schoolers. Never mind that Diva's kids are in a home school group and have lots of extra cirricular activities to fill their day, she still wrote me an obnoxious rant listing every minute of her kids daily schedule which had nothing to do with the situation I had written about in my post #299.
I don't give a flip about the clubs Diva belongs to or the summer home she has and didn't appreciate her snarky attitude toward me and still think it was uncalled for. She could have mentioned that her kid's days were full of extra cirricular activities and "thank goodness what I described didn't apply to her family situation"... period. I would have been happy that her home school situation is working out so well, but instead, I snarked back because of her biting remarks.
Bottom line: I feel very confident that both you and Diva didn't bother reading my other posts or we wouldn't be having this 'conversation'.
Thanks for your support, BiaR, I needed it!
I went back and re-read what I wrote - and you are correct, I was out of line with my comment - I believe I may have gotten demkicker mixed up with another poster.
I offer my apologies.
She did - but what surprised me was she never told us about it - it was well after the fact when I ran into the teacher.
I grew up on LI and always thought that those specialized schools sounded great.
Same here. It was well after the fact we found out that my aunt and uncle could have pulled a few strings to egt me in ther - but by the time they told my mother that I was already happy with the HS I had chosen. Mom was furious though :)
Please see my post 333.............reading back it is obvious to me that I confused you with another poster and I offer my apologies.
I should know better than to get involved in thse types of threads when I am overtired. I'm not making excuses - just stating the obvious to remind myself :)
Which contained this little tidbit:
"I feel just as sorry for the home schooled kids as the ones in public schools. Home schooled kids are often made to feel odd and freaky, not to mention "unfairly privileged". They don't get to enjoy the benefits of socialization and interaction of public schooled kids and are usually forced (by their circumstances) to grow up/mature much faster than their public school counter-parts."-Demkicker
I never claimed to be addressing all of your posts here and I don't see where Gabz did either. I responded to YOUR statement above. I believe that Gabz responded to your overall tone- but I can not speak for her.
I never "jumped down your throat" I made a counter point to your point, and if it is an "obnoxious rant" to you that someone provides you with data and facts to counter your point- well then I would say the problem here is all yours.
Because that would mean exposing them to people with attitudes like yours.
They want their cake and to eat it too. Eeevil public schools apparently are not totally eeevil.
Sure you can. If you read the article, you'll note ...Whether homeschool students can be in marching band is at the discretion of each school, said Jim Tenopir, director of the NSAA.
So, it is permitted, and it is at each school's discretion.
So you can pick and choose if you are in the right school district.
So you can pick and choose if you are in the right school district.
Not trying to nit-pick here...but your statement contradicts itself. If it is at the school's discretion, then no, the parent/student does not get to pick and choose. The school gets to make the decision.
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