Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
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."
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
if it turns out that I am really onto something and I am not just talking out of my butt, then it falls under the blind squirrel - nut theory :)
:] I will have to remember that one. Seriously, I thought about it. You may be right.
:)
what happened further up this thread? People thought YOU were stalking them?
Are they out of their collective minds?
How is the fence coming along? Wife happy with it?
Wow, whatever. When a 'conversation' gets to the point where the discussion is based on former posts which direct to other posts about posts regarding other peoples posts about my posts...it's time to call it a night! LOL! Have fun :-)
the fence is getting there...
I have some brush and stuff to clear along the back of the yard first, but the holes are dug and the posts go into the cement tomorrow...
Cool. You will be so glad when the job is done! I found out the hard way the difference between cement for fence post and cement for walkways..(quick drying!!! not good for walkways! good for fence posts!)
Absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact upon rereading this article I failed to find the girls race mentioned at all.
Somebody is making some BIG assumptions.
Cyborg: I am leaving for Wyoming in the morning and will be gone for about a week. Try to behave while I am gone.
I'll try my best :o)
"Fine, then they should have their tax dollars spent on education refunded to them."
With interest.
I agree, if she's not part of the school, she's not part of the band. And there's no reason her parents should pay a nickel toward the public schools. I have no kids in school, but I would be willing to make a decent monetary contribution for a home schoolers' band.
"I didn't call the police or the fire department once last year. Can I get my tax dollars that were spent on them refunded?"
If they refuse to put out your fire, you should.
Well, I am not sure about your point. I support people's right to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but I don't ride a motorcycle anymore. I support people's rights to go rock climbing without ropes, but I never did that myself.
Homeschoolers like you may be pioneers, but don't be so dismissive of "supporters". There are not enough of you to get anything done in this political system without the at least tacit support of the rest of us. Do you really think that the few pro-homeschooling laws passed in some states are solely the result of the activities of the homeschoolers themselves? Do you think the legislatures would have given a Rat's a$$ if there were not supportive, but non-homeschooling parents who also supported homeschooling?
Besides, you weighed the pluses and minuses and decided that the plus of homeschooling (good teaching, perhaps God-centered education, less crime, etc.) outweighed the minuses (you knew in advance your kids could not participate in the stuff at the government school).
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