Expulsion by the book......Honor Student Booted for Bread Knife Left in Pickup After Moving Granny

The Dallas Morning News ^ | March 20, 2002 | By LORI PRICE / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Expulsion by the book, superintendent says

Administrators' hands tied by state, federal statutes, schools chief contends

03/20/2002

By LORI PRICE / The Dallas Morning News

BEDFORD - The Hurst-Euless-Bedford schools superintendent said Tuesday that administrators' hands are tied in cases involving zero-tolerance policies.

The acknowledgement followed the expulsion of an honor student who was found to have a knife on school property earlier this month.

During a news conference Tuesday, Gene Buinger said that if school district administrators could untie state policies that sometimes bind their hands in student disciplinary matters, many of them might.

But they can't.

"School districts need more discretion as to the length of penalty, and how that penalty is carried out," said Dr. Buinger, who also said he would support adjusting the law.

Honor student Taylor Hess of L.D. Bell High School in Hurst was expelled from school after officials found a 10-inch bread knife with a nonserrated blade in the bed of his pickup while it was parked on campus.

Robert Hess, Taylor's father, said the knife was left behind after the two helped move the student's grandmother from Cedar Hill to the Bedford area.

Taylor, who was given a one-year expulsion, could end up in the Tarrant County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program. A hearing regarding the matter is scheduled for Thursday.

"He's been victimized," Mr. Hess said. "He feels let down."

The knife was turned over to Hurst police, who said they would not pursue criminal action against Taylor.

"There has to be intent," said Lt. Steve Moore of the Hurst police department. "This seems to be more of a bad accident than anything."

H-E-B district administrators said district policy and the Texas Education Code prohibit a student from possessing an illegal knife, one with a blade longer than 5 and a half inches that is "designed to cut or stab another by being thrown," according to the Texas Penal Code.

The Texas Education Code and the district's student code of conduct also states that a student found to have such a knife "must be expelled."

Dr. Buinger did not discuss Taylor's case specifically Tuesday, but he did offer details about laws and policies that lead to the expulsion of students who have knifes on campus.

The district may not substitute alternative punishment for such matters, Dr. Buinger said. The policies are not the creation of local school districts, but are instead required by Texas law, he added.

"In an effort to create safe schools, the state legislature and Congress ... have basically tied the hands of the school district and local administrators who best know the student," Dr. Buinger said.

The district does have some latitude regarding the time-length of punishment, a matter that has been brought into question because of Taylor's expulsion that is set for one-year.

Until the law changes, districts will have to follow the zero-tolerance policy as it is written, Dr. Buinger said.

But that makes no sense, said Sharon Overath, a parent with a student at L.D. Bell.

"I understand zero-tolerance, but I think you can take something to an extreme," Ms. Overath said. "We need to look at the total student and a student's record should carry some weight.

"I don't want to hear we can't make an exception, because we do it all the time with plea bargaining and the justice system."

Some say the zero-tolerance policy doesn't allow room for innocent mistakes or coincidence.

"At first, I thought [zero-tolerance] was great, because I support anything that will keep firearms and weapons out of the schools, but now I don't know," said Kimberley Moore."I have a son who's a senior who has been a honor student since the ninth grade and I'm just thinking if this happened to him and he was suspended, I would be upset," she said.

The policy not only leaves little room for discussion, but also lumps "bad kids and good kids in the same group," said Ms. Overath, who has five children in the school district.

"We're just taking a broad brush and drawn it across the whole board," she added.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/032002dnmetknife.b9237.html

[MeekOneGOP]

It seems to me that the fault is with stupid school administrators that define a bread knife as one that is intended for use in harming another person.........

[wafflehouse]

that the fault is with stupid school administrators

WRONG! the fault is with the texas state legislature..

this is a prime example of government control of local schools.
and why it should not happen.

[marktwain]

The fault is demonizing inanimate objects. We made weapons while I was in High School. Many people brought guns to school to hunt afterward. There were no problems with weapons. If a boy did not have a pocket knife, something was wrong with him.

This is all part of the cultural genocide that is being inflicted on rural america by urban liberal elites.

[goldstategop]

This has been covered before. How do school administrators get around to thinking bread knives and nail clippers are weapons? The situation's really gotten out of hand and Zero Tolerance policies have made it possible to justify imposing extreme punishment upon innocent people for what are at most, minor offenses. That's the real outrage in America today.

[Drew68]

"At first, I thought [zero-tolerance] was great, because I support anything that will keep firearms and weapons out of the schools, but now I don't know," said Kimberley Moore.

Here's a big part of the problem. Nobody stops to think about potential unintended consequences anymore. It's this "Do it now, deal with it later" mentality that have caused so many bad laws to be writted from kneejerk reactions.

I only hope this kid is able to put this unfortunate happening behind him and not let it screw up his life too bad. He can probably forget about going to a good college though.

[Illbay]

Their "hands are tied"? Isn't there some room for reason and discretion in cases like this? I mean, I realize you can't "profile," (heavens forfend!) but can't you look at the kid, look at the circumstances, and make a reasonable decision in a case like this?

I have a REAL hard time believing anyone would lose their job if that were to occur.

[Dan De Quille]

The policy not only leaves little room for discussion, but also lumps "bad kids and good kids in the same group,"

Precisely. This lumping together would seem to be required by our Egalitarian values. Can't make those invidious distinctions! Zero tolerance also shields school administrations from lawsuits, as, these days, discretion is all to often viewed as discrimination. (In fact, a judgement call is a kind of discrimination.)

[peteram]

The situation's really gotten out of hand and Zero Tolerance policies have made it possible to justify imposing extreme punishment upon innocent people for what are at most, minor offenses.

Ditto! All Zero Tolerance did was to give brainless people a way to not have to think for themselves and make decisions/judgements on a case-by-case basis. It's become a cop-out.

[DB]

They had lots of room. They simply could have thrown the knife away without anyone else knowing about it.

I think I would go to school the next day with backpack full of butter knives and put one in or on every vehicle, teachers included, and then anonymously calling the press. Let them suspend everyone for a year… After all, there's nothing they can do… They can just close down the school then and layoff everyone…

That's the ticket!

[prisoner6]

Sounds like the school district and administrators need a good FReepin'.

Here's the phone and fax...They are public...on their website so I see nothing wrong with making them available here.

phone: 817-282-2551
Fax: 817-285-3200

Snail mail address is 1601 Brown Trail, Hurst,Texas 76054

You can go to this website for details on administrator's names and other school information.

L.D. Bell High School website

So far I haven't found their Email address, but I 'm sure they or the district has one.

Happy FReeping!

prisoner6

[prisoner6]

Love it! BTW Check out the school's motto.

"We do not Imitate, but are a Model for Others."

Yeah...right!<p. prisoner6

[Don Joe]

"They had lots of room. They simply could have thrown the knife away without anyone else knowing about it."

Bingo. IMO for whatever reason they wanted to make an example of this kid -- maybe so they could wring their hands over "how bad the policy is, because it's making this Poor Innocent Boy get crucified for no reason at all".

Let's get real for a moment. If this "zero tolerance" policy is truly "zero tolerance" -- with no exceptions -- then it's probably the only such deal in the world.

Ask any beat cop how many times he "looks the other way" -- ask how snitches are allowed to do things that "should" land 'em in the hoosegow. Ask any prosecutor, lawyer, or judge about "deals" that are cut.

Then ask yourself if you really believe that if it this superintendent's kid who f'd up and left Granny's bread knife in his truck, and it was an "underling" who didn't dare cross the boss, let's say the Principal, who found the knife, if the kid would be getting the bum's rush like this kid is.

Call me cynical but I just don't buy the "our hands are tied" crap. Reminds me of a similar situation two thousand years ago.

Nope, IMO they decided to use this kid for propaganda points. I can't see it going down any other way.

[Mustard]

zero-tolerance = zero common sense

[Jonathon Spectre]

At first, I thought [zero-tolerance] was great, because I support anything that will keep firearms and weapons out of the schools, but now I don't know," said Kimberley Moore.

"At first I didn't think, but now I've thought, and this is madness."

[feedback doctor]

Say the local folks refuse to expell him. Let the state persue the matter. Then they will look foolish for trying to do so. Of course they apparently have the "We were only following orders" mentality that lets you off the hook

[aardvark1]

You're exactly right. The 'knife' is evil; the 'gun' is evil. In it's attempt to assuage our guilty consciences, psychology has simply shifted the guilt for evil to the inanimate.

[NMFXSTC]

What's really amusing here is that here we have an honor student with a bread knife and a whole lotta hopla happening, yet...our INS issues those visa six months after the terrorist attacks and the remedy for that was...reassign people responsible! Don't insist on accountability or zero tolerance for incompetence there, but expel a kid for a year over a bread knife?

Where the Hell is the logic, common sense, and appropriate action here?

[isthisnickcool]

A pickup truck? A kid could do a lot of damage with a pickup truck. A lot more than with a knife.

This is in Hurst Texas? I know Hurst Texas. The police there must be laughing their butts off.

I saw the knife on TV a minute ago. It's one of those real long serrated bread knives. It would bend in half if you tried to stab anyone. Any screw driver is much more dangerous.

This story is so "un-Texan".

[Physicist]

The administrators had more than ample wiggle room to keep the boy in school. The knife was designed to slice bread. They wanted to make an example of this kid. The message they wanted to send is that the wielding of their power has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of the victim, the level of severity of the "crime", or even the sort of person the victim is.

If it were my son, I would personalize this with the administrators.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the link. I didn't find their e-mail address, but if you find it, can you bring it back here? I'd use it!

I did find the school's motto.................

We do not imitate, but are a model for others
Yuk! Yuk!