Posted on 06/10/2003 5:14:50 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Gwinnett County Schools reported 48,501 discipline incidents for the 2001-02 school year, according to an amended report to the state. That numbers dwarfs the 4,258 accounts of bad behavior Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks first reported to the state Department of Education. School officials said Monday that the system's amended discipline report is now error-free and has the endorsement of Gwinnett's superintendent. Wilbanks vouched for the accuracy of the rewrite last week after student discipline and technology officials worked for more than two months preparing the new data.
"We spent a lot of time on this," Wilbanks said. "I believe the report that was filed is complete and as accurate as could be humanly possible." Officials at the Department of Education have not reviewed the new data, but said its investigation into Gwinnett could wrap up within the week if there are no problems found in the revised discipline report. "[Staff is] putting it into a report where our team can review it," said deputy state superintendent Stuart Bennett. "Gwinnett seems to feel that the data is all there. We are still confirming it."
An AJC-WSB investigation found that Gwinnett Schools underreported discipline accounts to the state by 85 percent in the 2001-02 school year, omitting some 24,568 serious infractions, including violations of state and federal law and weapons, drugs and sex offenses. Gwinnett's amended discipline report includes the missing offenses and other errors found by administrators reviewing the discipline reporting process. The vast majority of the 48,501 discipline incidents -- 37,013 or 76 percent -- administrators say, were lesser offenses not originally reported because of coding problems or Gwinnett's interpretation of reporting rules.
"Many categories increased by several entries just simply because we broadly interpreted the state department's definitions of what should be reported. If it was close it was included in the report," said Gwinnett's Chief of Staff Bobby Crowson. "This is a much more accurate reflection of the actual data that should hav been reported the first time around." Early in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution part of the investigation of Gwinnett's original report, administrators told the AJC that they looked at the 23 serious disciplinary categories outlined by state law and rewrote them for the Gwinnett school system. Their intent, they said, was to filter "minor" disciplinary infractions from the state report.
For example, Gwinnett officials didn't feel 40 instances of "lewd sexual exposure" fit the state's "sex offense" category, so they weren't reported. And knives with blades under 2 inches were not reported to the state as knives, but as other weapons even though the state did not set size requirements for knives. Referrals to the Gwinnett District Attorney and the Juvenile Court also were omitted, as were any major offenses that ended in detention or another punishment not tracked by the state. The amended report addresses those errors: All knives are reported as knives; court referrals are included; lewd exposure is considered a sex offense; bullying and oral, written or physical threats are reported as acts of intimidation.
The new data shows drug infractions other than alcohol rose from 203 offenses to 838 on the amended report; threats and intimidations jumped from 642 incidents to 2,613; sex offenses rose from eight to 814; and disorderly conduct rose from 598 infractions to 2,478. There were 296 court referrals. "We still believe that this has always been a reporting issue," Wilbanks said. "The safety and security of our schools have never been in question. [For] every student that violated a discipline code . . . [the] appropriate consequence was administered." Meanwhile, school administrators are investigating themselves to see whether any staff member intentionally withheld information to cause some of the errors on the original report. State officials have not received any information that would indicate Gwinnett tried to defraud the state. "We just haven't seen any evidence of that," Bennett said. "No teachers have contacted us with a report of something that was not handled or reported by Gwinnett."
1. Several principals and "resource officers" were deciding amongst themselves not to refer cases to the Gwinnett District Attorney for disposition. These practices would skew the results of the data entered into the indicident statistics beyond what was revealed in the article. This is being investigated by the DA.
2. George Bush's "No Child Left Behind" Education program will drop Federal funding for school districts that have "unsafe" learning environments. The Gwinnett county school district tried to cook the books to make it look like they are under the threshold for the "safe" learning environment and with the new data, Federal funding may be in question for 2004.
The root cause is that there has not been any managed growth in Gwinnett county for the last fourty years and developers do not pay enough impact fees to support the construction of new schools and other infrastructure to keep up with new housing. This is required brand-new schools to be built with extra-large parking lots - not for teacher's cars but for classroom trailers.
I agree with the above, and I agree that the law could/should be changed to make it more difficult to sue. I'm not sure that I see that happening any more than I see caning being instituted as punishment around here - especially when most places don't even allow plain old spankings any more.
You're probably right, and while I don't know anything about the various Gwinnett schools, I'd bet that most of the 'threats' are at high school level, and there are a lot more 'threats' at some high schools than others.
I am now paying in excess of $16500.00 per year for my sons private school education when his teacher at Trickum Middle (whose husband is a minister) told her class that democrats were not good christians and were doomed to hell (paraphrased). We are republicans and Christians just not Right-winged Jihadists. Soon after, at our first session with his teachers (within the first 9 weeks) we were informed that he was probably going to fail the 7th grade because he was likely unable to pass the Gateway (since it is practiced constantly during the year, I can't possibly imagine anyone failing). This was Ironic since we had to reschedule because he was in the top 10 in spelling of the entire school and was in the finals. He has done this 3 years in a row, as well as being the top 10 in geography. He was 11 and some of his his skills tested him at the 3rd year level in college. The problem is that he has a learning disability they would not recognize and did not want to deal with. My wife is an educational professional with 15+ years working in higher education, we were both totally dumbfounded at this highly politically and socially charged attitude. My son is truly the child that the Parkview cluster CHOSE to leave behind.
Makes me wax nostalgic about my troublemaking days as a youth in lower manhattan! [Chomping on my cigar in my Las Vegas apt, getting misty eyed!]
You know, some of the things students did 20-30 years ago are actually funny after the fact. Unfortunately, many of the things they're doing now are NOT funny. Last year in my school, a student in the agriculture class ran an acetylene torch across another student's hand. The police were appropriately called and he was immediately arrested. None of THAT is remotely funny. Another student was caught getting a blow job from a less-than-honorable female student. Come to think of it, both were dishonorable. I don't find any of that nostalgic after the fact. Now, imagine what goes on in Atlanta's schools...
Hey Mene -- regarding the following ...
"Does this count include the infractions by wealthy, influential students? LOL. In my opinion, those violations have been omitted as well. First the accounting scandal, now the public school administration integrity problem. "Honesty is such a lonely word...everyone is soooooo untrue...." Again, only the tip of the iceberg to which I've been alluding in other posts."
I live here. LEave your class warfare crap at home please. I can tell you from FIRSTHAND knowledge that "wealthy influential students" got busted in Gwinnett County schools just like the poor powerless chilrun. We have Phoenix HS in Lawrenceville that is our reform school. You'd be amazed whose kids were reffereed there.
ALL the DATA were reported and saved. It was a matter of how they were coded, not what was hidden. WHY do you think it was so easy to fix??? ALL the data were there, public and available for the AJC reporter to look at.
Lighten up.
OK I appear to have gotten my dander up / panties in a wad about a two-year old story.
I'll go update my meds now.
;-)
My friend's daughter failed the Gateway twice. She was sent to summer school for 3 weeks where she took 7th grade math in the AM and 8th grade math in the PM.
She passed the test.
Unfortunately, testing shows that her math skills are at a high 4th grade level.
I would like to know how she passed the Gateway and how it was expected that she would do 7th and 8th grade maths at the same time especially when she lacks the foundational skills to do either?
I'm from Dunwoody and I KNOW that a kid from Dunwoody may be treated differently than a kid from south Dekalb.
It all depends on who the parents are and who they know? Dunwoody parents are more likely to have the $$$ to pay the attorneys to fix jr's problems.
please read my post 30 ;-)
Money always buys influence and lawyers.
and not EVERYONE in Dunwoody is wealthy, connected and influential ;-)
My sister-in-law is a 7th grade theacher at Trickum Middle. She said that although we have no social promotion in Gwinnette, no one fails the 7th grade. This would water down the numbers and us "good upper-class republicans" won't stand for that. 'nuff said.
Any relation to the googly-eyed runaway bride?
I feel your pain. It seems you child is also under-served in this Stepford-like school system. I never recieved my rose-colored glasses at my real estate closing. Believe me, when I say that I have much inside info. I have more than a few relatives and in-laws who teach in the Gwinnette Co. school system and I wasn't kidding when I said that No one fails the 7th grade.
P.S. If she was an athlete or cheerleader she would probably be an honors student
Investigating themselves? Thats tantamount to me auditing my own income taxxes. I probably wouldn't find "any evidence" of anything either. Would this godly man be related to Jim Baker or Jimmy Swaggart maybe?
Kinda like Weapons of Mass Destruction, (I'm sorry perjury must not apply to Republicans). Of which I am a dissapointed one.
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