bomb threat number 6

This morning.

Kids were out from 8:30-ish to noon. Can't tell if it was just the high school kids or the middle school kids, too. update: it was both

This would be a good time to make my Forum post about collective punishment.



talk with your student

Here's the letter they sent home after the last bomb threat:

May 14, 2007

Dear Parent/Guardian:

This morning we received notification that a note containing an implied threat had been placed in the CMS (Cafeteria/Music/Science wing) girls’ restroom—the same restroom in which a note was found last Friday. Superintendent Dr. M. and the Irvington Police Department were immediately contacted and high school and middle school students were evacuated to Main Street School.

When police officials arrived, they performed a cursory check of the premises and requested that the Westchester County Bomb Squad be called in to conduct a more thorough search. No incendiary device was found and students were permitted to return to class. Since the note was found in an area shared by both middle and high school students, each building is involved in the investigation. Part of that investigation includes an analysis of the handwriting used in the notes.

We are deeply troubled by the number of occurrences (this is the fifth threat this year and the second in a week) and are exploring various options to address them in a positive and productive manner. This afternoon, district personnel and the Irvington Police Department convened to identifying possible initiatives to address the problem. As a result of that meeting, the following measures are being put into place immediately:

The CMS restrooms will be locked for the remainder of the school year.
All students will be required to sign in and out of class any time they leave the room.

Staff will monitor the bathrooms, stairwells, and other areas deemed as high priority in between classes.

We will meet with each class to review our policies and to ask for their help in apprehending the responsible party.

In addition, the district is offering a substantial monetary reward to any individual who provides information that leads to the conviction of the perpetrator. Long-term, we are also investigating the installation of a campus-wide security system involving video cameras.

As always, please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or concerns. Indeed, we hope you discuss this incident with your student to impress upon him/her the seriousness of these threats and the possible consequences (expulsion up to one year) if found guilty. Finally, please encourage him/her to come forward with any relevant information. We would obviously keep his/her identity confidential.

Your continued support and patience are greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

etc.

How do you read this?

I read this to suggest that we parents are asked to assume that "our student" may be the perpetrator — either that or he/she knows who the perpetrator is — and to read him the riot act viz.: seriousness of the offense.

There's certainly no suggestion here about what to say in the event that "our student" has nothing to do with bomb threats and no clue who does and is maybe getting a little freaked out by the whole thing.

During one of the last bomb threats the whole middle school was made to sit down together in a tight bunch outdoors, arms held to their sides, without talking, for the 80 or so minutes it took to search the school.

collective punishment: proscribed under the Geneva Convention but standard fare here in Irvington.



Thinking Out Loud on group punishment and the law:

The problem with group punishment is that it violates the students' due process rights. Basic due process for student discipline requires that the student be told what they are accused of doing and the evidence against them described, and then they are given an opportunity to tell his side of the story. Goss v. Lopez. Manifestly, this is not and cannot be done in a whole school or whole class situation. Also, the student handbook is usually the "cookbook" for student discipline, and is an expression of school board policy in this area. I'm willing to bet that if you combed that, you would NOT find "group punishment" anywhere in it as a possible punishment, for excellent reasons. .... If the principal doesn't "get" the concept of violating the Constitutional rights of an entire middle school student population, it is possible that the Superintendent or the school district's attorney would. You may want to take this to a higher level. The good news about being "out there" with the administration over "math wars" is that you have nothing further to lose by making waves. So, make nice big ones.

Why is group punishment so popular if it is so obviously illegal? I think it is probably because teachers have zero training in basic school law as part of a typical teacher preparation degree, and most administrators have one or two classes in it at most, as part of the degree program that leads to certification as a school administrator, which is usually taught by retired school administrators, not lawyers. Talk about triple hearsay!

I'd say it's time for me to get this opinion to the school board and the community. Ed stopped me the last time, on grounds that "they've got to be incredibly upset."

I'm sure he's right, but otoh as usual we parents have had no "input" into the situation whatsoever. (That may not be accurate; the PTSA held a Forum for the administration last week to discuss the threats. I was too sick to go, and there've been no reports as to what was said.)

Last fall Ed and I met with the principal and asked him not to impose collective punishments on the kids. We pointed out that collective punishment is unethical; we also told him that his predecessor had not allowed teachers to impose collective punishments.

He said he wouldn't be imposing collective punishment; then he proceeded to impose collective punishments for the entire school year, over littering as well as bomb threats. In February the kids had to do a whole long character ed "problem-solving" assignment on the threats.

The principal also said - and this was back in September - that he would ask parents to volunteer to man the bathrooms, collect hallway passes, etc. "When you keep parents at arms length," he said, "you breed mistrust."

THEN: he didn't invite parents into the school, didn't ask parents to collect hallway passes, etc. I assume the teachers didn't want parents hanging around the school, but I don't know. I assume this because we are reliably told the teachers "like" the principal because he "leaves them alone."

So parents have spent the year complaining about the way the kids are treated. Apparently the teachers scream and yell at the kids every single lunch break. All the kids say so. I first heard about it from a parent at a "Coffee with the Principal" event; the other parents present confirmed her account and complained strongly.

Nothing changed.

I asked C. about it & he said the same thing. The teachers scream at the kids every day. That's lunch.

Then, of course, there was the freedom petition the kids all signed.

So basically the situation is that parents are locked out, kids are locked in, and 25-year old childless female teachers spend 30 minutes a day screaming at the kids.

And we have bomb threats.

And we have the administration putting a price on a kid's head.