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Chetek expels first student of year
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| By: Anita Zimmerman |
October 14, 2009 |
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A month into the 2009-10 school year, Chetek schools have already ousted a student for repeated refusal to obey school rules.
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Since infractions don't carry over from year to year, the student (his/her name and acts are confidential), whose hearing was Oct. 6, would have had only one month to break the rules "repeatedly."
It appears to be a trend. Last year, five students were expelled from Chetek, and a total of 26 have been kicked out since 2004. The major cause was failure to follow rules.
Schools are legally required to provide a free and appropriate education for all students. Administrator Al Brown says, "It's the law. You don't get to choose who walks in."
Expulsion is the "educational death sentence," he admits.
Once students are kicked out of a district, the doors close around them. Chetek, like many districts, rejects all previously expelled students. They can't open-enroll or take online classes; alternative school, one step before expulsion, is also not an option.
"They're on their own," Brown comments.
Home school or a General Education Diploma, earned and purchased from a technical college, are the only ways to get a diploma if no districts are willing to admit them.
High School Equivalency Diplomas are not an option because the school would have to pay for them, says Brown.
Some expelled students are not allowed to reenter Chetek schools until they turn 21. Under certain circumstances, a student is occasionally permitted to take correspondence courses if they undergo counseling and meet other criteria.
Last year, one of five expelled students completed coursework and received a Chetek diploma. The student did not walk at graduation, Brown notes.
Whether the school offers online or correspondence courses "depends on the student," Brown says. "If they're serious about school and made a mistake and they're willing to work, we support them."
By law, schools have to offer options to expelled special-education students.
Because every child has a legal right to a free education, the process to expel a student is a legal one. Once someone-the principal, for example-identifies a child with repeated behavioral problems, Brown meets with student, parents and staff to explore the options.
Schools don't have to have pre-expulsion hearings, Brown emphasizes. It's the district's choice to insert another step between the last straw and the last day.
"We try to help them see the error of their ways," he adds.
Once Brown decides that expulsion is the school's course of action, he presents his case to the school board. He must prove the student has endangered property, staff or students or is guilty of "REPEATED refusal or neglect to obey school rules."
The school's expulsion hearing notice shows most reasons deal with endangerment; however, one clause allows the school to kick out disruptive students who do not qualify for expulsion on other grounds.
None of Brown's recommendations has ever been rejected by the school board. Expelled students have 30 days to appeal the ruling with the state superintendent.
The Department of Public Instruction reviews the due process for each expulsion every year, but not individual cases. Schools must report all suspensions and expulsions to the DPI, which posts it online for parents to review.
Wisconsin's expulsion rates have increased by 350 percent since the early 1990s, although juvenile crime rates have dropped by 20 percent (40 percent for serious crimes) since 1997.
The DPI distributes brochures to direct parents to other options that will still allow ousted students to get a diploma, something that could potentially prevent the lifelong scourges of poverty and/or social deviance.
Brown notes that he often sees the names of expelled students in police reports. They cause problems in the community too, he notes.
Getting rid of disruptive students is sometimes "necessary to create order," he adds. The school wants an "environment that is safe and orderly."
In March, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released a report on efforts to reduce the number of expulsions in several of the state's districts, something that is "always a focus," according to communications officer Patrick Gasper.
"The best way to keep them in school is to keep them in school," Gasper jokes.
In "Alternatives to Expulsion: Case Studies of Wisconsin School Districts," the DPI highlighted districts that dramatically reduced the number of expulsions by creating policies to deal with deviant behavior-use of drugs or alcohol, behavior problems and refusal to follow rules.
According to the report, research shows schools with higher suspensions and expulsions have "less satisfactory ratings of school climate, less satisfactory governance structures" and spend a "disproportionate amount of time disciplining students.
Brown attributes last year's high expulsion rate to an increased sensitivity to violence that is "societal," not specific to the district. The number of expulsions varies from year to year, he adds, and some years there aren't any.
However, studying the district's five-year rate implies that expulsion is being used as a disciplinary tool rather than a last resort. Sources speculate that merely smoking pot on school grounds-a nonviolent offense more typically met with a citation and detention-got two students thrown out last year.
The adults employed by schools are charged with the responsibility of training their adolescent pupils, and Brown admits that a district's inability to educate a child is a failure for everyone.
"We look at expulsions as failures on our part," he says. "It's failure on the part of the student ... parents and school district."
However, Brown believes most community members would question why so few problem students are sent packing.
"I think the debate would be, 'Why don't we throw more out?'" he says.
Right now, expulsions are a hotly debated issue in Baltimore, Md. Forty-six students, ranging in age from 9 to 18 years, were expelled last year for setting small fires in schools. Sixteen decisions permanently prevented students from returning.
Three of those expulsions were overturned in court last summer, and now Maryland's state board is considering writing new regulations detailing schools' legal responsibility to educate all pupils, even after they commit serious offenses.
In Wisconsin, policies on expulsion remain in local hands, Gasper says.
Cameron, which also does not accept students with previous expulsions, has kicked out only three students in the past ten years.
Administrator Randal Braun said this about the district's attitude toward unruly pupils:
"Students with behavior problems have the right to an education. Our policy is to work with the students and parents to provide educational opportunities while ensuring that the other students are safe and disruption to their education is avoided or at least limited. By providing special education programming, counseling, connection to a school social worker through Barron County Restorative Justice and alternatives such as off-site programming, Barron County Alternative School placement and HSED programming through WITC, the district has been very successful in achieving a balance between the needs of students who have extraordinary needs and those whose behavior is within acceptable norms."
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©The Chetek Alert 2010
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Beverly Kramer |
Oct, 17 2009 |
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I was a teacher for 35 years. After this length of time spent with students, I can say I agree with expelling students that cannot following the rules. The school rules are equal to the ones we all have to do to get along in the world! I can also state that many other students that follow the rules are unable to concentrate with the disruption caused by those not following the rules. I also agree with loss of driving rights until 21/drinking also! Who is at risk here, the few that cause trouble, or the majority who are trying to learn and to prepare for life! Thanks
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Donald Paine |
Oct, 14 2009 |
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Since one is booted out of school The optioned should be like they do in Texas. Can not get a Drivers License till they turn 21, no exceptions.
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