Uh... that would be the parents job, shouldnt it be, the schools job would be help students that follow the rules.

man up Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Uh... that would be the parents job, shouldnt it
> be, the schools job would be help students that
> follow the rules.


Except the schools spend more time helping the kids who don't follow the rules. Those that follow the rules are pretty much nobodies.

Punam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> man up Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Uh... that would be the parents job, shouldnt
> it
> > be, the schools job would be help students that
> > follow the rules.
>
>
> Except the schools spend more time helping the
> kids who don't follow the rules. Those that
> follow the rules are pretty much nobodies.



You are right, I see you have spent some time there, alot of time is spent helping the losers. A great picture for those who choose responsibility to observe. Those who can't follow the rules get to see their parents in action and learn that and if you whine, cry, threaten enough, you might get your way.

The story of Josh is one of the saddest tales I've ever read. His death could have easily been prevented if Virginia (and FCPS) employed a "three-strikes" system, rather than the Zero Tolerance approach. My view is Zero Tolerance mandates zero flexibility and fosters zero accountability for teachers and administrators.

Under Zero Tolerance in FCPS, once a school determines "possession", even without physical evidence, the disciplinary process is predetermined by VDOE and FCPS regulations. The Principal "must" recommend expulsion. The Hearing Office "must" uphold it, and the School Board "must" deny an appeal.

I would like to share that it is possible (and I personally know of one successful case) to have the Hearing Office reject an expulsion recommendation if they determine there are "special circumstances that might warrant another disciplinary action." It is up to the child, parents, and their lawyer to present these special circumstances in writing (and reading them aloud) during the hearing. Getting everything into the written record is a must.

Appealing the Hearing Office decision to the School Board seems fruitless after reading some of the minutes:

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/Public?OpenFrameSet

I will always remember the story of Josh. And I hope that Virginia will one day review their Code with respect to drugs like marijuana and assess if the current regulations help or hurt children. I think right now they hurt more than they help.

The story of Josh is very, very sad. However, this kid did get a "second chance". When he first got caught with pot at Langley HS he was just sent over to South Lakes HS. Only after he got caught with pot at South Lakes did they recommend for explusion. So, had he just done the right thing at South Lakes (where he was playing football, etc) none of this would have happened. It seems pretty clear that this kid had more serious issues than just the Hearing.

Also, in reality FCPS never really "expels" anyone, they just send them off to one of the alternative high schools for one year or graduation whichever is sooner.

Coping skills
Kids get into trouble. Not every kid that is forced to switch schools/ or is expelled, kills themsleves.

Parents / Teachers / Health Classes - need to teach the younger generation coping skills.


-------------------------------------------------------
> I do not hesitate for a moment to say that FCPS
> has played a direct role in the death of one of
> our students.
>
> Last week, a junior at South Lakes High School
> hanged himself. He was a fine young man who
> played football at Langley High School but he did
> something that many FCPS students do. He smoked
> pot. FCPS caught him and threatened to expel him
> from school. They kept him out of school for
> weeks while the ZT police did all they could to
> destroy this young man. Then they pulled him from
> his friends and sent him to another school. And
> told him if he ever screwed up again they would
> throw him out of school forever.
>
> FCPS never acknowledges that the majority of our
> students experiment with drugs and alcohol. There
> is no drug testing of FCPS employees so we do not
> know how many employees use drugs. When a kid
> does it, makes a mistake, FCPS makes sure that
> they destroy the student emotionally.
>
> I am sickened by this school district. Every
> parent out there needs to know that this could be
> your kid. We must make sure that this does not
> happen again.
>
> Zero Tolerance is destructive. It lacks
> compassion and humanity and it kills our youth.
>
> Let's all say a prayer for this family and hold
> FCPS accountable.

Suicide weeds out the weak before they have a chance to take others down with them. Better that somebody does it by themselves in the privacy of their own home etc. then hold out until their mind is shot and they start going crazy. If somebody decides that they are losing control why would I want that person in society? So they can snap one day and take out a bunch of people that they feel caused them harm. I wouldn't want to be in the same room with a person who decides to end it all after taking as many co-workers down with them as possible. Wouldn't want to get shot because I'm standing next to somebody that the person feels hurt them in some way.

For all you dumb shits trying to claim that Josh brought this on himself, consider this: Teenage brains are underdeveloped. That's what scientific research SHOWS. Judgement is impaired. That's why VA doesn't let kids drive more than one other kid, why practically every state doesn't let kids drink until well past the age of consent, etc. etc. How does FCPS---that bastion of educational prowess---responsd to the challenges posed by developing teenage brains? They say: "We just don't give a shit." The reason Josh is dead is because FCPS "just didn't give a shit."

That is the sad truth.

fairfaxcountyparent@hotmail.com

i used to go to langley and knew that guy and my friend knew his girlfriend.
either way, fcps and most schools do this all the time. My boyfriend was charged with possession of marijuana on GMU campus grounds (because people outside his dorm were smoking their pot and then knocked on his door looking for his roommates, the cops followed them and went to his room and accused him of dealing, which he wasn't.)
They kicked him out of school for a semester and off housing for a year. This is wrong, this is telling kids that because they did a drug that is becoming decriminalized in many states, and although it is still illegal here that does not mean marijuana is nessicarly a "bad drug," and telling them that they don't have a future. That if they mess up once they could get kicked out permanently. While going to Langley, a similar situation happened where my friend had skipped class and got caught by the guards. WHen she was caught they searcher her bags and found some marijuana, because of this she was kicked out school. Since then she has not been able to graduate from high school because getting kicked out unmotivated her.

Although i understand that marijuana is illegal, i don't think that schools should kick students out for possessing it. They should inform the police and let them handle it. They are basically telling children that if experiment at all within high school that they won't have a future or an education.


Not to mention while I was going to langley, there was a huge senior party in which case one grumpy senior was not invited and informed the school and police that some kids had alcohol with them at school. This caused the school to go into lock down and had the canine group search the school. 32 seniors got kicked out a month before graduating. Things like this is one reason why America's students aren't finishing high school.

fairfaxcountyparent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For all you dumb shits trying to claim that Josh
> brought this on himself, consider this: Teenage
> brains are underdeveloped. That's what scientific
> research SHOWS. Judgement is impaired. That's why
> VA doesn't let kids drive more than one other kid,
> why practically every state doesn't let kids drink
> until well past the age of consent, etc. etc. How
> does FCPS---that bastion of educational
> prowess---responsd to the challenges posed by
> developing teenage brains? They say: "We just
> don't give a shit." The reason Josh is dead is
> because FCPS "just didn't give a shit."
>
> That is the sad truth.
>
> fairfaxcountyparent@hotmail.com


Just three posts above is this information:

Quote

The story of Josh is very, very sad. However, this kid did get a "second chance". When he first got caught with pot at Langley HS he was just sent over to South Lakes HS. Only after he got caught with pot at South Lakes did they recommend for explusion. So, had he just done the right thing at South Lakes (where he was playing football, etc) none of this would have happened. It seems pretty clear that this kid had more serious issues than just the Hearing.

Also, in reality FCPS never really "expels" anyone, they just send them off to one of the alternative high schools for one year or graduation whichever is sooner.

Do you care to rethink your comments about FCPS?

No, I don't care to rethink my comments. FCPS is handling this the wrong way from start to finish. In the vast majority of cases, transferring a first time offender from one school to another accomplishes nothing good, and much harm. It 1) destroys capital (for the kid AND his parents), and 2) because of the draconian way FCPS handles the transfers and the probationary conditions, it makes the kid feel like worthless scum. If these are the objectives, the program is exceptionally successful. But in my opinion, handling first time mistakes this way is stupid.

You will never know whether Josh would have reacted differently if his first incident had been handled in a way that didn't treat a kid with a developing teenage brain like worthless scum. Perhaps he would have slipped again, perhaps not. You will never know, because you dropped a tactical nuclear weapon on him and his family for his first offense.

I agree that punishment should have deterrence benefits, and that penalties should rise with repeat offenses. However, zero tolerance for kids with underdeveloped frontal lobes does not and never will make any sense. If FCPS didn't have its head in the sand, it would recognize this, because all one has to do is review the evidence. I'm not holding my breath.

The rules are there for everyone. If every teen is as underdeveloped as you seem to think, then wouldn't they all be doing the same things. Wouldn't everyone be expelled, etc. The sad story that many parents like to tell is that every kid is smoking, drinking, having sex, whatever. And that is just plain bs. I believe the majority of teens are hard working kids who are doing the right thing. When someone's kid gets in trouble, pregnant, arrested, whatever, the parents (who really hadn't been paying attention) quickly jump up and say...."every kid is doing this not just mine". It's an excuse, simple as that....

hsparent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The rules are there for everyone. If every teen
> is as underdeveloped as you seem to think, then
> wouldn't they all be doing the same things.
> Wouldn't everyone be expelled, etc. The sad story
> that many parents like to tell is that every kid
> is smoking, drinking, having sex, whatever. And
> that is just plain bs. I believe the majority of
> teens are hard working kids who are doing the
> right thing. When someone's kid gets in trouble,
> pregnant, arrested, whatever, the parents (who
> really hadn't been paying attention) quickly jump
> up and say...."every kid is doing this not just
> mine". It's an excuse, simple as that....

How many teachers smoke pot or do drugs? I bet a lot.

What about Dale and his AD staff? How many? Lets do drug test on all FCPS employees and we will know who is breaking the rules.

In agreement with hsparent. "Every teen does it" is an excuse.

Complete agreement that "everyone does it" is nothing more than an excuse. That was not my point. My point is that every one makes mistakes, and while some mistakes are worse than others and maybe can't be fixed, a decision to experiment with marijuana is not one of those mistakes. Nuclear penalties for such experimentation does not make sense.

Before you respond by saying that a school reassignment is not a nuclear penalty, you need to go through the process and observe the destruction before you are in a position to say that. If you've not seen it, you don't have a clue about it. The way FCPS handles it is mind-boggling. There are undoubtedly some silver linings that emerge now and then, but it is at the cost of unneeded destruction, and as we know from Josh's very sad case, the risks are high.

Zero tolerance is harsh, and everyone does make mistakes. If FCPS was not such a massive district and political connections here were not so insidious, perhaps they would not have to have this policy. Maybe then they could provide help to students and their parents without so much concern about favoritism or who knows whom.

Actually they would do it for a one time offense. I know a girl who was expelled from Marshall HS for giving a friend Midol... she ended up at McLean HS for 2 years then was allowed back at Marshall.
The zero tolerance is there for a reason, sometimes they take it too far for certain. However, the child AND parentsgot the same info and had to sign the same papers my daughter and I had to sign. He knew this cold happen and made a choice. There are consequences when you break rules, it's just that simple.
Basically his punishment was that he had to switch schools wasn't it? Oh yeah and threatened that if he got caught again there would be further action...
I hate many of the things that FCPS do, I feel for this family, but lets be honest. If he hung himself because he had to switch schools, he probably had other emotional issues.

Every HS kid is probably doing something teen stupid. It may not be drugs, alcohol or sex - which seem to be the FCPS hot buttons - but they are doing SOMETHING their parents don't know about. Don't think you know your teen. Even Judge Judy says you can tell when a teen is lying - when their lips are moving.

Watchin you must be ms scanlon herself. No one else on this earth would defend a worthless piece of crap I ever met. worst case of napoleon complex I have ever seen in my life!

Unless you have lived it and experienced the gestapo then don't run your mouth. Fairfax County School system And School Board seriously need to go to jail. They are power freaks that don't care about doing what is in the best interest of the student. Let your child be caught in the middle of something he was not at fault for and lose everything because another kid has relations to the officer. Give me a break. Dana Scanlon needs to be jailed. She is a freak looking troll that needs to go back under a rock. I say families need to petition the state to have her investigated and punished for what she does to children's lives

Because every problem in the world has exactly one cause? Calm the fuck down.

I have talked to multitudes of students handled by scanlon. Maybe you should and then you would have a better perspective. You should learn to use educated words while you are at it.

Scanlon is not about doing what is best for any student. She is all about the power trip. But even Hitler was brought to justice.

I went to South Lakes, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. It is the only school in FFX cty that they can't fill. Go to SL and you 80% likely to end up in prison.

I bet Scanlon is a republican and goes to McLean Bible Church. Nice little Christians there.

I hate fcps

THE FUCK THEY WON'T. THEY EXPELLED ME AND A FRIEND BECAUSE MY FRIEND HAD AN EMPTY BEER CAN IN HIS CAR.

No they expelled you for poor spelling,using all caps , and use of vulgar language.