Posted on 03/20/2014 11:55:06 AM PDT by nickcarraway
We teach kids that honesty is the best policy, but at one Virginia Beach middle school it might be better to keep the truth to yourself.
Last Thursday at Bayside Middle School, sixth grader Adrionna Harris came to the aide of a classmate who was cutting his arm. She faces expulsion for taking a razor from the student, throwing it away and convincing him what he was doing wasn’t right. She thought she was doing the right thing, so on Friday she told the school administration what happened. The way school officials responded led to this question: was the school’s zero tolerance policy taken too far?
Instead of getting praise from the school administration, Adrionna got a 10 day suspension with recommendation for expulsion. The interesting thing — the only reason Adrionna got suspended was because she admitted what happened. The alleged weapon was thrown away, and it was her word alone that led to her suspension.
“I was shocked and surprised. I was very shocked that a student would get suspended for saving another child,” said Rachael Harris, Adrionna’s mother. “The school system over-reached absolutely.”
The school’s own details of the event state Adrionna reported the student had a razor blade. She admitted taking it from the student then throwing the blade away.
“I took the razor blade, and then I threw it away immediately … I didn’t carry it around the school … I didn’t use it against anyone … I threw it away,” she told 10 On Your Side.
“I felt she did the right thing,” said Rachael Harris. “Under the circumstances, she thought he would bleed out, as he was cutting himself, and there was no teacher in sight. It was a 911 situation, and there wasn’t time to find a teacher.”
We asked Adrionna, if she would do the same thing again, knowing she would get suspended for holding the blade.
“Even if I got in trouble, it didn’t matter because I was helping him … I would do it again even if I got suspended, yes,” she said.
Most frustrating to the Harris family is they feel like they were ignored — none of their calls were returned about the incident until 10 On Your Side got involved. WAVY.com made calls and went to the school. We called school board members, who didn’t want to comment, but calls finally came in to the Harris family.
“It is amazing. They are listening to us now … she should be back in school tomorrow and that would be fair,” said Rachael Harris.
Wednesday night, Virginia Beach City Public Schools agreed to do something that makes the Harris family really happy — they’ve moved Adrionna’s suspension hearing, which was supposed to be in ten days, to Thursday.
The Harris family hopes after the hearing, where everything is explained again, that Adrionna will be allowed back to class on Friday or at the latest Monday.
You can count on WAVY.com to keep you updated on what happens.
that explains it, it’s dead
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.....
Government school teachers generally care more about covering their ass and protecting their lucrative pensions than the welfare of the children.
Liberals don’t want ordinary people to be heroes, they want all the heroes to work for the government.
I believe you have nailed the chief reason. Nobody trusts the judgment of the person in charge at the lower levels. Constant policy revisions, forms and procedures are put in place to remove any room for common sense or judgment calls in dealing with students (or any one else for that matter)
I'm aware of one school system that wants its teachers to plan their lessons in 6 minute intervals instead of allowing them the freedom to adjust their teaching to the students' needs or shortcomings in a given area.
I have also seen it at the corporate level with manuals for offices even designating how many inches apart the desks should be separated.
And all of them need to have their names plastered all over the Internet.
If they want anonymity then let them be self employed. As public servants they make public decisions.
Contact a lawyer and get ready to move out of state.
Anti-bully campaigns can be used to promote speech (thought) restrictions and teach kids how to be ruled as opposed to how to be free.
Yeah. Amazing. Simply amazing.
If you just sit and think about this for a minute, I don’t know how anyone with a modicum of intelligence could come up with these actions.
Anyone associated with this (making the rule, interpreting the rule, applying the rule, etc.) is not fit or intelligent enough to sweep street gutters with a hand broom, much less be in contact with children.
This is torch and pitch forks stuff...
Actually, they are being taught THAT the Transformed America will work.
However, it doesn't. It will not because it cannot work.
It has failed every time it has been tried.
How are we ever going to get heroes if those who try are treated like zeroes?
Yes.... grrrr, these are servants. What master ever asked them to do something so freakishly crazy?
Exactly. A kid tries to be righteous and truly help someone and gets punished for it.
Welcome to the New Amerika. Where Government is the only source of “compassion” allowed.
“Fundamentally Transformed” with emphasis on “mental.”
Someone write a protest song...
Hey, maybe that someone is me.
For what it’s worth. I can’t see how there wouldn’t be a furor over this. The idiocy is getting very tangible now.
I can agree with that.
Only if you consider a couple hundred miles south to still be "the DC area."
With that said, VBPS do leave a great deal to be desired from what I read/see in the news.
Virginia Beach is 200 miles (give or take) south east of DC.
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