A growing expulsion pipeline
Staff was added to help handle these cases. But critics see students in disciplinary limbo.
by Wendy Harris
Students get ready to start the school day at Philadelphia Learning Academy South, one of two new alternative District schools for students who have been expelled or are awaiting an expulsion hearing.
Unlike some 11th graders, Kyle Mechin knows exactly what he would like to do after high school.
“I want to go to UCLA film school. I want to be a horror movie director,” he said.
An A and B student at Swenson Arts and Technology High School, Mechin was on his way to achieving his goal. He was taking a digital media arts class to learn filmmaking, and was encouraged by news that a friend who took the same class received a full scholarship to the college of her choice because of her work in that course.
But in September, after being caught with a pair of two-inch scissors in his backpack, Mechin was transferred to Shallcross, a disciplinary school run by Camelot Schools of Pennsylvania. The offense violated the District’s zero-tolerance policy, which says that students cannot bring onto school property materials that could be used as potential weapons. According to Pennsylvania’s Act 26, Mechin’s scissors – with blades smaller than his finger – are considered a weapon.
Mechin said he didn’t know the scissors were in his backpack. His girlfriend had put them there the night before after cleaning out her purse and forgot to retrieve them. Despite many testimonies on his behalf at his hearing and recommendations from teachers affirming his good behavior, Mechin was removed from Swenson.
Since the fall of 2008, the District’s zero-tolerance policies have put hundreds of students on track to expulsion. Questionable cases like Mechin’s are hard to quantify, but not exceptional.
At Shallcross, Mechin completes course work several grades below his own, is allowed only 15 minutes for lunch, has to surrender personal items in plastic bags each day, and is required to “walk in protocol” with his hands behind his back.
After 90 days at Shallcross, Mechin may be allowed to reapply to Swenson. But even if readmitted, he fears his future may have been irrevocably damaged.
“What colleges are going to look at me now?” he lamented.
No excuses
Philadelphia, like many districts, uses zero-tolerance policies to deter violence and improve school climate. But complaints are growing that flaws in the discipline process are unfairly snagging some students while subjecting too many to long delays and possibly violating their due process rights.
Community Responses to Zero Tolerance, an advocacy group, convened in January in response to the District’s new zero-tolerance policy, said Harold Jordan, a member and community organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“When you have policies like zero tolerance, too often they bring in a certain kind of rigidity that is not appropriate to all situations,” he said.
Since Superintendent Arlene Ackerman tightened zero tolerance in 2008-09, any student who commits a Level 2 offense (as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct) in school, on school property, or during any school-sanctioned activity could face suspension, referral to an alternative school, or expulsion. One big change under Ackerman is that those who commit Level 2 offenses considered to be “zero-tolerance offenses” are automatically suspended with the intent to expel.
Comments (8)
Submitted by AKaman (not verified) on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 22:28.
Don't kid yourself. The school district is doing nothing to improve school climate. These schools are not happy places for children or teachers.
School climate is a large factor in school improvement. There will be no improvement in climate until the teacher inquisition ends, and administrators as well as teachers look for the good to celebrate.
My favorite is the one about a teacher who received a memo for not giving English grades to three students who weren't even in her class. When approached, administration instead of acknowledging the mistake and apologizing, stood by it.
Got to meet the quota.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 21:11.
A Kaman...Let's face it...you can't Torquemada anything!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/28/2009 - 20:47.
Ha! I've broken up 7 fistfights in 3 months of school. 2 out of 14 combatants were suspended. The rest were returned immediatley to class. Zero tolerance my behind!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 11/29/2009 - 23:23.
Two pregnant teachers were shoved to the ground by students and two male teachers were also attacked. None of them received a suspension, let alone an expulsion. I think you'd better look a little deeper into this story.Many truly dangerous students remain in our schools, threatening their peers and making it difficult to teach.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 12:11.
There are some very dedicated professionals in the School District. There are also a lot of bureaucrats more concerned with their careers than the need to squash political correctness and LEAD the organization forward. Attorneys and the ACLU are paralyzing the district's ability to fulfill its mission.
Submitted by Christopher Paslay (not verified) on Sat, 12/05/2009 - 11:55.
This story does quite a job of tugging on our heartstrings. I might have been taken in by it, only I teach at the school where one of these students attended, and I know that the picture the Notebook paints of this student is off the mark to say the least; it’s clear the Notebook conveniently left out a number of important background details.
In fact, the Notebook’s depiction of this student is so far off base it’s mind blowing; when some of the faculty at our school read it, they tossed the story across their desk in disbelief.
To read more about the misleading nature of this story, click on the link below.
http://chalkandtalk.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/eye-on-the-notebook-%e2%80%...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 12:51.
My 14 year old son was involved in an incident at school in the fall of 2008 where he made a comment in anger at a class mate saying "you're dead". At the time my son was extremely upset and angry and was then questioned by the guidance couselor who said to him oh come on you don't mean that you're really going to kill him do you? Still upset and very angry my son said oh yes I do...and so began our "zero tolerance nightmare". He was expelled and we were offered the opportunity to have a hearing with the school board. We checked with people in our community who had the experience of dealing with our school board on such matters and were advised not to put our son through that due to the fact that the board would curcify him and embarass him and we wouldn't win the case due to zero tolerance. Our choice was not to put our emotionally fragile son through that process. The school recommended an alternative school program called a "Partial Program" which entailed partial education and partial counceling sessions during the school day. This program is located within a local high school in a different school district than ours. The Superintendent of the other district would not accept him due to the expulsion from our home district. Due to the "political connection/friendship of our Superintendent and the other district's Superintendent, the expulsion was waived so that my son could attend the other districts program.
In order for my son to be eligible for the program he had to be put on Medical Assistance in spite of the fact that he is covered under my health insurance at work. My point is this: if my son was sent home that day and a meeting arranged with both sets of parents, both students and the school administrators, my son would have had time to calm down and rethink his words and apologize for his words. Due to Zero Tolerance, that never happened. It cost my son his freshman year of high school and all that is associated with that which he will never re-coup. He has had his first and God willing, only dealings with the legal system. We went to court, he was on probation and is now in counseling. It is costing the tax payers of the State of PA because he will now be on Medical Assistance until he is 18 years old. The emotional toll that it has taken on this child is yet to be realized. He is now back in our home district but he is the outcast at school and is under constant scrutiny. This is a kid who was in this district from K-8 with not an issue but none of that was even taken into consideration. Zero Tolerance does not work!!
Submitted by eantonsen (not verified) on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:00.
As a new teacher in Philadelphia, I have mixed feelings about Zero Tolerance policies. In premise, it's a very logical expectation. Students should not behave in ways that disrupt the safety of their peers, especially in an educational setting. But at what point do you draw that line? How is a knife, mistakenly left in a backpack more dangerous than a number of desks being thrown across a classroom in the direction of students? One results in an expulsion and the other does not bear any consequences. I've had both in my classroom and it was the more violent incident that was brushed under the rug and the mistake that resulted in the most severe consequences. Regardless, neither incident should be tolerated - but is expulsion and suspension the right answer? Can there be a set procedure that accommodates all the backgrounds of each student and situation? If there can, then it needs to be followed consistently.
My students have been conditioned, by their community and the school's administration, to believe that violence and retaliation is acceptable in a classroom. Instead of assigning rather arbitrary and unhelpful consequences, we should be working harder to establish an environment that prepares our youngsters to become productive members of society. With such an emphasis on testing, standards, and data, where is there room to do this character building? Is the intent of a school to factory-produce pupils or to shape the people who will one day be running our country. Especially in an urban environment, if we are to prevent (or at least provide options to) the current model of social reproduction, it is especially necessary that we move away from the parallels between schools and prisons.
As other writers have suggested, there are always pieces of the puzzle that we don't understand. Students may have a history of disruption, schools may have a tendency to manipulate their records. But can we really spend so much of our efforts on history and records? Especially with the CSAP process, it seems as though the district is attempting to create a cookie-cutter remedy for the behavior situations that result in the more extreme, level 2 offenses. But if a teacher spends their time completing paperwork, when do they have time to work with students on appropriate behaviors. Again, a situation is created where standardization is great in theory, but ineffective in execution.
If there is a zero tolerance policy, it absolutely must be consistent and executable. The same should go for other behaviors - but the proper steps to prevent such behaviors should also be in place and executable.
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