Excellence in Zero Tolerance Education

Another one that is too good to pass up.

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Posted by Bill Jempty
Published: September 12, 2008 - 3:15 PM

Today's winners are Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Principal Jill McAden, Asst. Principal Kim Bratt, and Superintendent of Beaufort County Schools, Valerie Truesdale. They get the award for the following.

A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.

The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway.

A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade during class on Tuesday, according to a Beaufort County sheriff's report.

It was obvious that the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small, plastic pencil sharpener, the deputy noted.

The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal.

He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.

District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district's zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense.

Zero tolerance in this case and others, is the mantra or justification for me who refuse to think. Part of a pencil sharpener is a weapon? Maybe, but so are pens, pencils, protractors and a long list of other items found in schools. How about paint and glue? A child may harm a classmate if they inject it into another's mouth. Any student bringing these should be suspended too. I mean school officials must have zero tolerance for any potential weapon.

A Beaufort County school spokesman said-

"We're always going to do something to make sure the child understands the seriousness of having something that could potentially harm another student, but we're going to be reasonable,"

Suspending a student over a broken pencil sharpener isn't a reasonable action except in the mind of idiots. Why are people like this educating students in South Carolina? Their brain matter is obviously more consistent with a person who digs ditches.

Steve Verdon at OTB wrote-

This policy is stupid in that a sliver of metal is probably far less lethal a weapon and a pencil or pen. The idea of preventing weapons on a school campus with young children is a laudable goal, but when you end up punishing a student for a silly mistake it is counter productive. The school district looks like a bunch of blithering morons and could undermine their authority (I'm sure the child has heard an earful from mom and dad about what a bunch of blithering morons the school officials are right on down to the teacher), undermine their credibility with the public, make them look incompetent and waste time on what amounts to literally a non-issue for the school, the parents and law enforcement.

*****

The reasonable thing is to say, "Have your mom buy another pencil sharpener, and throw that one out." Maybe having a meeting with the parents and the child and pointing out the concern. But for crying out loud a sliver of sharpened metal is nowhere near as deadly as a pencil, pen, a shod foot, a hard bound book, a chair, or a belt with a metal buckle. Hell, I bet a paper cut would be worse.

Being this stupid needs to hurt.

Its cases like this that show why schools in this country fail to educate. The principals and administrators are clueless idiots. One blogger called these school officials, 'retarded primates'. I think that's insulting to the real primates populating this planet.

The School Principal Jill McAden defended her, Kim Bratt(The person who called police to report the 'crime') and the school district's actions-

We regret that inaccuracies in a local news story created an impression that we do not use common sense in working with our children.

"The student was not suspended for having a pencil sharpener," McAden wrote. "He had an exposed blade which created a dangerous setting for the student and other children. The student was suspended for one day for inappropriate behavior in the classroom. The suspension was warranted."

The information in the story published in The Island Packet on Thursday was taken primarily from a Beaufort County sheriff's report. According to that report, the sheriff's office responded to the school after a teacher noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade.

"It was obvious the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small plastic pencil sharpener," the deputy noted in his report.

The 10-year-old boy -- described in the report as"a very good student who has not been in any previous trouble" -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal, according to the report.

He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended.

Here's a link to the police report in question. Draw your own conclusions. McAden's defense looks to me like the desperate actions of a person who has been discovered to be an out of control idiot. Being labeled as an national embarassment to the education system in this country has to hurt.

Valerie Truesdale is the superintendent of schools in the county, and her failure to reign in McAden and Bratt makes her equally assinine looking. Valerie I see you have a doctorate, may I ask if it is in total stupidity?

Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Principal Jill McAden, Asst. Principal Kim Bratt, and Superintendant of Beaufort County Schools, Valerie Truesdale are today's Knuckleheads of the Day. Show this off to Beaufort County schoolchildren, Ladies.