Hello all INGOers,
From day one, my wife and I have taught our children to say no to drugs. There are programs like D.A.R.E. that teach kids that drugs are bad. We tell them that if they see people doing drugs to say no. Schools have taught children to say no to drugs.
Well on Tuesday 02/23/2010 my 13 year old daughter was in gym locker room getting ready for gym class, when a fellow student came up to her told her look what so-and-so brought to me. She then handed my daughter a pill that was later determined to be an adderall pill. She looked at it, and put it back in the girls bag, and said no she didnt want it.
WAY TO GO RACHAEL!!!!!
She went to gym class, and finished gym, went to her next class, and about halfway thru the class, the principal of the school came and took her to the office. He proceeded to question her about the incident, she told him what happened, and she remained in his office until the end of school which was about 30 minutes. The next day when she went to school, she was again brought down to the principals office this time to be questioned by the assistant principal. She explained what happened and was asked to fill out a "witness statement" which she did voluntarily. At that point, she was asked to wait in the counseling office. My wife was then called and told to come pick our daughter up because she was being suspended for 5 days because she was "in possession" of drugs on school property. My wife proceeded to the school, and talked with the assistant principal, and was basically told that because our daughter hand handled the pill she was technically "in possession" of drugs, and the policy was to suspend out daughter and require her to go to drug counseling before she would be allowed back into school.
I myself as a father, as well as EVERYONE else who has heard our story agree, that the message that this sends is absolutely incorrect, the message that this sends is that if you do drugs you will get into trouble, and if you say no to drugs, you will get into trouble, so if you are going to get in trouble whether you do drugs or say no, then you might as well do the drugs since you are going to get in trouble anyway....
My wife and I were told in no uncertain terms that this was school policy, and this zero-tolerance policy would be enforced.
Well I figured since they wanted to be very matter-of-fact, I called the school superintendents office, asked to speak with the superintendent, was told I would have to leave a message. I then received a call from the assistant superintendent, asking about my concerns. I told him that I was only going to speak with the superintendent, and said thank you very much, and goodbye, and hung up the phone. Not receiving a callback from the superintendent by about 1630 I called his office back, and was again directed to leave a message which I did. I then call my wife who I tell to contact the news media outlets. She contacted whas11 and wlky32 in Louisville, KY just across the river from us here in Jeffersonville. I then sent e-mails to the national coordinator for D.A.R.E. and the local coordinator for Indiana. I also e-mailed every reporter at wave3 in Louisville. Our story was picked up by wave3 and whas11 news and my wife and daughter were interviewed and was lead story on the 6PM news on 02/25/2010 on both stations. Unbelievable I think wow, our story is something that the news thinks people ought to know about.
Well I ask that you all watch to videos, they were also the front page of both the news websites.
WAVE3 Video
WHAS11 Video
I myself have contacted the Indiana superindendent of schools Tony Bennett, and was told by his office that this would be handled only by the local school district. I contacted the school board president, who was very helpful, and I thank him for his assistance. The national director for D.A.R.E. e-mailed me back to tell me that they are a prevention organization and not an enforcement organization, which made no sense to me. How about a call to the school principal, asking how come a student is being suspended for saying no to drugs? How about a call from the local chapter of D.A.R.E. to say:
WAY TO GO RACHAEL!!!!!
So I dont really understand why I would get back the response I got, but I did e-mail back asking for clarification and have not yet received a response. -1 to D.A.R.E.
I received a call back from the school board president, who said that he could get a phone conference with myself and the school superintendent, Stephen Daschner. Well yesterday, Friday, I had that phone conference, and along with Stephen Daeschner, the assistant superintendent, we talked at length about my daughters situation, and quite honestly I can sum it up in just a couple of words, "She handled the pill, she was in possession, she will serve her suspension, period, explanation point, the end!" Oh but we will accept a letter from her pastor saying that she doesnt do drugs, he has talked to her and they will accept that instead of the drug counseling.
Well -1 to the Greater Clark County Schools My wife and I have talked at great length about taking our children out of the school system andhome schooling them. At least they would loose the federal bucks for 2 more children. But that is another story, and this post is already too long. I plan to pursue other avenues of opportunity, like my local city council person, mayor, other politicos in the chain. Just to put pressure on the schools that this kind of stuff is WRONG.
My daughter should have been awarded some kind of a D.A.R.E. award for saying no, but she is being punished for doing what the system asked her to do. The ONLY thing, and I mean the ONLY thing that I could even find any fault in her was why she didnt report the incident to the principal, and teacher immediately, well it didnt make any difference if she would have or not, because during the news interview of Marty Bell the COO of the school system, he said, that even if she would have reported it immediately she would have been suspended, because "she handled the drugs, so she was in possession". Well again, good job in making the school district look like fools.
Well I will post follow-ups as things progress, I hope that this story gets out as this is BS to the highest degree.
Thanks for listening...
INGunGuy and PROUD daddy to RACHAEL who by the way is dead on with her Remington 597!
From day one, my wife and I have taught our children to say no to drugs. There are programs like D.A.R.E. that teach kids that drugs are bad. We tell them that if they see people doing drugs to say no. Schools have taught children to say no to drugs.
Well on Tuesday 02/23/2010 my 13 year old daughter was in gym locker room getting ready for gym class, when a fellow student came up to her told her look what so-and-so brought to me. She then handed my daughter a pill that was later determined to be an adderall pill. She looked at it, and put it back in the girls bag, and said no she didnt want it.
WAY TO GO RACHAEL!!!!!
She went to gym class, and finished gym, went to her next class, and about halfway thru the class, the principal of the school came and took her to the office. He proceeded to question her about the incident, she told him what happened, and she remained in his office until the end of school which was about 30 minutes. The next day when she went to school, she was again brought down to the principals office this time to be questioned by the assistant principal. She explained what happened and was asked to fill out a "witness statement" which she did voluntarily. At that point, she was asked to wait in the counseling office. My wife was then called and told to come pick our daughter up because she was being suspended for 5 days because she was "in possession" of drugs on school property. My wife proceeded to the school, and talked with the assistant principal, and was basically told that because our daughter hand handled the pill she was technically "in possession" of drugs, and the policy was to suspend out daughter and require her to go to drug counseling before she would be allowed back into school.
I myself as a father, as well as EVERYONE else who has heard our story agree, that the message that this sends is absolutely incorrect, the message that this sends is that if you do drugs you will get into trouble, and if you say no to drugs, you will get into trouble, so if you are going to get in trouble whether you do drugs or say no, then you might as well do the drugs since you are going to get in trouble anyway....
My wife and I were told in no uncertain terms that this was school policy, and this zero-tolerance policy would be enforced.
Well I figured since they wanted to be very matter-of-fact, I called the school superintendents office, asked to speak with the superintendent, was told I would have to leave a message. I then received a call from the assistant superintendent, asking about my concerns. I told him that I was only going to speak with the superintendent, and said thank you very much, and goodbye, and hung up the phone. Not receiving a callback from the superintendent by about 1630 I called his office back, and was again directed to leave a message which I did. I then call my wife who I tell to contact the news media outlets. She contacted whas11 and wlky32 in Louisville, KY just across the river from us here in Jeffersonville. I then sent e-mails to the national coordinator for D.A.R.E. and the local coordinator for Indiana. I also e-mailed every reporter at wave3 in Louisville. Our story was picked up by wave3 and whas11 news and my wife and daughter were interviewed and was lead story on the 6PM news on 02/25/2010 on both stations. Unbelievable I think wow, our story is something that the news thinks people ought to know about.
Well I ask that you all watch to videos, they were also the front page of both the news websites.
WAVE3 Video
WHAS11 Video
I myself have contacted the Indiana superindendent of schools Tony Bennett, and was told by his office that this would be handled only by the local school district. I contacted the school board president, who was very helpful, and I thank him for his assistance. The national director for D.A.R.E. e-mailed me back to tell me that they are a prevention organization and not an enforcement organization, which made no sense to me. How about a call to the school principal, asking how come a student is being suspended for saying no to drugs? How about a call from the local chapter of D.A.R.E. to say:
WAY TO GO RACHAEL!!!!!
So I dont really understand why I would get back the response I got, but I did e-mail back asking for clarification and have not yet received a response. -1 to D.A.R.E.
I received a call back from the school board president, who said that he could get a phone conference with myself and the school superintendent, Stephen Daschner. Well yesterday, Friday, I had that phone conference, and along with Stephen Daeschner, the assistant superintendent, we talked at length about my daughters situation, and quite honestly I can sum it up in just a couple of words, "She handled the pill, she was in possession, she will serve her suspension, period, explanation point, the end!" Oh but we will accept a letter from her pastor saying that she doesnt do drugs, he has talked to her and they will accept that instead of the drug counseling.
Well -1 to the Greater Clark County Schools My wife and I have talked at great length about taking our children out of the school system andhome schooling them. At least they would loose the federal bucks for 2 more children. But that is another story, and this post is already too long. I plan to pursue other avenues of opportunity, like my local city council person, mayor, other politicos in the chain. Just to put pressure on the schools that this kind of stuff is WRONG.
My daughter should have been awarded some kind of a D.A.R.E. award for saying no, but she is being punished for doing what the system asked her to do. The ONLY thing, and I mean the ONLY thing that I could even find any fault in her was why she didnt report the incident to the principal, and teacher immediately, well it didnt make any difference if she would have or not, because during the news interview of Marty Bell the COO of the school system, he said, that even if she would have reported it immediately she would have been suspended, because "she handled the drugs, so she was in possession". Well again, good job in making the school district look like fools.
Well I will post follow-ups as things progress, I hope that this story gets out as this is BS to the highest degree.
Thanks for listening...
INGunGuy and PROUD daddy to RACHAEL who by the way is dead on with her Remington 597!
to both you and your wife. If only more parents were as involved and concerned as the two of you obviously are.
