| Author | Message | ||
     fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 805 Registered: 5-2001 |
We'll test the chilling effect of the lawsuit. Earlier this week there was another fight in the CHS lunchroom, only this time the police were called and a student arrested. Does this signal a change in the way the CHS administration plane to deal with these continuing incidents or were there special circumstances for this particular one? | ||
| Concerned07040 Citizen Username: Concerned07040 Post Number: 34 Registered: 7-2004 |
Readers of MOL should know some additional facts about this incident: Only ONE staff member was on duty when the incident took place during 7th period lunch. No administrator or security guard was present. There is NO phone in the cafeteria. Students were sent upstairs to get the nurse and notify the main office. Question: who is in charge? Concerned07040 | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 269 Registered: 12-2004  |
IMHO: If the students were fighting on the street, wouldn't the police be called and the students arrested? If the school administration runs the risk of being sued whenever they get involved in one of these altercations, wouldn't it be better for the police to be called? You break the law, you pay the price. Is that somehow different inside the walls of the school? These are young adults we're talking about. Shouldn't they be held accountable as they would be in society at large? (uh, oh?) | ||
| lumpyhead Citizen Username: Lumpyhead Post Number: 1166 Registered: 3-2002 |
Punched him right in the face. Probably resulting in another lawsuit for their child being unsupervised. | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 271 Registered: 12-2004 |
lumpy: I know exactly what you mean. Probably like a lose-lose situation for the administration. Seems more like home is where the supervision is lacking. Apparently these "children" were never taught to "use their words" instead of thier fists. | ||
| D. Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5499 Registered: 4-1998  |
Can someone please post official information about this? We don't want to be left out. | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 272 Registered: 12-2004 |
  And make sure to include names! | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7815 Registered: 5-2001 |
Columbia has always been fairly liberal in handling fights in the school. Five years ago two Freshman boys got involved in a fight and a security guard was injured. This was handled as an in school matter. Both were suspended, made to appologize, etc. Both are now in college, one at Duke and the other at BU. I wonder what would have happened to these now young adults if they had been charged in juvenile court? | ||
| monster Supporter Username: Monster Post Number: 616 Registered: 7-2002  |
School workers should carry Tasers, and the kids should have been Tasered, and then the police called, and maybe tasered again, then thrown in the dirtiest jail cell, and then..... | ||
| Meandtheboys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 277 Registered: 12-2004 |
Monster: come on, tell us how you really feel!  | ||
| Iwant2 KeepMyJob Supporter Username: Fastfusion Post Number: 27 Registered: 12-2004  |
I am sure one of the 4 billion cameras caught it all. The student that swung first should be charged and suspended. The student defending should be rewarded! | ||
| jacman Citizen Username: Jacman Post Number: 276 Registered: 6-2002 |
There was a physical altercation involving about 75 students in the front hallway of CHS after school on Friday, too. The police were called then, too. I don't know what happened or how it was resolved. It was just a matter of time before incidents such as these started to break out frequently. For three years students have not had full schedules, they have not been required to serve detentions and the tone in the building has been "do what you want because there will be no consequences." No one should be surprised it's come to this. | ||
| Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 364 Registered: 8-2004 |
Wasn't there a delayed opening Friday? CHS sure has changed in the past 20 plus years!!! And not for the better either...  | ||
| fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 806 Registered: 5-2001 |
At the time of the lunchroom incident, some in the community thought it a minor irritant. Subsequent events have made it one of the defining moments for the district and school administration. While the lessening of First Amendment rights have been touched upon (but the irony between the teachers' lawsuit against the district and the suit against MOL remains to be considered), the chilling effect that public comment and the threat of a civil suit have had on the CHS learning environment have not. While there are few if any objective stats, is there anyone who will make the case that CHS is a more civil school since the incident? Was it a Machiavellian truth that went something like - to exercise one's power is to diminish it - especially if the objective is not attained. There is no doubt that from the CHS teachers' perspective, Principal Pollack's show of force into the lunchroom and the administration/BOE's subsequent handling of the case has contributed to a significantly less safe workplace. Last week's events and the rumored confrontation between the lone teacher in the lunchroom and Principal Pollack are further confirmation of this perception. No one familiar with the administration - teacher relations at Columbia can honestly characterize them in any positive fashion. The stress caused by the fear factor is a major contributor to the significant differences there. The events of this week will make the next faculty interesting. The question presented by this thread is whether the administration has made a policy decision to use the police as a mechanism to restore order at the school. The unspoken question is whether Principal Pollack can reclaim the power lost. | ||
| Southorangemom Citizen Username: Southorangemom Post Number: 177 Registered: 6-2003 |
Fringe has touched upon some important points. The lunchroom incident of March, 2003 served to polarize the student body. You can agree or disagree with what happened, but the fact is this administration lost the respect of many students because of the way the event unfolded, and the consequences for the two students involved. During the 2 1/2 years of Mrs. Pollack's administration, there have been exactly two staff meetings in which the agenda has been open to dialogue about the state of CHS. This has contributed to an atmosphere of distrust and, at times, hostility between teachers and administrators. If teachers are not respected for their expertise in educating and mentoring students...then what is the point of working at Columbia High School? I understand this is one reason some teachers are now looking for employment elsewhere. CHS has a long tradition of being an academic institution that values communication and respect for all. There are parents, students and staff who feel that is no longer the case. Draw your own conclusions as to why this has happened. The delayed opening on Friday was due to state-wide HSPA testing for 11th graders. In order to keep the test site secure, only those who were taking the test were allowed entry into the building. SouthOrangeMom | ||
| wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 585 Registered: 5-2001 |
SouthOrangeMom, are you a faculty member at CHS? I ask because your post implies that you have seen all the agendas (agendi?) over the past two and half years and/or been present at the faculty meetings to know whether in fact there is dialogue between teachers and administrators about the state of CHS. Same with Fringe's post. While anecedotal and qualitative feedback that Fringe is posting above has merit, in no way do I assume that his summary - implying the majority of teachers or even a consensus among teachers believe the above - is valid. In fact, Fringe and I were at the same party yesterday. There I had a discussion with someone who attended the same meeting as I did (not related to school) and the conclusions this person and I drew about a third person's statements were exactly 180 degrees from eachother. If someone else hadn't been present during this discussion I would have started questioning whether I heard things correctly, our perceptions are so different. (Fringe had nothing to do with this discussion, I just mentioned it because it's somewhat ironic. Fringe and I also had a chat but that's not what I'm referrring to.) So what I'm trying to say in a very not succinct way is that perception and pre-conceived attitudes are inextribally(sp?) linked even if SouthOrangeMom attended these meetings and even if Fringe surveyed every teacher, both of which I doubt. Although if Fringe did survey every teacher I would be both impressed (as I am with his other objective criteria he posts) and somewhat alarmed since it would certainly make me question my own perceptions and pre-conceived attitudes. | ||
| jacman Citizen Username: Jacman Post Number: 277 Registered: 6-2002 |
In my humble opinion, it was not the cafeteria incident of 2003 in and of itself that sunk the ship. Initially, most of the staff supported the principal. Rather, it was subsequent behaviors and attitudes that reinforced students' hostilities and gradually informed staff’s negative perceptions, too. I believe Ms. Pollack could have built a trusting and validating school environment despite what happened in the cafeteria, but it would have taken the kind of skill that was not within her leadership capabilities. Unfortunately, I see only more of the same down the road. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 3404 Registered: 5-2001  |
How is she so awful? Kids don't like the how she's cracked down on what they perceive are silly rules? From my perspective, parent of two at the HS, I think she's doing a terrific job. | ||
| twig Citizen Username: Twig Post Number: 145 Registered: 5-2001 |
This is amazing. This thread concerns reported violence at the high school and several posters appear to blame the teachers and the administration. Oddly enough, there are a lot of high schools where the students manage to eat lunch and not get into fights and brawls. Does anyone else wonder what it is about these particular (I understand that it is only a few who do this) CHS students, not the teachers, that leads them to engage in this sort of behavior? I certainly understand the need to monitor 5 year olds every minute to make sure that they don't get into trouble...but aren't these young adults who are 15-18 years old? It just doesn't seem reasonable to affix the blame for the incident on the fact that there may have been only a single teacher on duty. | ||
| anon Citizen Username: Anon Post Number: 1679 Registered: 6-2002 |
ffof: I feel the way you do. What do your kids say about the atmosphere at the school? My wife asked a couple of sophmores today whether they ever feel "afraid" at the school and they said no and implied that they had no idea why she would even ask the question. I've been at the school a few times and I haven't noticed any problems. You have a building full of teenagers with raging hormones, etc.Of course there are going to be fights every once in a while. On what planet did some of you MOLers go to school? Having said that, I think there is a big difference between a couple of kids getting into a fight and a kid attacking the principal. |
