Honor Roll High School Student Faces Expulsion

[Doug]

I'm not saying she should have criminal charges. I'm saying she is lucky she doesn't. Back when I was in school you were allowed to have your shotgun or rifle in your vehicle if you were heading to school from hunting or heading out right after school. The issue I have is people wanting to make special rules because the girl is on the honor roll. Did she have intent to harm anyone? No, but that doesn't change the fact that she could be facing SERIOUS charges if the school system and police felt she needed to face those charges. She would've been better off if she could've gotten a family member to come with the keys and take the vehicle off school property. If it would've been me, I wouldn't have called the office to tell them I had a rifle in my trunk. My call would've been to a family member that had a spare key, which at least 3 did when I was in high school.

In my opinion, she should not be punished because there was no indication of intent to break the rules or harm another person. She is a teenager; she forgot.

The fact that she could face serious criminal charges is because the laws are stupid and were passed by micro-managing buffoons practicing CYA in the extreme.

BTW, calling a family member might have gotten her expelled for using a cell phone in school (presumably to make a drug deal, don't you know). You can't use a phone in the office because you have no expectation of privacy and all student calls are likely monitored.

In the old days, when people in authority had common sense, made decisions, and took responsibility for those decisions, she would not have been punished.

Since there is no common sense today, your best tactic is to say nothing. Keep your mouth shut until the parents arrive and determine whether or not you need a lawyer.

 

[femurphy77]

The rules are the rules is a weak argument made by weak people that don't have the fortitude to stand up and do the right thing.


Good grief people, dig back into the dark reaches of your brains and see what's going on around us!

 

[indyjoe]

Since there is no common sense today, your best tactic is to say nothing. Keep your mouth shut until the parents arrive and determine whether or not you need a lawyer.

+100 Exactly.

 

[Doug]

and contraband sniffing dogs combing the parking lot? are next years school uniforms going to be orange jump suits?

No, but there MIGHT be TSA style pat-downs of all students (and the hot-looking teachers).


(As they say, at TSA, if you're going to grope the hotties, you've got to pat the fatties.)

 

[wag1911]

What have we learned here? ......

That common sense is not very common anymore.

 

[Roadie]

she may not be irresponsible gun owner, but the rules are the rules...glad she is only getting expelled for 21 days instead of a whole year...
-----------------
Liberals are communist f***tardsLiberals are communist f***tards

Uhm, sorry, but your statement, and your Signature, just do NOT go together.

Communists are taught never to question rules and laws, but in a free society it is not only allowed, but should be encouraged, when injustice is involved.

Since the "rules are the rules" does that mean you agree with, and abide by, every rule(law) set down by our Government?

Like, say, Chicago's gun laws? Rules are rules, right?

 

[Expat]

This is in Montana for Pete's sake. Why the heck are they searching vehicles with dogs, opening lockers, etc. My town doesn't do that here at our local school in Indiana... I thought folks out there would be right thinking Americans. Apparently not.

 

[ghostinthewood]

Before too many people bash on school officials, my dad is a principal (previously a teacher) and he and I have both forgotten guns in our trucks before. Kids have forgotten knives and bullets and whatnot and he's let them take them home or had their parents pick it up without many people knowing. Not all officials are evil. =o

He also hates 0 tolerance policies. The reason there are so many 0 tolerance policies because certain people higher up were wanting more accountability and thats easy to do when there is a black and white answer to everything, however that is another topic and another rant.

Being on a gun forum, I think its safe to assume I think this is bogus. =p Rules are rules, sure. If I was in that situation I could live with a 3day suspension or some form of in scholl suspension or some detentions or something like that. However, this is too far.

 

[Roadie]

This is in Montana for Pete's sake. Why the heck are they searching vehicles with dogs, opening lockers, etc. My town doesn't do that here at our local school in Indiana... I thought folks out there would be right thinking Americans. Apparently not.

Indeed.

The sad thing is, this girl has now learned to NOT trust authority, and NOT be honest...

 

[Roadie]

Before too many people bash on school officials, my dad is a principal (previously a teacher) and he and I have both forgotten guns in our trucks before. Kids have forgotten knives and bullets and whatnot and he's let them take them home or had their parents pick it up without many people knowing. Not all officials are evil. =o

He also hates 0 tolerance policies. The reason there are so many 0 tolerance policies because certain people higher up were wanting more accountability and thats easy to do when there is a black and white answer to everything, however that is another topic and another rant.

Being on a gun forum, I think its safe to assume I think this is bogus. =p Rules are rules, sure. If I was in that situation I could live with a 3day suspension or some form of in scholl suspension or some detentions or something like that. However, this is too far.

I think a zero tolerance discussion is pretty relevant. Zero tolerance says that a thug carrying a "9 millie" into school to "bus a cap" is the same as a Honor Roll student and avid hunter leaving an unloaded rifle in her trunk.
(or the previous case with the ROTC member, honor roll student, with the small knife in his med kit in his car being made out to be the same as some Blood or Crip carrying a switchblade into school to kill someone).

Yes, being an Honor Roll student DOES matter, btw. Character and actions should count and be taken into consideration, two things that zero tolerance policies leave out, by nature.

 

[Doug]

Indeed.

The sad thing is, this girl has now learned to NOT trust authority, and NOT be honest...

Learning to NOT trust authority is the natural consequence of zero tolerance policies. In zero tolerance situations, NOT trusting authority is a good thing.

I am thankful, ghostinthewood, for all the brave principals and teachers who consider intent and, in many cases, put their jobs in jeopardy, in order to be fair.

As for the second point, you don't have to be dishonest, just refuse to talk to them.

 

[flagtag]

Is she suppose to get a free pass because she makes the honor roll? If she broke the rules she has to suffer some. You can't just say because you help the overall school GPA and test scores, you don't have to follow the rules. Why even have any rules if everything is going to be done on a case by case basis and based on the GPA and possible morals of the student?

WOW! I can hardly wait until "they" come up with a "zero tolerence" rule for those who "forget" to give the Nazi salute and greeting to school officials daily.

 

[wag1911]

Before too many people bash on school officials, my dad is a principal (previously a teacher)......Not all officials are evil. =o

I don't think this is about bashing the officials so much as it is about bashing Zero Intelligence Policies that some adhere to without thought.

That said, if you've got school officials who are more concerned with the letter of the rule rather than judging the case on it's merit, then bash away.....it'd be well deserved since those people are no more intelligent or deserving of respect than puppets on a string.

We'll know late tomorrow night or Tuesday morning. Make your voice heard.

 

[ghostinthewood]

I don't think this is about bashing the officials so much as it is about bashing Zero Intelligence Policies that some adhere to without thought.

That said, if you've got school officials who are more concerned with the letter of the rule rather than judging the case on it's merit, then bash away.....it'd be well deserved since those people are no more intelligent or deserving of respect than puppets on a string.

We'll know late tomorrow night or Tuesday morning. Make your voice heard.

I was just throwing that out there before too many zombies made posts bashing officials. Believe it or not, I've heard that argument a lot when people dont really know what they're talking about. I was just shutting it down before the mindless went off.

Roadie: Nooooo its super relevant, but for as much as I would have to say about it, no one on the internet would read it. So I just stopped myself from a megarant is all. =p

 

[Mourtegoul]

4th amendment?

Could the school officials search her vehicle in the parking lot without a warrant? She might have been better off just leaving the school for the day, I imagine the punishment for truancy is quite mild by comparison.

I know when I was growing up in small town Missouri, students, teachers and staff all had rifles in their trucks for deer season, and not in the trunk: on the rifle rack. If mere possession is sufficient for expulsion, it would be a great way to get rid of bullies, buy a rusty old gun at the pawn shop and leave it in their car.

Agreed, re: zero-tolerance. Anything that removes logical thought from the legal process is a step backward, hardly better than tyranny.

--Mourty

 

[flagtag]

Could the school officials search her vehicle in the parking lot without a warrant? She might have been better off just leaving the school for the day, I imagine the punishment for truancy is quite mild by comparison.

I know when I was growing up in small town Missouri, students, teachers and staff all had rifles in their trucks for deer season, and not in the trunk: on the rifle rack. If mere possession is sufficient for expulsion, it would be a great way to get rid of bullies, buy a rusty old gun at the pawn shop and leave it in their car.

Agreed, re: zero-tolerance. Anything that removes logical thought from the legal process is a step backward, hardly better than tyranny.

--Mourty

AMEN to that!!
I remember those days as well. If anything, the teacher/principal would talk "gun/hunting" talk with a student with a shotgun/rifle in his/her vehicle. (Those were the days! Sigh.)

 

[sepe]

WOW! I can hardly wait until "they" come up with a "zero tolerence" rule for those who "forget" to give the Nazi salute and greeting to school officials daily.

Isn't that the salute that was used in the good ol days before people started happily giving away rights and we started seeing zero tolerance rules? With everything that I've said I do NOT agree with zero tolerance but there is a Federal Act about this exact thing. She could have been in a lot more trouble than missing some school. There are kids taking guns to school whether they forgot or they want to cause harm at least monthly across the country.

I'm not really sure where everyone was reading that she was going to be expelled from the year because a different article that I've seen says

The principal told her she was suspended and faced at least a 21-day expulsion. A hearing is set for Monday night to determine DeReu's punishment. The superintendent said the administration would not recommend a year-long suspension.

She would have been either better off having someone get the vehicle or keeping her mouth shut.

 

[sepe]

Can you tell me the date/time stamp of that comment? I couldn't find it.

Name, time stamp and date...with the entire post, it should be about the 10th comment down the page

alphamale posted at 7:41 pm on Thu, Dec 9, 2010.

As a former student of CFHS, i have personally seen this happen before and I have been to a board meeting to defend my best friend who was in the EXACT same situation. He didn't drink or do drugs, and he even pulled straight A's all through high school. He was suspended for 5 days. Yes, he was a good kid, but unfortunately he still dealt with the consequences for his mistaken action.
The reason these rules are even enforced are because of events such as: the shootings at Columbine High and Virginia Tech. We may live in a small town but that doesn't mean that someone isn't capable of commiting such a crime. These rules that are enforced are general rules that are to be applied to every student who walks through CFHS.
In the article it states that the conditions of the situation are to be taken into consideration while determining the punishment of the student. In this girl's case i can assure you that it will turn out very similar to the case that i have witnessed.
In my opinion, rules are enforced for a reason. It is unfortunate that this girl has to be punished but it isn't a personal matter. She will probably only be suspended for a short period of time and i promise her life will move on.

 

[ghostinthewood]

AMEN to that!!
I remember those days as well. If anything, the teacher/principal would talk "gun/hunting" talk with a student with a shotgun/rifle in his/her vehicle. (Those were the days! Sigh.)

Refer back to my dad. xD

 

[sadclownwp]

I am behind the School 100% and i'm not afraid to say it. The words "forgot" and "gun/rifle" should never be in the same sentence. I don't care if she was an honor student, thats totally irrelevant. Anyone who believes that how good a student someone is has anything to do with making there punishment less, is only a stones throw away from saying that a certain sect of people is better than/ deserves to be treated differently than others.

I'm not saying that I hope the girl is expelled and her future destroyed, but I have no pity for stupid people.