The RIH Out of School Conduct Policy will be appealed – once again– by the RIH Board of Education.
Unless they wander off into the federal court system, this will hopefully be the last court case concerning the RIH Out of School Conduct policy which was the subject of public debate over the last two years.
Over the past years, numerous parents came to otherwise scarcely attended board meetings to express their opposition to a policy where students would be punished based on recommendations from the local police.
The contention concerning the out of school policy revolves around extra-curricula activities and the ability of the school to remove students from these programs based upon police recommendations. Parents objected that students who may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time might be unjustly penalized, with ramifications that could impact college placement.
Many parents also took exception that the school board was seeking to usurp their parental rights, and deprive their children of constitutional rights, by imposing punishment based on mere accusations and recommendations.
The RIH school board, seeking to mitigate the previous strong opposition to the plan struck down by the courts, is now stating that the next round of appeals will be handled pro bono – without cost to the taxpayer; but, it fails to address the moral opposition voiced by the majority of FLOW parents.
It is an arrogant assumption by the RIH school board and the RIH school administration that they play a more important role in the success of the FLOW school system then the parents of the FLOW students. There is no debate that every teacher, every administrator, and every elected school board official walks into an environment where the majority of parents take a serious interest in the education of their children.
There is no debate that every teacher, every administrator, and every elected school board official is guaranteed to be successful primarily because of parental and community support for the FLOW school district.
The Out of School Conduct Policy on the surface might be well intentioned, but in reality it is just an empty gesture to address real problems concerning the FLOW high school population. Those students involved in extra-curricula activities might be discouraged from engaging in an illicit activity out of fear, but it does nothing at all for those who are truly at-risk.
The RIH Out of School Conduct Policy is not just unconstitutional, it is a weak and limp effort to address the issues of drug use, violence, and crime where at-risk students are most susceptible. Punishing students with long term repercussions when they may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time – that is very wrong.
There are numerous remedies that can be implemented to respond to out of school behavior without the need to adopt what is clearly guilt by association, guilt without a trial. It is fraudulent for the RIH board to insist that this Out of School Conduct Policy is the only remedy.
But the possibility exists that it is the only remedy….
If FLOW parents have been deceived with regards to the environment of Indian Hills and Ramapo High Schools… if there truly is a heroin epidemic…. if bullying is really out of control… then the RIH school board should stop deceiving the public, stop deceiving parents, and bring this information public….Let the public know that our public high schools are nothing but a zoo.
But if, as we are led to believe, the FLOW schools are exemplary, that the students are receiving a top-notch education, that the administration is responding appropriately to the threats of drug abuse and violence, then the Out Of School Conduct Policy is not only unconstitutional, it is unnecessary.
Submitted by Charlie McCormick
Links:
http://theoaklandjournal.com/oaklandnj/rih-conduct-policy/
http://theoaklandjournal.com/local-events/out-of-school-conduct-policy-out-of-the-schools/
http://theoaklandjournal.com/local-events/judge-rules-school-policy-unconstitutional/
http://theoaklandjournal.com/recent-news/rights-rules-responsibility/
http://theoaklandjournal.com/features/judge-jury-education/