School sends poor students home.
 

What do you think about this?

http://www.annarbor.com/news/pioneer...er-book-fines/

It goes on, but I find myself thinking that the whole story isn't being told. She says the principal sent her home, he says he didn't. The news reporting seems somewhat biased....

Normally I'd feel a knee-jerk reaction to be on the side of the student. Like some of my facebook friends. But I think I'm in agreement with the majority of the commenters. It's not about being poor. She had plenty of time to fix this before school started in ways that didn't involve money. Sending kids home is extreme, but I've often found that what we say and what kids hear are not one and the same. I don't think she should have been sent home (if she was), but neither should she or other students get a free pass because they are poor. She's playing a victim card to get out of her responsibilities.

What do you think? Am I being unfair?

I don't know the full story but I'm sure there are other options that could have been taken, assuming this wasn't just a miscommunication. Make her "volunteer" five hours of her time to do something productive for the school. Sending her home doesn't make any sense.

It's a little odd that the principal's side is just that he says he didn't send them home for unpaid fines. Did he not send them home, or did he send them home for some other reason? It's hard to say whether it's bad reporting or a non-denial denial.

I could see sending poor kids home if they are so poor they can't even pay attention. That makes sense.

Sir, the peasants are revolting!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

And then he fainted.

You said it, They stink on ice.

Community service is the other option. In the case of the girl highlighted, one of the books is over a year "overdue". plenty of time to remedy the situation but then again, how did she register last year? Is there a two book threshhold? I just don't find myslef having a whole lot of sympathy and then i feel bad about that. For a start, registration is two weeks before class starts. Why didn't she register and find out the problem then? maybe parents' inattention to school procedures and communication, but at that age, they really should be starting to take some responsibility for themselve, shouldn't they?

That gives her even more credit than I did--registration here happens before the end of the previous school year, and anyone with an issue like that would certainly have it brought to their attention.

Oh it would have/should have been brought to her attention on a regular basis. But it doesn't stop you until registration the next year as far as I can tell.

The news story is clearly incomplete.

I also think your thread title is unfair.

(1) Student, not students.
(2) Was not sent home for being poor, but for some other reason.

How about "School upholds society's standards of returning borrowed stuff"?

Nevertheless, while some kind of sanction is appropriate, I'd consider exclulsion from education to be a very serious punishment to be used as a last resort.

My guess is that someone was paying attention to book fines this year at registration while no one did last year. Seems like miscommunication across the board.

Students. Around ten were sent home.

I doubt if that news story is actually what happened. I don't know how big that school is, but I bet more than 10 kids had library fines of one sort or an another. Why send home only 10 of them? They would ALL have had to go home or call Mom and Dad for the money.

At my high school if you had fines or you lost a book, your library privileges would be taken away until you cleared the matter up.

As a matter of fact, in grade school, if we turned out text books in at the end of the year with too much damage, we had to pay for them. So everybody made these funky covers for their books out of brown paper bags.

I agree the kids should be taught responsibility. Let 'em do some work around the school to make up the fine if they can't pay it.

Missed that, thanks. :blush:

I think they are not library books but loaned books from the depository. there aren't fines here for school library books, as long as you return them eventually I think the school is in the region of 2,000. The books Hebe got from her school were in a disgusting state. They'd better not charge for that damage.

it's interesting to note that not one parent is featured in the article. It's a social worker/whatever making all the noise.

Either they really really don't care, or they know they had plenty of time to deal with it and should've done something/helped their child do something about it.

It sounds a tad heavy handed, but we have no idea what led up to this. For all we know there've been half a dozen letters sent to the parents. This could be the culmination of a long-standing problem.

mom(?) says they didn't receive 4 letters and and an email the district say they sent....

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/29235226/detail.html

I suspect the principal got exasperated and made some (ill-advised) comment like "there is no point you being here" and that was interpreted as "go home".....

I think this whole story comes about because the social worker is an attention ho.

MANY students, of any age, NEVER EVER get any notices about anything until it directly affects them...typically at registration time when they learn of the 'hold' on their account.

When they get a little older, they don't receive any notices until they don't get their "refund" check, or they find they've been deregistered from their classes, or until they get a nasty letter from the Attorney General's office because their account has to be turned over according to law. Funny how an envelope from the school doesn't have nearly the impact as a letter from the AG.

Then they cry "No one TOLD me..."

edit: in this case I am mostly doubting the mother of the student not getting any notice. I don't believe it for a second.

Read more:
Bold mine ... Thats another issue, if true.

Seems like the lesson was learned.

Oh you see, monster was just lamenting the girl's situation, as in, "Oh, that poor girl got sent home!"

Around here, response is usually triggered by the "you will be sent to collections" sticker.

No doubt it's true -my daughter (theoretically) also has to take the AATA bus home at the end of the regular school day and she's 13.

So, the mother has her head so far in the ground she doesn't know that AAPS no longer busses all high school students home at the end of their regular school day? (Part of this year's budget cuts). Many students are required to use AATA buses. I do not think her daughter is at all as high on her priority list as she makes out, otherwise she'd already have raised this concern, no? And given that the girl knew how to get home, I doubt this is the first time she's been out on her own. And a 16yo taking an AATA bus in the middle of the day is hardly a safety issue. Living in Hikone is, though.

Strikes me this is a clusterfuck of attention hos and professional victims.

Cartman: Mr. Garrison, why do poor people smell like sour milk?
Mr. Garrison: I don't know, Eric, they just do.

That's probably really why they sent her home AND why they wouldn't transport her.


:bolt:

I'm surprised none of the educators here have recommended giving the poor students a remedial class in good study habits.

Because all of the educators here have been laid off.

meh, behavior modification.

Public school might have a hard time defending it in a court.

Private school?, get a job....