High School Accountability Committee Muzzled by School Board!

Wednesday night (10/29/98) the High School Accountability Committee (BAC) was told that they could not continue researching Zero Tolerance related school policies and practices. Back in the May 98 meeting they were told by Board Member Robert Manning that while the board was not going to consider changing the Zero Tolerance Policy for alcohol until after the court challenge was completed, the BAC could set a building goal of doing research and some of the groundwork to facilitate the revision process which would occur at a later date. Towards that end, committee member Chuck Piechota had drafted a proposed survey questionnaire to gather data on other districts, and Mr. Piechota had also made copies of relevant Colorado Statutes and had planned to present them at the meeting.

The Administration told the BAC that essentially nothing could be done by the committee in this regard until after the court challenge was complete. (At this point it is expected to be 1-2 years before this is out of the courts.) When asked why or how gathering data on other schools' policies could impact the court case, Mr. Manning did not have an answer. The committee was told that this action was being taken on the advice of the SB's counsel. But apparently no one on the Board has asked the counsel to explain exactly how a survey of other districts' discipline policies could impact the court action.

When asked if the BAC was an instrument of the Board or an instrument of the parents, Mr. Manning and the Principal did not have an answer. However, at previous meetings (September, 98) this was discussed, and at that time Keith Jacobus was understood to say that the purpose of the Accountability Committees/Process was to provide a means for parents and members of the district to hold the school district accountable.

The bottom line message seems to be this: the Accountability Committees can do anything they want as long as it agrees with what the Administration and the School Board want. The overwhelming majority of the committee seemed to be upset with this strong-arm tactic by the Administration.

Since this meeting, we have surveyed all of the major school disctricts in the state and we have found that District 38 is the only district in the state that has a mandatory expulsion policy for first time alcohol related discipline problems. This explains why they wanted to squelch the survey effort.

The other important implication of this action by the Board is that it undermines the legitimacy of the accountability committees representing the will of the community.

Dissenters need not apply!