Zero Tolerance Nightmare At Rio Rancho High School

Below is Paula's Story about her Daughter Kara's ZT Nightmare. Another ridiculous example of mindless Public School ZT zeal. What is exciting about Paula's story is that the ACLU has gotten involved BIG TIME! They are contesting Kara's case in Federal Court and if they win it could be a major blow to ZT policies everywhere. Paula promises to give us regular updates on the progress. They have already secured a Temporary Restraining Order (that is usually a good sign). We are all rooting for her and her daughter and Thank you ACLU and specifically attorney Jane Gagne for fighting this battle.

Paula's Story:

On the Friday afternoon of March 30, 2001, at the Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho New Mexico, Kara Williams and a classmate (both Freshmen) were summonsed by the school security officer to the office of the Assistant Vice-Principal, Stephanie Belmore (now a vice-principal at Rio Rancho Middle High School),. When the girls arrived at the office they were informed that someone had been smoking pot in the girls bathroom the day before and that they (Belmore and security) were going to search the girls and their belongings. Belmore told the girls that since they were not in their class at the time of the pot-smoking incident then they were under suspicion, therefore, warranting a search. Neither girl consented to a search

When searching Kara Williams' backpack the security person pulled out Kara's purse and from Kara's purse the security person pulled out Kara's key ring. On the key ring were her house key, a little flashlight, another trinket and a penknife. Belmore immediately informed Kara that there was a "Zero Tolerance" policy and that knives were not allowed at school Belmore also told Kara that she would be automatically suspended for 10 days and probably for the rest of the year, pending a hearing and a referral to the DPS.

Kara had the penknife because she had lost her house key and on the day before this happened her stepfather had tossed her his spare key ring on her way out the door to school. His spare key ring had the penknife on it. The penknife has a set of tweezers, a toothpick, scissors, a nail file, and a blade about 1 inch long.

Her stepfather and I tried to reason with Belmore and the school's Principle Gary Tripp. Neither Belmore or Tripp would budge and they repeated over and over that they had a "Zero Tolerance" policy and that they did not have any discretion in the matter – they were hand tied on the matter and that we could tell our side at the hearing. We were rendered helpless and on the advise of a couple teachers we retained an attorney that specifically handles these type of cases.

On April 18, 2001 Kara had a hearing before an "impartial" Hearing Officer. That was a joke. After hearing the schools side of the story he started packing his things and at that time our attorney ask if he would hear our side and reconsider his decision (since he already seemed to have made up his mind in the matter). During the testimony of Belmore, the security officer, and the teacher that had reported the pot smoking incident it was brought out that neither Kara nor her classmate were ever suspected of having smoked pot. The only reason for the search was that they were out of class during the time of the incident. It was also verified that the girls were in the counselor's office and in the Administration Office at the time. In fact, the girls that were smoking pot had already been caught because the teacher had smelled pot on them. The two girls that had smelled of pot at first denied their involvement and said that two other girls were in the bathroom at the time but did not know whom it was. The point is that Kara and her classmate were never guilty of any wrongdoing.

The Hearing Officer's decision was that Kara was to be suspended for the remainder of the school year and that she would not be able to return to school until the Fall 2001-2002 school year for. She was cited for "possession of a firearm or weapon". This angered me so I went to the media, and it angered our attorney so she went to the ACLU.

The school hearing decision was reached on April 20th. I contacted the media on April 23rd. Our attorney contacted the ACLU on the 24th. All three major local TV stations ran the story on the evening news on April 26th. On April 27th the story ran front page in both local newspapers and on the afternoon of the 27th the ACLU put out a press release that they were going to file a lawsuit and a request Temporary Restraining Order against the Rio Rancho School District in Federal Court on Kara's behalf. The Court held a hearing in the matter on May 3 rd, and Kara was back in school on May 4th. We have had almost daily media coverage since April 26th. The TRO was issued in order to give the School Board time to hear the case on appeal, which was heard on May 7th, but no decision was given at the time. Instead they will announce a decision on May 11th. I will send in an update to the decision and what will happen from there.

Sincerely,

Paula

May 11th Update

In a nut shell the Rio Rancho School Board upheld the findings of the Hearing Officer but they did find that due to the fact that the knife had never been removed her backpack, that it was never used to threaten other students or staff and therefore posed no safety hazards, therefore her suspension would be reduced to 10 days, even though, she was out from Monday, April 2nd to Friday, May 4th. (essentially 5 weeks). The Board made it a point to make their position clear and that is they stand by their Zero Tolerance policy and that Kara did in fact bring a weapon to school that "could cause great bodily harm and even death" had the intent been there.

They did make a 6 page written decision which I have not yet received a copy of. As soon as I do I will make the entire document available to you. I am going to be gone for the weekend so if you do not hear from me that is why (should you have any questions while I am gone). Have a great weekend.

Paula