Waller ISD
DATE OF INCIDENT: Submitted 10/14/09 - date of infraction unknown
INCIDENT:
My daughter and some friends disagreed with the arbitrary nature of the High School's dress code policy. As such, they began passing a petition to address the issue with the Principal and eventually the school board. These petitions were being passed before school, during lunch and at the school bus stops after school.
The following day my daughter and her friends were called into the High Schools administration office where they we informed that it was a violation of school policy to allow petitions because they were disruptive. As such they were threatened with being ticketed by the Sheriff's department for "In school disruption of the educational process".
WISD RESPONSE:
When I called the school the morning following the incident I was told that the schools have broad powers to "Insure the continue education" and to "prevent further disruption" in schools. Furthermore, that they were "protecting the rights of the other students to have a safe and harassment free educational environment".
OTHER:
I know this probably isn't a thing. At least it wasn't in my day, but this really opened my eyes to the damage that can be caused by the "zero tolerance" rule. These girls are all honor students that had what I felt was a legitimate grievance and were handling it in a very adult manner by executing their right to freedom of speech and petition. What if these girls had been ticketed. Then we the parents would have been burdened with legal fees and time off from work. The children would have had a blemish on their school records and would have missed time off from school. Especially since the ticket is always followed by a suspension of some sort (double jeopardy in my opinion).
© Texas Zero Tolerance
