In a message dated 5/3/00 12:53:45 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
> We moved to Louisiana 16 months ago and are now facing fights on three
> fronts. The high school conducts random daily searches of backpacks and
> persons, random urinalysis of high school athletes, and is poised to
> rubber-stamp a mandatory school uniform policy.
I neglected to mention that this is a small town. The graduating
classes in the high school approach roughly 200. Intrusive practices might
even be warranted in some inner-city school systems from a genuine and
imposing threat of weaponry, gang activity and drug use. I'm not sure - I
haven't faced that and haven't thought it out thoroughly.
This is a quiet town with a low crime rate and few school fights, etc.
To my knowledge, there has never been an incident where a gun was brought
into any local school.
Yet the middle school has a constant police presence. The discipline
policy I had to sign to enroll my child stated that all students caught
fighting in grades
5-12 were to be taken away from school grounds in handcuffs by police, in
squad cars, to adult jail.
If a parent or guardian could not post $250 bail, the child would remain
in adult jail overnight and face a judge in the AM. This is a ZERO tolerance
physical contact policy. Shoving, pushing and slapping all qualify a child
for jail.
Oddly enough, the policy I had to sign is not also part of the offical
discipline policy book. I didn't realize this until today. I never received
a copy of the policy I signed -- it hadn't occurred to me to ask for one. I
didn't want to move into this area because of this policy but was overruled
by family members.
I asked a school board member about the Constitutional rights of parents
and their children regarding policies that mandate uniforms, random searches
and drug tests. Though she took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the
United States and of the State of Louisiana, she told me if I was concerned
about my rights, I should take my concerns to the ACLU.
A brief and general survey regarding parental interest in mandatory
uniforms had been sent home several weeks ago via student handouts. Many
parents might not have even seen it and parents with more than one child had
an opportunity to vote more than once. I spoke to a mother of five who is
in favor of the policy and who voted 5 times. Nothing in the survey
indicated that anything other than general opinions were sought.
20% of the surveys were returned. 13% in favor, 7% not. Based on this
survey, the board concluded they had a mandate from the people.
They had not described any details of the actual dress code they intended
during the survey. The details came afterwards. They were not made widely
available. Of those parents who did know about them, many objected to rules
such as how many inches the mandatory belt could protrude from the mandatory
buckle.
Because of the strenuous objections of a few courageous people, the board
"graciously" decided to wait until the full procedures were prepared, to send
them by mail to each household that had school children, and to tally the
results of the new survey of now-fully-informed parents before voting.
Though the school board members recieved the full procedures in the mail
over the weekend of April 21st, those actually to be surveyed did not begin
to receive them until yesterday, May 2nd. We have not yet received ours.
The deadline for return is Friday May 5th. They must be IN by the 5th, not
even postmarked the 5th.
Though I've been reading and studying about police-state issues and seeking
to be mentally prepared, I find myself in shock. My shock was deepened
tonight after being alternately laughed at and yelled at by the ONE board
member who appeared not to wish to shove this policy down people's throats.
It appears that her former publicly stated objections were a ruse - that
perhaps her public role is to provide false dissent to calm the objections of
citizens who would otherwise come forward to express their own.
I used to watch "southern justice" movies like "Macon County Line" and the
Bufford Pusser movies and marvel in amazement and gratitude that I had not
had to face such things.
I do hope we are in the minority here, facing this slew of police-state
tactics in this wee parish in LA that happens to be a home for Monsanto,
Union Carbide, Shell, and Bunge (among others).
If anyone has read this far and has tips on how to compose a religious
objection to mandatory uniforms, I could use some advice. We are not members
of any organized religion.
Thanks,
Samantha
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