Remember the Highland Middle School bus bully? He’s the seventh-grade pugilist who beat his classmate so soundly that the kid ended up at Norton Audubon’s emergency room and was directed to Kosair for brain surgery.
Well, he’s going to end up serving some time in juvenile detention and will never be allowed to attend any Jefferson County Public School again.
HA! As if!
Here’s what really happened: The kid was suspended for a few days and he was allowed to return to Highland Middle AND ride the bus.
It sounds like what saved this bully from being placed in one of those schools for really rotten kids was that the bullied kid threw the first punch. Maybe it helped that he’s white, middle class and lives in the Highland Middle resides. Just guessing.
According to a couple of kids who witnessed the incident, the bully was pulling his usual verbal harassment which the kids at Highland Middle are quite familiar with. The kid he was bullying got sick of it, threw the first punch. The bully responded by smashing the kid’s head against the floor of the bus and then punctuating the punchfest by slamming the kid’s head against the wall of the bus. This story was the talk of the neighborhood. No surprise, right?
JCPS has a no expulsion policy. This kid gets to receive his public education even though he deserves a long stretch in the pokey to think about his actions. I really feel for the teachers who have to deal with this distracting kid every day. Ditto for the kids who feel like they’re walking on eggshells when this kid is around breathing fire. I’m sure I’ll hear about this kid again and again. He’s already back to his old routine of bullying GIRLS again.
Where does a kid learn that kind of behavior? What happened to the good old days when kids were terrified to cause trouble at school?
What have been the other repercussions of this event?
A Highland Honor Roll student who was sitting near this scuffle left to attend parochial school. This was, essentially, the straw that broke the camel’s back for her family. There were other issues, to be sure. But this was the event that made the entire family say, “Enough already.”
The parent of another Honor Roll student now drives her child to school and picks her up. No more bus rides for her daughter.
So, you think these families need to suck it up? Well, you’re just tough as nails. Good for you.
Highland Middle School principal Steve Heckman and his staff deserve praise for how they handled this situation. Let me tell you why. When the bus driver called with an S.O.S. as soon as the brawl started, she was a few blocks from school around Norris and Eastern Parkway. She was told to turn the bus around, come back to school. That may not sound remarkable to you but the fact is, when a fight occurs on the school bus it becomes a disciplinary issue for JCPS’s transportation department. The school gets to wash their hands of it – and, goodness knows, most of the schools really love this policy.
Another thing about Heckman and his staff at Highland: They launched a real investigation into the event. Kids who were on the bus filed in and had to answer plenty of questions. This is totally unlike the fake investigation that happened at PRP High School, you know what I’m talking about. *cough*Stinson*cough*
Three parents I know who have kids at two different elementary schools have told me about their kids getting punched/assaulted on the school bus. When they called the school, this was the standard response, “We aren’t responsible for events that don’t happen on school property. You need to call the bus compound.”
Guess what? I’m not kidding this time.
It sure does look like JCPS places a whole lot of value on the federal revenue that these kids generate for the school district. The money appears to matter more than maintaining a safe environment for teachers and students.
As much as I hate to say it, there is an entire population of students who are more trouble than they’re worth. If they don’t value an education and their families don’t, why are we keeping them in a system where they’re allowed to prevent teachers from teaching and students from learning?
I don’t know what the solution is but it sure does look like we need a do-over on this JCPS’s “no expulsion” policy.
Education Voodoo 