West Bend School District has released the following statement:
“Administrators and teachers at West Bend Joint School District #1, West Bend East High School, West Bend West High School, and Badger Middle School are aware of the potential peaceful school walkout on March 14 at 10:00 a.m. by students to show their concerns about school safety.
“The West Bend School District will not penalize students who choose to assemble peacefully for 17 minutes on March 14. After talking with students and staff, the school principals have developed plans to maintain the safety of the participating and non-participating students and to minimize interference with educational programming.
“Those students who wish to participate in the walkout will be monitored and supervised by school staff to ensure that any walkout is safe and orderly. The West Bend Police Department will also help to ensure the safety of students to assemble in predesignated areas.
“Students who choose to participate will be expected to return to class in a timely manner and resume the school day. Students who fail to return to class will be considered truant in violation of school rules. For students who choose not to participate, school administrators and teachers are planning for classroom instruction to continue.”
School is for school. The kids are there to get an education. Of the 168 hours in a week, the kids spend less than 40 in the classroom. They can protest on their own time.
The real problem is that now the school district has inserted itself into being an arbiter of political issues. Would they do this for a Black Lives Matter protest? Anti-abortion protest? Pro-2nd Amendment protest? Pro-illegal immigration protest? $15 minimum wage protest? Which ones does the school staff supervise and which ones do they prohibit?
What they should have done is reiterate to the kids the importance of education and enforced their normal policies for tardiness or unexcused absences. If the kids want to protest, then so be it. Who ever said that protesting is free of consequences?
Umnnhhh….Owen…..we’ve been in the “therapeutic society” for about 30 years. NOTHING has “consequences” any more, including abortion.
C’mon. Get with the times.
Without getting into the merits of whether or not such a protest is appropriate or necessary, I do give them credit for taking a proactive approach, and communicating to the parents what expectations will be enforced. This should be much less disruptive than the fiasco in fall of 2015 when students were upset about some administrative decisions. A short “listening session” was scheduled at the beginning of the day in a cafeteria. When the session was over and normal scheduling was going to resume, some students were unhappy that it was over and started a mini “riot” up and down the hallways. Parents were upset that they had not been informed of this session ahead of time so that they could have had an opportunity to remind their children what the parental expectations would be. It was a “rookie” mistake by the then principal – it was not too long afterwards that he tendered his resignation. If you have potential for disruption within the school environment, it should be done outside. Kind of like when a bartender asks patrons to do their fighting out in the parking lot, not inside the bar. I am sure that this approach will not even come close to reaching the police response that was required in fall of 2015 – besides a full-on response by the West Bend PD, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched. For several days before school when I would drop off my daughter, I would see 4-6 squads on site to monitor the students coming into school. A big waste of police resources, but an opportunity to drive as fast as you wanted because officers were not on routine patrol.
At the time, lots of West Bend alumni chimed in about their own “walk-outs” for various issues. I don’t remember the issues, but some were of a more selfish nature – some examples were a lengthened school day, and an outside smoking area closed off.
Again, carefully note that I an not getting into the merits of whether or not such a protest is appropriate or necessary. I asked my daughter what she plans to do – she says nothing – she will stay in her study hall. I suggested that if the weather is really nice she consider going out for some fresh air.
You had me (and the kids) at “their normal policies for tardiness or unexcused absences”.
To answer your questions, in order, yes, no, no, yes, yes, any leftist cause.
Forgot to answer the second half of the last question – any right-of-Che cause.
Kids who walk out should all be suspended.
k:
What does that prove? How do they learn if suspended? Why not just make all of them make up the work they missed, maybe write an essay about what they learned or gained from the walk-out. It would be a great teachable moment for a civics/government class.
There is more than one way to learn. You don’t have to be staring at a teacher all day.
How do you feel about kids that miss time for extra-curricular activities??
Nord,
They learn discipline when it comes to the tax dollar being spent on them. If they are going to spit on the taxpayer’s grace, they should be punished.
Protest on your own time.
I’d support a 1 year suspension from all sports teams as well.
“spit on the taxpayer’s grace”. A little over the top, no?
You completely missed the extra-curricular activities question. Detention for you. or better yet, a 1 year suspension.
Three 500-year floods in a year…
Nord,
Are you seeing someone for your reading impairment?
k:
Nope, I’m doing fine. You, on the other hand, completely missed the question.
Nord,
Read again. You are making yourself look extra foolish now.
Sure, k, if you say so. You have a lot of experience looking that way.
Kevin never mentioned “baseball legends,” 12 years of GOP control or three 500-year floods in a year.
Nord,
I could ask you for a specific example of your claim again, but you fail, in spectacular fashion, every time I ask for proof.
k:
In the context of kids missing school,
“How do you feel about kids that miss time for extra-curricular activities??”
There, I said it as slowly as possible. Is it OK for kids to miss school for extra-curricular activities (let’s use football as an example), but not for a civil (and hopefully peaceful) protest? Or is a sport that few will ever benefit from better than a great opportunity for a civics lesson?
Nord,
I guess I have to put your head in the stream to drink….wow. I hate to make you look even more foolish than you already do, but…
3/10/18 at 6:15 PM, I said:
“I’d support a 1 year suspension from all sports teams as well.”
It is a clear answer to your question…days ago!
“How do you feel about kids that miss time for extra-curricular activities??”
That was the original question that you haven’t answered. I didn’t ask if kids should be suspended from those activities, but rather why should kids that missed time for those activities be treated any differently than those that miss time for the protest. Is English a second (or third) language for you??
I was talking punishment.
Your question indicated that as alternate punishment.
What does anyone care if they miss voluntary activities to do stupid things? It is a dumb, as well as poorly written, question.
You were talking nonsense. My question was pretty simple, even my golden retriever understood. If it was so dumb, how did you miss it?
And it looks like you still don’t get it, as you haven’t answered it.
Kids aren’t “missing time” for extra-curricular (or co-curricular) activities, they are considered to be educational, and such activities are subject to board policy, to wit: Co-curricular activities are an integral part of the educational program and shall fit both the aims of the school and the needs and interests of students. Co-curricular activities shall be appropriate to the age group and in keeping with the general community standards. A co-curricular must have a written statement of purpose which identifies the activity as educational oriented and enhancing with school objectives. (WBSD Policy 370)
Furthermore, WI DPI mandates specific reporting requirements for those activities.
That sound you heard was Mark destroying BTK.
Nord,
I’ll bite on your really dumb and poorly written question. What does anyone in real world care if little Johnny or little Susie misses a voluntary basketball practice to foolishly protest for an abusive, Marxist, anti-gun agenda?
Bet the basketball coach exercises more discipline for that than the weak liberal administration on school classes.
This is about cutting school classes, which are required.
Are you working on your next dumb question, like, “what if kid foregos playing video games to protest?”
I thought perhaps what was being implied in the really dumb and poorly written question is that athletes are occasionally released early from school so that somehow this is the same as students being allowed to walk out during scheduled class time. However, as I stated above, the co-curricular activities must serve a proven educational purpose. Furthermore, WIAA regulations mandate a certain minimum academic performance (no more than one failing grade) whereas WBSD does not allow any failing 1/4 grade. So, the athletes are in a position of having to earn the privilege to participate.
Ironically, West Bend High Schools has a “Resource” time from 9:06-9:35 where students can “flex-schedule” into any approved activity that they want. Is usually like a homeroom study time, but they can go to seek assistance from other teachers or participate in some activities organized by a teacher (like art, music). It would not have been too much of a stretch to have had the school district allow some teachers to organize and take responsibility for a “walk-out” during that time, subject to administrative approval. However, the “organizers” wanted it to be at the same time across the country – 10:00.
Protests have been a part of the political fabric in the US for a long time. Remember the Boston Tea Party?? Kent State? Rosa Parks?? I would hope all civics/government/social studies teachers across the country would use this opportunity as a teachable moment and have the kids learn from their activities. We are up here.
Like I said, it was an easy question to answer, but since giving an answer would require a departure from your world view, you choose to attack the questioner.
And a shout-out to little paul, that eagle-eyed righter of wrongs.
Nobody cares, Dennis Rader.
Nord,
If the civic lesson was not being thought from a radical Marxist anti-gun agenda, I would be with you.
Someone needs to teach the minds full of mush that taking away guns leads to the killing of millions in Marxist regimes. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Mugabe, Chavez, etc.
Guns are a protection from Marxism pure and simple.
This is what makes my days so complete, having the Infallible One make a statement claiming Hitler was a Marxist. Thanks for the laugh.
Three 500-year floods in a year
Baseball “legend”
12 years of GOP control
Nord,
Marxists are known for their thuggery. Hitler also proudly proclaimed Marxist style socialism in his Party’s name.
Why is that so funny? I find nothing funny about the human misery Marxism has caused to billions of people and we have emotionally stunted people running around out there trying to get people to buy into misery.
The humor is in your claim that Hitler was a Marxist. But then the accepted definition of words never really meant anything to you anyway, only how you think they should mean.
And three 500-year floods in a year…
Try not to kill anyone tonight, BTK.
Oh Nord, you are so foolish:
https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/myth-busted-actually-yes-hitler-was-a-socialist-liberal/
While this whole discussion was veered off topic by the Infallible One, here goes a rebuttal:
From Forbes, that hotbed of socialist thought:
“Nazis despised Marxists. Where communists generally focused on class, Nazis fixated on race. Communists view life through the prism of a perpetual workers’ revolution. National Socialists used race as a metaphor to justify their nation’s engagement in an existential struggle.”
Citation missing.
Paul if you google the quote, you’ll find the source. You want the original texts? Wow, you’re demanding when it comes to the claims of others. Do you demand the same for yourself?
Marx was an uber-Socialist. Hitler was head of the National SOCIALIST Party. Both were Statists, just like Obama and Hillary.
So yes, the 2A has purpose far beyond hunting and target-shooting. Remember that self-defense and defense of God-given rights are of one moral ‘piece.’
Forbes–which is not a “conservative” rag by a long shot–makes a distinction that does not really make a difference.
The question was not “Joos” or “Capitalists.” The question was “Who Decides?” as Justice Scalia proposed in a different context. And in BOTH cases, the State–or the current dictator–decided.
(Scalia hit the core of it, as he usually did.)
JJF = Eso si que es
As for Forbes, they literally let anyone publish their opinions now, without editorial oversight in the sense of 1970s journalism. That particular writer, though, is one of those conservative Christian homeschooling types.
As for current deluded wanna-be dictators, congrats to the GOP for delivering Trump.
We just got rid of one wannabe big-boy-pants: Obozo.
Trump is his antithesis. But you knew that.
The Forbes author is a nice guy. With a few more years under his belt, he’ll get around to better analysis.