25 May 2016
School District 5 board opts 8–3 for stick, not carrot
Vindictive educators received the support of an 8–3 majority of the School District 5 board of trustees Tuesday evening. Twenty students accused of breaking into and vandalizing Flathead High School will not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2016.
The board’s decision does not surprise me. The seniors involved, and most, perhaps all, of their parents, won’t be around next year, but the administrators and faculty will be. Not supporting the administrators would be asking for political trouble next year, a factor that could have entered into the decision-making of some trustees.
The graduation ban is authorized, but not mandated, by MCA 20-5-201(3):
In addition to the sanctions prescribed in this section, the trustees of a high school district may deny a high school pupil the honor of participating in the graduation exercise or exclude a high school pupil from participating in school activities. The trustees may not take action under this subsection until the incident or infraction causing the consideration has been investigated and the trustees have determined that the high school pupil was involved in the incident or infraction.
Unless the trustees have a change of heart and muster the courage to undercut the vengeful administrators, an event with rather a low probability of occurring, this mean-spirited decision likely will stand. I think a court would defer to the board’s discretion.
Therefore, you 20 young fools, you’re screwed. You embarrassed and enraged educators and administrators who still have arbitrary power over you. Their final lesson for you? Challenge authority at your peril. Punishment, not mercy, is the order of the day. Your school will not give you a second chance. Instead, it’s marking you and your family with a scarlet letter for the rest of your lives, sending you into the adult world not with a pat on your back but with a kick in your ass.