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By Marc, September 28, 2011 1:10 pm

We’ve addressed the #BananaMan incident in great length. We’ve also raised serious questions on the process followed by Stafford County Public Schools in recruiting, vetting and hiring administrators (see Dr. Karen Spillman). Of course, we strongly believe that the Board of Supervisors chainsaw approach to the school’s operational budget didn’t help matters.

But, what we haven’t discussed are the tools of the trade—the poorly conceived and onerous rules put in place for our public school children to follow. The same rules that allowed Dr. Spillman the latitude to respond to BananaMan as if he committed high-treason on school property.

It would be a safe to say that most parents haven’t read the Stafford County Schools Code of Conduct, a voluminous set of easily breakable rules and regulations put in place to assure “zero tolerance.” Surely, parents want their children to learn in a safe and secure environment, free of drug-dealing, bullying, and other things.

But a casual reading of Stafford County Schools Code of Conduct may cause a lot of parents’ jaws to drop for many of the punishable offenses seem harmless. To prove our point, we’ve come up with our very own Top Ten list of suspension-worthy offenses:

1. Playing Yahtzee [10 to 180 day suspension]




2. Selling Raffle Tickets [10 to 180 day suspension]




3. Sharing a newspaper with friends [10 days or less suspension]




4. Buying an apple from the cafeteria and sticking it in your backpack to eat later [10 days or less suspension or warning]




5. Running in the halls [180 days or less suspension or warning]




6. Failure to return tray in cafeteria [3 days or less suspension or warning]




7. Farting [expulsion, suspension or warning]




8. Sleeping in class [10 days or less suspension or warning]




9. Drinking non-dairy (Hemp) milk (lactose intolerant students) [expulsion, suspension or warning]




10. Eating bananas in support of BananMan (disruption of school) [expulsion, suspension or warning]

Zero-tolerance policies became prevalent in the 90s in response to drugs, gun violence and other violent acts; however, “over time, zero tolerance has come to refer to school or district-wide policies that mandate predetermined, typically harsh consequences or punishments (such as a suspension and expulsion) for a wide degree of rule violation,” says the National Association of School Psychologists.

They go on to note the following problems associated with broad zero tolerance policies:

Zero tolerance policies are complex, costly and generally ineffective. Suspension and expulsion may set individuals who already display antisocial behavior on an accelerated course to delinquency by putting them in a situation in which there is a lack of parental supervision and a greater opportunity to socialize with other deviant peers. Further, expulsion results in the denial of educational services, presenting specific legal as well as ethical dilemmas for students with disabilities. Finally, there is no evidence that removing students from school makes a positive contribution to school safety.

A recent published report in the Journal of School Psychology also suggests, “little correlation exists between zero-tolerance discipline policies and well-behaved students.

Not to mention that these policies are often applied in a disproportional manner towards minorities and more negatively impact students with disabilities.

Our schools are becoming “school to prison pipelines,” which is the direct result of these broad-based zero tolerance policies. The broad-based implementation of these policies by school districts are essentially taking the ability out of the hands of school officials to resolve minor offenses. This is helping to push more children into the juvenile justice system.

Every day these policies remain in place, children are being denied educational opportunities and are instead beset with juvenile criminal records.

Stafford County Schools, Virginia and the country need to find a better balance on these zero tolerance policies. Clearly, serious offenses need to have serious consequences; however, minor offenses can be better dealt with using alternative strategies (such as counseling, family involvement, early intervention strategies, etc…).

Reforms to “zero tolerance” policies in Fairfax are at the forefront of School Board races there and the focus of a group of concerned citizens who are determined to reform the disciplinary process (FairfaxZeroToleranceReform.org).

You all may recall, in March 2009, a 17-year-old football player in Fairfax County committed suicide – facing possible expulsion from Fairfax County Schools over carrying marijuana on school property (he wasn’t selling it or using it). Per FairfaxZeroToleranceReform.org, “[he] committed suicide just one day before a second hearing that very likely would have kicked him out of any Fairfax – and therefore any Virginia – public school. He was an extraordinarily well-liked young man, a good student, involved in his community. He had already experienced initiation into the disciplinary process and a hearing that shredded him and his family by using tactics like humiliation and false accusations to get him to acquiesce, and to get his family to keep silent about it.”

The National Association of School Psychologists have rightfully concluded that “although zero tolerance policies were developed to assure consistent and firm consequences for dangerous behaviors, broad application of these policies have resulted in a range of negative outcomes with few if any benefits to students or the community…more effective alternative strategies are available. Systemic school-wide violence prevention programs, social curricula and positive behavioral supports lead to improved learning for all students and safer school communities.”

Ultimately, rules cannot replace common sense. It’s clear to me (and should be to everyone) that Stafford County Schools “zero tolerance” policy needs a dose of common sense.

We believe there is a causal relationship between the Stafford County Board of Supervisors tightening school budgets and zero-tolerance policies. The School Board is pressured by the BOS to produce more with less, and in turn the School Board imposes on its principals the requirement to maximize instructional time and make it free of distraction. Surely, it is not a bad thing to try to get the most out of instructional time.

But kids are not perfect, and adolescents can sometimes be impulsive or forgetful. And…THEY FART A LOT IN CLASS!

As we know from politics, the Law of Unintended Consequences looms large. A zero-tolerance policy starts off being a good thing, helping to protect kids from drugs or bullying or gangs. But sometimes the policy grows in size and scope to become a tool for administrative overreach—and for an authority-craving principal to use as a battering ram to instill fear and lay down the law.

Fear, as a result of a zero-tolerance policy, is an interesting motivator. But, in the end it doesn’t command lasting respect.

Luckily, not all Stafford County Schools principals take the low road. In fact, most try first to mitigate behavioral problems [or pranks] before they turn into full-fledged crises.

It’s time for all of us to read the Stafford County Schools Code of Conduct, and to make sure School Board candidates promise to dial back the many draconian punishments in it.

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By Marc, September 27, 2011 10:09 pm

Per an announcement this evening from Stafford County Public Schools, Karen Spillman has resigned as Colonial Forge High School’s principal.

The Free-Lance Star has reported that the “Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education Lisa Martin will supervise the school until an interim principal is assigned. The division will conduct a search to fill the vacancy.”

I wish the best to our public school system as they search for her replacement.

Update: Here’s the updated story in the Free-Lance Star and a new favorite of mine the Potomac Local.

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By Marc, September 26, 2011 5:39 pm

Today, LeavingMyMarc.com decided to submit a Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Va. Code Section 22-3700 et seq.) request to get to the bottom of what was actually known when Dr. Karen Spillman was originally hired as an assistant principal in March 2011 and quickly elevated to principal in August 2011 of Colonial Forge High School.

Date: 09/26/11

Stafford County Public Schools
RE: FOIA Request
31 Stafford Avenue
Stafford, VA 22554

To Whom It May Concern:

LeavingMyMarc.com has reported publicly available information, this weekend, on the July 2007 arrest of Karen C. Spillman in Prince William County for public intoxication. The arrest preceded Dr. Spillman’s (2008) acceptance of the Strasburg High School principal post as well as her resignation from the job, fifteen days later for “health reasons.” So, we-like so many Colonial Forge parents, would like to know:

• When Dr. Spillman applied for employment to Stafford County Schools-to be an Assistant Principal-was she forthcoming about her July 2007 arrest in Prince William County for public intoxication?
• At the time of her recruitment for the Assistant Principal assignment, did Stafford County Public Schools run the proper [criminal and professional reference] background checks? Did they conduct thorough due-diligence?
• And this summer, when the principal’s position opened up, did the Stafford County Public Schools re-evaluate Dr. Spillman’s background to replace Colonial Forge High School principal Dr. Lisa Martin, or, did they just rubber stamp Dr. Spillman’s promotion to that role?

Per the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Va. Code Section 2.2-3700 et seq.), we request the following information be provided: (1) Any and all correspondence and documentation related to Dr. Spillman’s hiring for positions within Stafford County Public Schools – including, but not limited to, any pre-employment questionnaires and employment applications, (2) Information regarding who else may have applied for these positions and any consideration given to those other applicants, and (3) any and all employment contract(s) entered into with Dr. Spillman.

This information has a direct bearing on her public duties and therefore should be disclosed.

Thanks and I look forward to a speedy response.

The BananaMan incident and the subsequent fallout has brought quite a bit of attention to how Stafford County Public Schools recruit, vet and hire senior administrators and whether or not the chainsaw approach, led by Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Mark Dudenhefer, to the school system’s current operating budget may have forced folks to take time-saving shortcuts to complete critical hiring. This year, Chairman Dudenhefer gleefully reduced the school system’s budgets to the point of utter absurdity. Accountability doesn’t come cheap.

We think Stafford Superintendent Randy Bridges acted properly in bringing an end to the BananaMan controversy, but serious questions remain (we’ve documented them here) – which we have yet to receive answers.

If you have a child at Colonial Forge High School and think this is being overblown, you may be singing a different tune when it is your child facing suspension or expulsion over an expression of free speech or an innocent prank. Do you really want to take that chance?

In our just completed poll, we asked the community whether “Colonial Forge HS Principal Karen Spillman [was] capable of serving effectively, given revelations about her past and her handling of the BananaMan incident”? An overwhelming number of respondents believe the answer is No (94% No, 6% Yes – 215 respondents).

Taxpayers deserve answers and demand accountability. Our children’s futures depend on it.

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By Marc, September 25, 2011 7:37 pm

Colonial Forge’s Banana-Republic Dictator Has Record of Public Intoxication

Breaking News: Colonial Forge Principal’s Heavy-Handed Past

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By Marc, September 25, 2011 11:49 am

I don’t know about you, but here in the Fredericksburg area—during the early autumn months of odd-numbered years—I am struck by how state roads that for two years prior remained pockmarked with Buick-sized potholes suddenly are milled and expertly paved. All of this, courtesy of our munificent Speaker of the House of Delegates Bill Howell. Of course, Bill’s up for re-election…and he really wants your vote!

Nuthin’ happens around here for no reason.

In Stafford County, it is always about politics. And, the overly aggressive arrest and handcuffing of #BananaMan by Deputies of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department was no accident. That is because this year, Sheriff Charlie Jett is up for re-election…and he really wants your vote!

If the Colonial Forge High School sophomore Bryan Thompson’s antics hadn’t been captured by a mobile device camera—and replayed on YouTube more than 66,000 times—the BananaMan episode would never have made national or international news.

And none of us would be asking the deep and troubling questions about how a funny, good-natured, high-functioning autistic kid could be punished so severely for a high school prank so benign.

But thanks to social media, Stafford County and the world have gotten a sobering view of how Sheriff Charlie Jett’s burning desire for re-election got in the way of common decency…and common sense.

A Colonial Forge parent working the food concessions told us that she wasn’t in the stands to see BananaMan’s on-the-field brouhaha. But, she witnessed—beforehand—sheriff’s deputies acting overly aggressive with some kids buying refreshments.

What is going on here? Are Sheriff Charlie’s recent visions of flash mobs looting Stafford County convenience stores affecting his policing strategy? Or, is it just politics as usual for Stafford County—where the winning strategy for re-election as sheriff is to show how tough you are on crime by having your deputies rough up a nice kid in a store-bought banana costume before a large crowd of onlookers?

Stafford Sheriff Candidate Chuck Feldbush (I) thinks it is all of these things and more. “This is the latest example of a department going bananas over harmless kid stuff while real crime – violent crime – is threatening the peace and safety of Stafford County,” said Mr. Feldbush.

“Slapping cuffs on a kid – who has a disability – for running down the sidelines at a high school football game in a banana suit is a complete overreach of the authority of the sheriff’s department.” Mr. Feldbush continued, “It’s a disturbing sign that Sheriff Jett has lost control of his deputies – and this is placing our kids at risk.”

According to the Virginia State Police, violent crime is up 66% in Stafford.

Where has the Free-Lance Star been on reporting about this brouhaha with law enforcement? The overlords of your hometown newspaper are probably too distracted by thoughts of cashing the $1.3M check they stand to collect for hosting Sheriff Charlie’s overpriced $40M public safety communication system on their broadcast towers.

After all, what are friends for?

And where does Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Eric Olsen figure in all of this? The overzealous “Law & Order” [intellectual property-stealing] prosecutor is probably fuming that BananaMan’s ten-day suspension has ended early and that he won’t be able to put the kid on the stand in a jury trial.

But Eric, have no fear. We hear that there was a Grape running amok around Stafford this week, too. (Times a waistin’ and you and the Man in the Yellow Hat need to go find him!)

What has BananaMan taught us all? It’s politics, stupid!

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By Marc, September 24, 2011 5:59 pm

Could a lack of accountability by the Stafford County School Board have led to the hiring of Dr. Karen Spillman, the Colonial Forge High School principal who we discovered—through publicly available sources—was convicted in 2007 in Prince William County, Virginia for public intoxication?

Dr. Spillman’s name is all over the internet and social media like Facebook for famously suspending Colonial Forge High School student Brian Thompson ten days following his benign Banana Man [high school football game half-time] prank.

Parents are asking administration officials and their school board members simple but serious questions, such as: what motivated Colonial Forge’s new principal and Sheriff’s Deputies to “go medieval” on the smart, funny, and high-functioning autistic kid running around the field in a store-bought banana costume? And, is [Principal Spillman] temperamentally well suited to lead Stafford County’s academics leading high school?

We believe Superintendent Randy Bridges acted properly in bringing an end to the BananaMan controversy. But does the school system Dr. Bridges runs have the necessary funding to run itself—and to assure proper administrative accountability? Budgets are stretched so far beyond tolerance—we know that because the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, led by its chair Mark Dudenhefer—took a chainsaw to the school system’s current operating budget.

Year-after-year, the chain-sawing of school operating budgets gets worse, thus year-after-year, staff members and administrators do even more with much less.

This year, Chairman Dudenhefer gleefully reduced the school system’s budgets to the point of utter absurdity. So, it is not outside the realm of possibility that decision-makers in Stafford Schools—who force themselves to do more work with less headcount—look over their shoulders and take time-saving shortcuts to complete critical hiring.

Did overwork and shortcuts [like not using Google or other search engines to query] lead Stafford Schools to avoid necessary due-diligence in regards to vetting candidates for its open assistant principal and principal assignments? Is it conceivable that an overworked senior administrator in Stafford Schools—under pressure from up on high to hire—have rushed the hiring of Dr. Karen Spillman?

We believe that it has.

Could a better-funded school board have identified the bright red flags in Dr. Spillman’s curriculum vitae?

Perhaps.

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By Marc, September 24, 2011 4:36 pm

As we reported last night, Stafford County Schools Superintendent Randy Bridges acted smartly and decisively to end the #BananaMan brouhaha; Superintendent Bridges’ formal statement apologized for actions taken [by the Colonial Forge High School principal Dr. Karen Spillman and deputies of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Department]. From the official statement:

My staff, under my direction, has reviewed the recent actions at Colonial Forge High School relating to the wearing of yellow tee shirts and other activities in support of a student who had been recently disciplined. We have concluded that many of the actions that were taken by the school were inappropriate. We are sorry for any embarrassment or inconvenience incurred by the students who were appropriately exercising their freedom of speech and by the families of those students. This administration and the School Board fully support the First Amendment rights of our students.

The BananaMan tsunami—which, over seven days, was covered as “weird news” by over 150 news-gathering outlets in the U.S. and abroad—is finally ebbing.

But let us be honest. We haven’t seen the end of controversy—far from it!

Dr. Spillman’s—and Stafford County Sheriff’s Deputies—heavy-handed response to fourteen year-old Colonial Forge student Brian Thompson’s halftime prank has led many Colonial Forge parents to ask important questions. Such as: who is Principal Karen Spillman? And, why did a harmless halftime prank result in handcuffs and [an initial] ten-day suspension from school?

A Colonial Forge parent living in the Augustine North sub-division spoke to us off-the-record; the parent thought it both odd—and troubling—that Stafford County’s SAT score-leading high school would actually deny one of its students two weeks of precious classroom instruction, adding that “[in this case], the punishment did not fit the [Banana Man] crime.”

So now, the focus turns to accountability. In regards to the recruitment, candidate-vetting and eventual hiring of Dr. Spillman by Stafford County Public Schools, people are rightly asking: what did Stafford County Schools and the school board know—and when did they know it?

This morning, we reported publicly available information on the July 2007 arrest of Karen C. Spillman in Prince William County for public intoxication. The arrest preceded Dr. Spillman’s (2008) acceptance of the Strasburg High School principal post as well as her resignation from the job, fifteen days later for “health reasons.” So, we—like so many Colonial Forge parents—wonder:

• When Dr. Spillman applied for employment to Stafford County Schools—to be an Assistant Principal—was she forthcoming about her July 2007 arrest in Prince William County for public intoxication?

• At the time of her recruitment for the Assistant Principal assignment, did Stafford County Public Schools run the proper [criminal and professional reference] background checks? Did they conduct thorough due-diligence?

• And this summer, when the principal’s position opened up, did the Stafford Count Public Schools re-evaluate Dr. Spillman’s background to replace Colonial Forge High School principal Dr. Lisa Martin, or, did they just rubber stamp Dr. Spillman’s promotion to that role?

Jobs are hard to come by these days, especially plum principal assignments in our public schools. In this difficult economy, there may be dozens of applications posted for each open public school principal assignment (even in under-performing school districts). But this is Stafford County—which touts the nation’s thirteenth-highest per-capita household income and its reputation for academic excellence. Can the Stafford County Schools and its school board assure us that they vetted Dr. Spillman properly? Were there no other candidates for the Colonial Forge principal’s job that could have done as well or better?

Let us be fair to Dr. Spillman: no one rises to the level of Associate Superintendent of Prince William County Schools unless they are truly talented educators and administrators. In fact, we know that in 2006 she applied for Superintendent of Prince William County Schools [to replace the late Superintendent Edward Kelly].

Sadly, Dr. Spillman’s 2007 arrest clouded what arguably [has been] a very bright career in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s third-largest school system.

But parents at Colonial Forge are wondering aloud about Dr. Spillman’s temperament. And are seriously concerned about the safety and civil-rights of their own children. What if [their kids] make a bad choice and take part in some benign high school high jinks: will they too end up in handcuffs, suspended from school, and risking all out expulsion?

Right now, Stafford County Schools has a lot of explaining to do about the hiring of Dr. Karen Spillman to run Colonial Forge High School. Taxpayers need to know.

[Image via Free-Lance Star.]