Students try to make sense of seemingly varying applications of the student handbook
By Clare Driscoll, ‘19, Molly Mitchell, ‘20, Josie Stewart, ‘21, Hallie Underwood, ‘20
When sophomore Quinlin Scherl decided to campaign for class treasurer, he wanted a campaign slogan that would be memorable and would make people laugh. After deliberation, he decided that “Q the Jew” would be just that. Little did he know, this caption on an Instagram post of a stereotypical jewish man would have serious repercussions.
This slogan resulted in Scherl being pulled out of the ballot for treasurer for the class of 2021 by the administration and was given a warning not to do it again, he said. But, he added, the intention of the joke had been misunderstood.
“Someone apparently thought it was offensive, even though I was talking about myself,” Scherl said. “I don’t think I should’ve been taken out of the race [by the administration]. I think they should’ve just told me to take the post down.”
Some students, including Scherl, felt like administrators were inconsistent with how they handled their disciplinary action, claiming some students have received equal or harsher punishments than those who have committed more serious for offenses.
When Scherl was caught vaping on two separate occasions last year, he was suspended the first time for three days and the second time for four days.
“Compared to other people, [my punishment] was complete bullsh*t,” Scherl said. “Several people have done hard drugs on school property and they got suspended for the same amount of time that I did for vaping.”
Sophomore Brent Ju said last year he had been suspended, also three days, for using drugs harsher than nicotine. He did not want to disclose what substance he had used.
When students hear stories like these—two different levels of infraction with the same punishment—it brings into question the application of the handbook
UAHS principal Andrew Theado said although administrators try to follow the Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Handbook disciplinary guidelines as closely as possible, they must make individual decision based on the account of each incident.
“There are some things that we are always consistent on one hundred percent, but there are some things that we vary [on] based on the student’s past experience,” Theado said. “So there may be some variation from student to student. If a student didn’t learn the first time we did something we may change the consequence to be something more sever.”
The student handbook outlines the disciplinary actions the school is required to take in response to different violations or infractions of their guidelines.
RUNNING RUMORS
Few incidents go unnoticed by UAHS students. From videos of student fights being shared through group chats to reports of drug use, students often spread rumors with little context.
Theado said he noticed how the rumor mill can run rampant at UAHS.
“I would say that [the students] know more than we do,” Theado said. “There’s stuff on social media that you may see and be like, ‘Why hasn’t administration done anything about this?’ It’s probably because we have no clue.”
From here, the line between rumor and truth blurs, and Theado said he knows the community begins to ask why administrators don’t try to clarify what’s going on. Often times, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, or FERPA, prevents teachers and administrators from discussing certain incidents.
FERPA protects the privacy of students’ records, meaning the administrators cannot release specific information about certain student actions.
“As a public institution and a public school, I can’t just go out and say, ‘Hey, this is what happened and here’s what the student did,’ even though that would make our lives a lot easier. We can’t because of the federal law,” Theado said. “It’s a good thing that we’re not sharing those things about students, but it makes the rumor mill go a thousand different directions.”
FERPA also limits what the school can say when they address polemical issues that impact the community.
“Sometimes things start to affect all students and the community, and in those circumstances, I send out information,” Theado said.
SAVING STUDENTS
Administrators don’t inform teachers why a suspended student will miss class. As assistant principal Jennifer Mox understands, students fear that teachers will belittle them if teachers know they’ve been disciplined
“I think it’s important to talk to them about the fact that they are under no obligation to tell teachers about why they are out,” Mox said. “Students are already upset, anyways, so you don’t want them to worry about having to go back to class and having the teacher think poorly of them.”
Additionally, Mox called the meeting between student and counselor, in which students can prepare for returning to school, an important step in the discipline process.
“When a student is out for their suspension we have a readmit meeting,” Mox said. “That’s just kind of a good reset. They’ll talk about making sure they were able to access all of their assignments on schoology and if they need help setting up times to make up tests and things like that. It’s a way to start off on that first day back on a good foot.”
Theado said he wants students to know that no matter what mistakes they make, the administrators still think of them as great people.
“Typically, my assistants do a very good job of making sure the students know that we don’t think poorly of you,” Theado said. “Like when you come back from suspension we’re going to fist bump you and say ‘Hi’ in the hallways.”
SHARED SUSPENSIONS
“I know I did some stupid things but I’m hoping when a college sees my grades and activities, they won’t care about the two suspensions,” Scherl said.
It is not explained in the handbook where suspensions and expulsions of students go to be recorded, and although students may have a permanent record, records of disciplinary infractions and suspensions are not recorded or sent to prospective colleges.
“Currently, the Common App asks something along the lines of ‘Have you ever been suspended from school?’ [Students] have the opportunity to answer that and respond yes or no. [The administrators are] not checking your Common Apps, and it’s not on your transcripts,” Theado said.
The administration may not send information about suspensions to schools, but students’ records can be sent if asked for them.
“The military academies are the only ones that ask about academic performance,” Theado said. “Otherwise, we don’t send any disciplinary information.”
BYPASSING BULLYING
According to Stop Bullying, an organization spearheading the fight against this type of “unwanted aggressive behavior with repetition”, one in three students nationwide say they have been a victim of bullying.
This jaring statistic reinforces why assistant principal Matthew Jordan believes that it’s so important to follow the handbook when there is a bullying case in question.
“When we hear bullying or we hear something that sounds like bullying we make sure to follow things directly by the book. In these situations we cross our t’s and dot our i’s twice,” Jordan said.
According to the student handbook, bullying is defined by the district as “any intentional written, verbal, electronic, or physical act that a student or group of students exhibits toward another particular student(s) more than once and the behavior both causes mental or physical harm to the other student(s) and is sufficiently severe, persistent, or
pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for the other student(s); or violence with a dating relationship”.
While junior Emma Mitchell appreciates that there are guidelines listed to help victims of bullying, she feels like the administration’s need to play everything by the book kept her from getting the help that she really needed when she was the victim of bullying last year.
“Coming to school every day was and still is really difficult for me. It was partly because of the things that people were saying to me in the hallways, but also because I felt really strongly that I wasn’t supported by the people at our school who are supposed to support the students,” Mitchell said.
As Mitchell continued to look to the administration for help, she said she felt like the process was more about making sure they covered all of their bases than getting her adequate help.
“I was going in and I wasn’t treated like a person I was treated like a liability. Everything that they said to me, everything that they did was by the books it was like they didn’t even think about the fact that I had gone through something really traumatic. They were just really worried about crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s”.
Theado said that the procedures that are followed when investigating an instance of bullying are taken very seriously within the school.
“When we hear bullying or we hear something that sounds like bullying our red flags are off. So, we do a couple of different things. First of all, we make sure we collect as much information as we can,” Theado said. “For these processes, we work very closely with our attorneys. Because we have a policy in place on how this is done in terms of notifying folks.”
Mitchell understands that there are procedures that have to be met by the administration, but feels like in a way those same procedures restrict the aide that they are able to give students in need.
“It’s kind of hard the way that the handbook outlines bullying and harassment because it doesn’t necessarily fit into every situation,” Mitchell said. “The handbook kind of outlines the minimum things that the administration needs to do to basically not get sued so like it’s kind of difficult when you’re in that situation because [the handbook outlined bullying like] a kid calling someone names, but it was an entirely different situation. They didn’t treat it like it should have been treated.”
ACCORDING TO ADMINISTRATION
The main thing that Jordan said he wants students to know is that their main goal is to provide a safe and happy learning environment at UAHS.
“It’s important that everyone knows that nobody is out to get anyone. That’s not the idea. if we can go through every day with everybody doing what they should and just getting along than that’s what I want and that’s typically how it is,” Jordan said.
But for Mitchell whose problems didn’t fit the handbook, she said it can feel like the administration is trying to make the day easy for them, not the student.
“It’s like you know that more should be done, but you also kind of understand that there’s only so much they can do or that they’re willing to do, which is unfortunate,” Mitchell said.