Reply #9: On further from the article.... [View All]

[DeSwiss]

Over nearly three hours Monday in the Knight High theater, parents and others decried the treatment of the three arrested students, and a number called for the firing or arrest of school security guard Chris Niemeyer, alleging he inflicted injury by way of excessive force. School and district officials, meanwhile, said the situation is being investigated and Niemeyer will remain on paid administrative leave until the investigation is closed.

"There's due process," said David Vierra, superintendent of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. "We're not going to predetermine what we think that's going to be."

Another parent asked the panel why school deputies give citations to students and why so many students leave school with criminal records of assault and other felonies. Cook clarified that citations are issued by sheriff's deputies, not by the school. "It all goes through the court system," she said.

"The broader community demanded more enforcement on our campuses," Parker said. "As a result, instead of going to the principal's office, some kids can end up in court."

Ford said black parents get cold receptions at Knight High. "If you respond with intelligence, they say you are defiant. We are not defiant. We are frustrated."

Vierra said he is sympathetic to the effects of criminal records on students' future prospects - "it's absolutely a concern of ours," he said - but added that school officials cannot tell the Sheriff's Department what to do.

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It appears to me that the school wants to have it both ways. The principal says the "community" asked for more security. But that security is there at their behest, so they're responsible for what those whom they hire do on school property. If the sheriff's deputy was working as a deputy, then he should be on patrol somewhere. If he's being paid by the school system, then they are his employers. They can't pass the buck!!! And as for "his" rights and due process -- if that is so important, then why was the mother fired already and the kids expelled without "their" due process???

And I know from experience that when a black person speaks with intelligence and authority that white administrators in schools systems are intimidated by that. And they pull out all the stops to avoid dealing with you hoping that you'll just go away.

K&R!!!