Forced Busing City Schools Style and Black Home Life vs White Home Life #hcsboe





H/T CaseyBrown

 

 

So, the prevailing sentiment of those in positions of power and influence  is them there "public housing" the DOJ is forcing to attend "white" schools will be the nail in the coffin for Huntsville City schools,  white parents are going to flee as fast as their legs can carry them to private schools because everyone knows black children don't want to learn because of their "home life", or lack thereof.  Forgive the run on sentence, but it's the only way EYE can express my disgust for this terrible situation.

Huntsville Board of Education President Laurie McCaulley said her goal is for every child who has been rezoned to "feel like they're at home" in their new school.
To that end, the desegregation plan requires the system to hold an extensive orientation program for reassigned students.
Teachers and principals will also get at least eight hours of cultural responsiveness training this summer, which McCaulley said is especially important for educators who have never been around students from public housing.
"Teachers need to understand that mom may have been working third shift, and her focus may not be as much on parenting as it is trying to survive," she said. "Some of these students have challenges getting up in the morning and having something to eat."
Housing authority CEO Michael Lundy said an orientation program is key to getting students from public housing off to a positive start in their new schools.
"Opening day should not be the first time our kids visit the school or meet some of their fellow students," Lundy said this week.

Yep, the School Board President,and the Housing Authority CEO are enabling media driven racial stereotyping as evidenced by comments like this:

So, the teachers are going to have to spend more time with children from public housing. This means that they will have less time with the other (white) students.  Therefore, the other students will soon be under performing as well.   Oh goody, now we will have a city of under performers.   Oh wait, we have private schools.   Huntsville new plan for public education will succeed in bringing  other kids down to the public housing level and private schools with a lot more students.  

And this:

Allow me to play Nostradamus and tell you how this will end. Project kids being forced to move will not fare any better at Huntsville High because their home life will not have changed. Morale and discipline will plummet. Parents who can afford it will move their kids to private school. Huntsville High spirals in the direction of Johnson as quality students and teachers flee. Property values in the HHS district fall as people gravitate to Grissom district. HHS becomes a dump and then Grissom is targeted for diversification. Left wing busybodies demand more money for failing schools after the "Montgomerization" or "Chattanogification" of Huntsville city schools is complete. And the beat goes on...

On the other hand, the new plan will be very successful in spreading bad attitudes, attendance problems, violence and a multitude of other problems throughout the city.

Why should students from public housing be treated differently than any other students?  But that's not what this post is about.   I want to debunk the media driven narrative of the lack of "home life" in the black community with three words.... The Dugger Family.

What  kind of "home life" teaches that it's acceptable to mock a grieving father for personal political gain? EYE am looking at you Ted Cruz.

What kind of home life teaches if you are poor and pregnant you are on your own?

What kind of home life teaches that black people are natural born lazy Thugs, thieves, and Welfare Queens because they are born black?

What kind of home life teaches that black people are less than human?

Instead of worrying about black home life, you need to be worrying about white home life.

Note:  Posting will be light due to technical issues and family obligations.  Will post when I can, in the meantime read on, read often.~RedEye

#hsvboe...Anything "some students" say on Social Media can, and will be, used against them

Seal of the National Security Agency

I have a ritual to help me decide the topic of my daily blog post.  First, I log on to my blog and scroll down the blog roll.  Then I log on to Facebook, followed by Twitter,  and lastly,  Al.com.

What I saw posted in the Alabama Today section about HCS Superintendent Casey WARdynski   made my Eyes get bigger,  the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and had me pacing the floor muttering expletives. 

A secret program to monitor students' online activities began quietly in Huntsville schools, following a phone call from the NSA, school officials say.
Huntsville schools Superintendent Casey Wardynski says the system began monitoring social media sites 18 months ago, after the National Security Agency tipped the school district to a student making violent threats on Facebook.

There are so many things wrong here I don't know where to start, so I guess I will start by saying Freedom isn't Free.

Since the inception of the Patriot Act and the revelations of warrant less surveillance, I've long held Big Brother  is watching every move we make, but like a good citizen I adopted the if you aren't doing anything wrong you don't have anything to worry about meme.  To my knowledge, expressing opinions via social media, blogs or forums is not against the law.  I falsely assumed we had this little thingy called freedom of speech in the United States of America, and anything we said in these forums couldn't/wouldn't be used against us.   Wrong.

Regardless of how the program started, Huntsville City Schools began scanning Facebook and other sites for signs of gang activity, watching for photos of guns, photos of gang signs and threats of violence.

This superintendent is consumed with the idea of gangs and considers himself an expert.

The four students from Lee High School who filmed a fight in a school bathroom and posted the video to YouTube did so as a gang initiation, Huntsville's superintendent said.
Dr. Casey Wardynski said the fight, which came to light Jan. 20 after the video went viral, wasn't an ordinary skirmish between students. 

"It was a gang initiation; these students went to lunch together afterward," Wardynski said.

 The superintendent said there is zero tolerance in the district for gang activity.

"There will be no gangs in our schools," Wardynski said.

Gang is the new Black 
When asked at a community meeting why students in north Huntsville are required to wear school uniforms,  in a rare moment of candor the superintendent said that was the only way school administrators could tell the gang members from students.

Here's the school district's explanation of how the program got started:
About a year and half ago, Wardynski said, the NSA called Huntsville and reported a high school student had threatened on Facebook to injure a teacher.
Al Lankford, the city's longtime school security officer, told AL.com that he took the NSA phone call. He said security officers went to the high school and eventually searched the boy's car.

Huntsville City Schools

"We found a very good size knife and the student was expelled," said Wardynski, a former U.S. Army colonel appointed as superintendent in Huntsville in 2011.

Big Brother isn't coming, he's already here.
Why was the NSA watching what this student posted on facebook?  The above article says the knife was found in his car but that's not what the initial news reports said.

 A Huntsville City Schools spokesperson said security workers found a knife and gun in a student’s possession Monday at Butler High School.
Additional search procedures were implemented, and no other prohibited items were found.  The male student was charged with two Class III violations of the Huntsville City Schools Student Code of Conduct.

So which one is it, was the knife found in his car (perfectly legal), or in his possession?

The NSA is focused on foreign intelligence. Vines said any information about a domestic safety issue would be sent to another federal agency, like the FBI. "Moreover, NSA does not make recommendations regarding school safety programs," said Vines via email.

"There was a foreign connection," said Wardynski, explaining why the NSA would contact Huntsville schools. He said the student in Huntsville had made the online threats while chatting online with a group that included an individual in Yemen.

There is just one little problem with this scenario...the NSA denies they contacted Huntsville City Schools .

NSA did not acknowledge placing such a call. "The National Security Agency has no record that it passed any information to the Huntsville school district, and the description of what supposedly occurred is inconsistent with NSA's practices," said Vanee Vines, public affairs specialist with the NSA, on Monday.
The NSA is focused on foreign intelligence. Vines said any information about a domestic safety issue would be sent to another federal agency, like the FBI. "Moreover, NSA does not make recommendations regarding school safety programs," said Vines via email.

So who are you going to believe Casey Wardynski, or the NSA?  I'll take the NSA for 100 Alex.

 Board members Topper Birney and Laurie McCaulley, contacted for this story last week, said they were unaware of the monitoring program and the board was not briefed. The city system web site contains no operational information on SAFe, but displays a logo and lists three staff members. Those include two security officers and consultant Chris McRae.

What did BOE members know and when did they know it?
I can understand the weakest links Birney and McCaulley) not having a clue about this program, but what about David Blair, Dr. Jeannie Robinson, and Mike Culbreath?  Did they know?  Did they authorize the hiring of a full time staff to do nothing but investigate what students and other private citizens do online ?

There is disagreement on the Huntsville school board about whether or not Superintendent Casey Wardynski informed board members that the district had begun secretly monitoring student activity on social media.

Psst! The key word here is SECRETLY.  If you tell people what's going on it's not a secret.

Both Blair and McCaulley voiced concerns about the information provided to AL.com and the subsequent media attention the program is receiving.
Blair said students intending to do harm at school might be less likely to put information about their intentions online if they know the district is watching.
"This kind of stuff puts kids in danger," Blair said.
McCaulley said that whoever leaked the security presentation to the media may have broken Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) laws because the presentation included pictures of students.
She said, however, that the program itself has worked by letting the district know about students who may have been planning something dangerous on campus. The documents obtained by AL.com showed pictures of four different students posing on Facebook with handguns.
Three of those students were subsequently expelled and the fourth was referred for counseling.  
"This is a program that works to save kids," McCaulley said

Preemptive Strike!
Are they out of their cotton picking minds?  Do they honestly believe this program has saved kids?  Saved them from whom?  Saved them from what?  Expelling students who may (or may not) have been planning something dangerous and referring the counseling isn't helping them, or anybody else.   And why weren't parents notified of any potential threats of violence?

Although this information is just hitting the fan, it's not new.  CaseyWardynski is doing the job he was hired to do. 

Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu (sic) types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

The Alabama ACLU asked Huntsville City Schools about their social media policy  three months ago.

The American Civil Liberties Union wants to know if Huntsville City Schools is snooping on students.
The group published an open letter (PDF) to Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski Tuesday, which includes a public records request for information on any disciplinary actions taken against students based on their social media activities.
The ACLU said other schools around the country are punishing students for comments made on social media critical of schools, even if the comments are made after school hours on private property.
There is no indication of any specific complaints against Huntsville City Schools at the present time.
Tuesday afternoon, WAFF also mailed a public records request for the same information. We will keep you updated on how the district responds.

The letter said the program can constitute a students right to privacy and freedom of expression online.  It also said suspensions and expulsions are often meted out in a disproportionate manner that negatively impacts student of color.  Look at the pictures presented in the article and you will see this to be true.

It ought to be against the law to lie to taxpayers

Someone is lying about the origins of a secret student social media monitoring program started by the Huntsville City Schools and "needs to lose his job," a national First Amendment expert said today.
"Lying to the public should be a firing offense," according to Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington.

Lying to the public is par for the course in Huntsville City Schools, and if that doesn't work, blame it on the black guy.

There's a third possibility, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) said today. "The school system is telling the truth as they understand it," but the call "could have been anybody, misrepresenting their status."
"If there is proof that the NSA actually made the phone call," Brooks said, "it would behoove the Congress to ascertain whether the NSA has a program consistent with that phone call."
To start an inquiry, Brooks said he'd need the name of the person who called and that person's phone number, "If he's keeping good records, he should have that phone number and that name," Brooks said of schools' security officer Al Lankford.

 Why the Pinnacle Hypocrisy matters:

Wardynski said the city used the SAFe program to break up a gang called the Wolfpack, with six or seven members -- all related to each other through family -- in various schools. The students were expelled and placed in alternative school and boot camp programs.
"People are very good about 'If you see something, say something,'" said Wardynski.
Wardysnki said the monitoring program is limited to threats against schools, and students are expelled from neighborhood schools and placed into alternative programs. Asked if school officials are also searching online for photos of alcohol, drugs and sex, Wardynski said: "None of that."

One of the many, many, things wrong with the Pinnacle Policy is the denial of students right to equal protection under the  law and due process.  I turn the floor over to The Mertz Center Monitor.

To be continued.....

I guess it depends on what the definition of a "hostile learning environment for students" IS

 Grissom High School JROTC cadets, instructors, and parents showed up in full force to defend their instructor against charges of bullying two female cadet members.

Yesterday I wrote about the legal lynching of  Shirley Taylor, the University Place Elementary School teacher who was fired by the superintendent after she was accused by the former principal, Towana Davis, of mistreating students, thereby creating a hostile learning environment.

Davis accused Taylor of creating a "hostile learning environment for students," in part by telling one boy in November 2011 that "he wasn't going to amount to anything or make anything of himself." The boy's mother wrote a letter to the school to complain after her son came home in tears.
Davis also received a letter from a HEALS health clinic staffer who complained about two incidents with Taylor that she witnessed. In one incident, when students were being dismissed for the day, she allegedly heard Taylor screaming at her students, among other things, that they'd "never amount to anything" and "can't do anything right."
In the second incident, when the HEALS staffer went to pick up a child in Taylor's classroom, Taylor allegedly humiliated the boy in front of his classmates by calling him "sick" and in need of medicine. With "more malice in her voice than I can describe in words," the HEALS staffer wrote, Taylor insulted the boy several times while he sat hunched over at his desk, crying.

When a female, Grissom High School, JROTC cadet complained to school officials after being verbally abused by the male instructor, which is currently under investigation by the Feds, school officials said when teachers verbally abuse students it's not Bullying.

An attorney for the Huntsville City Schools had this to say about a bullying incident at Grissom High School earlier this year:  "While you and I may agree that preaching at school that homosexuality is sinful and against the Bible, is not appropriate, this is not bullying."  Really.  How about when it's a teacher berating a student on the topic to the point that she leaves the room in tears? 

Then there is the case of the 15 year old Butler student who was beaten and striped in the schools bathroom, and who initially was denied an emergency school transfer for her safety.   In this case the superintendent and the school board called the incident horseplay, and placed the blame on the victim and the community.  To my knowledge, neither the principal ,or any teachers have been reprimanded, much less fired.

The student claimed she was beaten in the school bathroom by three female students. She said she had her shirt and bra stripped off and had to walk the hallway topless looking for help.
Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski said her transfer being denied was not accurate. He said in order to transfer a student for a safety reason, there must be proof of two things. There must be proof it was a violent crime and that the harassment continued afterwards, which, at the time, he didn't have either.

Finally, there are the public accusations of privatized abuse/torture at the Pinnacle Schools, a private, residential, drug treatment, program contracted by the school board, after they closed and sold the public Fletcher E. Seldon Alternative School.

“The academic programs of The Pinnacle Schools are designed to support students therapeutically by providing a safe learning environment in which their self-esteem is positively impacted by success in school.”

In my opinion, all three of the above incidents are more conducive to creating a hostile, unsafe, learning environment, than a teacher being overheard telling a student they would never amount to anything, or, for telling a sick child they are sick and need medicine.  Sounds like the HCS BOE has a different definition of a hostile learning environment for students for different folks.

Today's Must Reads
Time to End Zip Code Education
NAACP seeks to mount shakeup in U.S. Education
Mississippi school-to-prison pipeline continues to outrage

Huntsville Sitty School Daze Redux

Chapman  students show off WiFi on school Buses

In case you haven't noticed I haven't posted anything new in several days.  Contrary to popular belief I do have a real life off line, and this is one of those times when my real life and my blog life collided and my real life won, as it should be.  I have no illusions as to my influence in this great big world of ours, I am humbled when I check in to find you are still reading, and I'm amazed by what you are reading.   Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued support and encouragement.

Thanks to the *cough* non traditional media I have been keeping up with the disgrace known as the Huntsville City School system.  I am shocked and ashamed by the actions of those in positions of power who place profits over the well being and safety of children.   We really have to question the priorities of those who have no problem providing free Wi Fi to the disadvantaged but are against them having access to quality affordable health care, but I digress.

It is the duty of the public school system to provide a safe, orderly environment that is conducive to learning.

It is the duty of the mainstream media to inform the public when elected public officials  actions, or in this case, non actions, betray the public trust, not cover for, and enable them.

Compare and contrast this headline from today's The Huntsville Times,

Protest held outside Huntsville school's central office over alleged assault at Butler High School

With this headline from the February 4, 2012 edition of the The Huntsville Times

Huntsville superintendent:  Fight at Lee High School was gang initiation

Note the Butler High School incident is "alleged" while the fight at Lee High school is stated as "fact".

Righty's getting it wrong to the rescue!  This is the mentality those elected to represent ALL citizens pander too.

 And herein lies the problem with that

Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

Update~Let's talk about the history of New Century Technology High School

Update:  Mack Lyons and Geek Palaver  blog on this subject, and more.

With all the talk of the history and heritage of Lee High School, the history and heritage of New Century Technology High School is unheard.

New Century Technology High School  is the brain child of former and founding principal Edith Washington Humphrey

New Century offers all the core curriculum that the other Huntsville high schools offer including advanced classes and advanced placement classes for seniors. In addition, students attending NCTHS take at least two technology electives per year. These classes provide students with knowledge and hands-on experience in their chosen technological career field.

Here's the rub , New Century is a magnet program/ choice school... as such, you can live anywhere in the HCS district in order to be eligible to apply for admission, but admission is not guaranteed. New Century does not have a specific zone.

New Century started out on Wynn Drive Campus of Calhoun Community College which was supposed to be a temporary home until it got it's own building, which never materialized because city leaders built Colombia High School instead. Stay with me.

The school system is under a DoJ desegregation order, which means they have to have DoJ approval before new schools are built/opened. In order to get clearance the school system led the DoJ to believe Colombia would be New Century...a school of choice.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Five years ago, when New Century Technology High School switched locations, school leaders figured the move wouldn't be permanent.
Now, because of crowding at the shared Columbia High School campus, the city school board is talking about finding New Century a new home, but it's uncertain where.
New Century, whose students take high-tech classes in preparation for a tech-centered career, has about 300 students. The campus, nestled in Cummings Research Park, serves 957 students in a building designed for 800. School leaders expect Columbia will grow along with development in west Huntsville.

No, school leaders used New Century Technology school to build a new school for those parents who did not want to send their students to Butler High School

Butler High School is shrinking, but not because families are moving out of town.
Instead, this summer Butler High School saw roughly one in five students approved to transfer to another school. With just 622 students now, Butler fills about 30 percent of its available space.

al.com commenter jaguarblue keeps it real

That great sucking sound of students leaving was created by a school board some years ago to appease the Generals of Redstone Arsenal. They said that opening Columbia would have no affect on Butler, Dah! It only took common sense to know that the inevitable would happen. Go figure, Its a longer bus ride from Redstone to Columbia than to Butler. Even still Westlawn Middle is essentially right outside of the gates of the Arsenal and the middle schoolers of Redstone are bused to Williams Middle which is a longer ride, not to forget that Morris Elementary is just around the corner along with Ridgecrest. Thanks goes out to Loretta Spencer, Glenn Watson, and our school board officials at that time, some whom still serve.

There shouldn't be a merger between New Century and Lee High. Colombia should be New Century.

No, everyone complaining about Lee's loss of identity is ignoring the fact that New Century has a stellar reputation and has never been anything but USED by the former superintendent. New Century has to lose the only thing it has, it's name, and your suggesting New Lee High is an insult to them.

It is insulting at best, duplicitous at worst. New Century Technology High School should be a shining example of educational, innovation, diversity and progress,not treated like the step child at the family reunion. We need more NCTHS and fewer Lee High Schools.