In my day, dances were the most exciting thing happening in school, heck even in town. What is going on?
Well it seems if you are a 4.0 student but miss a few days of school, you can't go to the dance! Rule - X number of unexcused absences, you cannot attend a dance. A doctors note is the only excused absence in most cases. How many kids just have the good old flu/cold this time of year but don't need to see a doctor?
Attendance is more important than grades in Wicomico County? Or is this just a Bennett rule?
56 comments:
What a shame. Why can't we let kids be kids? We take away the good, wholesome, healthy activities and then wonder why kids get in trouble.
Im a student who attends bennett high..And yes the attendence and conduct history rules for this dance where very very strict..Also when the dance was first announced the ticket prices where said to be like $30 so alot of students had planned not to go...Then magically when they go on sale $10 couple $6 Single..
Go to a dance, you used to go to try to get up with a girl, hell their all having sex long before you need a dance. They probably wouldnt let them dance the way they want to anyway. The society we remember is gone.
its like that with all the middle and high schoolers...from my understanding it weeds out the bad kids...frankly if they were going to weed out the bad kids then they need to base it on: grades and how many behavorial referals/visiting the principal's office. anything other than attandence..I agree that is stupid....
I heard that there was a pretty good turnout for Parkside's winter formal. Maybe that tells you something.
No kids didnt show up because they couldnt drink before hand, so they just went out drinking instead.
I'd be curious to know what "X" number of absences is. If it's a fairly high number, then the rule is fair and makes sense. I know another high school in Salisbury that requires a passing GPA and no referrals. Another rule I think is fair. Extracurricular activities are privileges that should be earned.
So. Let me run this back around so I can hear myself say the words. Kids are being penalized for non-attendance of school activities, by being restricted from attending school activities...yeah that sounds functional. BTW...you only did these kids a favor by not allowing them to get their groove on at school. I can guarentee you at least one set of you parents around here now has wobbly dining rooms chairs, cigarette burns on at least one rug, an Absolut bottle that now contains nothing but tap water, ping-pong balls everywhere {but surprisingly no ping pong table has been sold in America in 20 years}, and all of your sofa cushions are a little "damp" and have been flipped over.
Reason noone goes is bc all they want to do now is get kids in trouble for drinking, whether it be breathalizing at the door or shining flash lights in cars in the parking lot (which they do), noone wants to put up with that.
So they do exactly what 1122 said, they go out and get drunk somewhere else where they cant get a 5 day suspension, a criminal record, and suspended from playing sports for 45 school days. You do the math.
And the reason noone goes has nothing to do with attendance so get that out of your head, it is solely because you cant get a little tipsy beforehand, so noone wants to go.
Another fun thing Bennett admin has ruined. I know i know kids shouldnt be drinking, BLAH BLAH BLAH you know you did it too
we have been trying this approach for awhile now. the more disipline we throw at kids the worse they get. what is the answer? i have no idea but the current way is not working, thats for sure.
Maybe a lot of the parents just couldnt afford an outfit for their child to wear,(formal). Maybe the economy had something to do with it.
hey i was there and there were no thugs or thug wanna be's. does that say something about these type of peoples attendance and GPA? it made the dance more enjoyable and safer. sorry buts thats the truth.
had 400 plus kids at Parkside's Dance. Great turnout and were well behaved except for the 5 kids who got caught coming to the dance having drinkin alcohol prior to the dance.
Didn't we go thru this last year? A dance is very important. It teaches kids social skills. Most of them sure don't learn that at home anymore with 2 parents (if they are lucky) working.
Very interesting comments. Many people assume parents change schools because of sports. Talking to parents that moved their kids to Parkside, sports were not a priority but a feeling of a safer environment for the children. More active booster club, better run and more activities for the kids, better communication with the administration, etc.
That opens a whole other issue with allowing kids to change schools. I have yet to see one not be able to, pay the right professional and anything is possible it would appear. These are parents that are able to drive them to/from. Not all of us can do that.
All high schools in our county should have the same rules, that make sense.
Mrs Caruso, Just a question are the ratios between white,black and hispanic kids roughly the same in both schools,(Parkside/Bennett)?
Parkside side in the eyes of the general public is the Best High School in the area. Great school. Great teachers Great environment. This can change and does change. In years past this was what the public thought of JMB.
Reese Bobby, with that spin you attempted to put on this subject I'd swear you're a politician.
"Kids are being penalized for non-attendance of school activities, by being restricted from attending school activities..."
Ahhh, no, kids aren't being penalized for "non-attendance of school activities," they're being penalized for too many absences from class. Unless it has all changed since I was in school, attending class at school is not merely a "school activity."
All high schools are using dance eligibility policies. Excess absences, GPA and office referrals are listed in all of them to exclude students from attending dances. The vast majority of students do not get sent to the office, do attend school and do have passing grades. The average student has no problem meeting the requirements necessary to be eligible to attend school dances.
Frankly school dances were getting out of hand and that is not even considering the dry hump crotch rubbing style of dancing (the girl bends over and rubs her but on the boys crotch) that the students seem to emulate from movies and videos.
Each school should have their dance policy posted on their BOE linked web site.
As far as the morons who think excluding students who are drinking is somehow wrong????, no comment is necessary.
Since when is asking students to come to school, do the assigned work and stay out of trouble too much to ask????
Good schools do just that and more. There are way too many thugs and gang wannabes walking the halls of our public schools.
If we want out schools to be good (even excellent)we need to back such policies that attempt to set some standards that are above minimum.....1.6 gpa for athletics should be raised to 2.0 but that is another subject.
pops
3:20 Excellent point. Just a shame that Bennett/WiHi/Mardella kids aren't at the best school. If all have and follow the same rules, things would be different maybe?
Treat them like thugs and they will be thugs. Catering to a certain group is a mistake too. They all should be held to the same standard. Raising the bar but making it reachable.
I still do not understand why attendance is a BIG deciding factor. Do they really think these kids are going to start going for the perfect attendance award so they can go to a dance? Last dance of the year? It just sounds like they only wanted certain kids to go with these rules. Big mistake for Bennett in my opinion.
3:49 POPS - sounds like you have been to a Bennett dance!
It is my understanding Parkside does not stress to much on the absences. GPA is the most important factor.
Agreed the dancing at Bennett is ridiculous. Parkside doesn't have that issue. Why Bennett kids? Especially the girls. GPA is not a factor though. Across the board they do the "freak" dancing. The more they try to stop it the more they do it. Need a new plan I say.
its not only at bennett. its at parkside too. its stupid.
3:31. Believe it or not I was a kid once {we used quarters, not ping-pong balls}-and you need people to be honest with you here rather than tell you what you want to hear. The best punishment you could have used on ME for missing any school, was making me make up my less-than desirable behavior with MORE SCHOOL. I have no problem with punishment-although it is better to ignore most of the bad and reinforce the good. My point is you are actually giving some of these kids a REWARD//yourselves the PUNISHMENT by losing them into the shadows of binge drinking {and subsequent driving-under-aged pregnancy} at an unsepervised house party. And as for my political career....well, let's just say I have no frustration tolerance for trying to make EVERYONE happy if they are just being downright unreasonable. That "compromise of the soul" ain't my bag, babe!!
JMB Number of students each race
Am. Indian/ AK Native 2
African American 439
Asian/Pac. Islander 71
White 767
Hispanic 67
Male 675
Female 671
Parkside numbers of eacah race
Am. Indian/ AK Native 0
African American 318
Asian/Pac. Islander 43
White 821
Hispanic 32
Male 611
Female 603
the dancing is just as bad at Parkside. It is sex with cloths on. I dont think schools have dance policys to post.
Reese Bobby, more noise, but you didn't address the comments in your original post. Do you consider a student attending class as merely a "school activity?"
And for L. Caruso, a question posed to you was: how many absences from class does the "X" in your original post represent?
Reese Bobby - couldn't agree more! Excellent start in fixing the problem. Don't just suspend them, send them home to an empty house w/ no parents, let them roam the streets, MOST certainly not learning a thing. Perfect starting point but BOE will never do it. Makes to much sense.
4:24 Thanks for the numbers. How would one go about getting REAL GPA numbers for those 2 schools?
The State of Maryland issues a report card for all schools and attendance is a major issue. It takes a 94% attendance rate to get a passing grade. The schools are trying anything to get attendance up. The same goes for drop out rate and passing scores on the new HSA exams in biology, government, English and math (algebra/geometry).
Ask the BOE how many specialist (PD coaches) they now have and how much they are spending trying anything to get passing rates up. It is all part of the same picture and attendance is just one part. No the last dance I attended was in the 60's when I attended JMB and it was a different picture then... I have been in schools as a teacher for 34 years and I have attended many school dances recently, just not at Bennett.
1 year to go and I will never attend another school dance. My biggest shock is/are the parents who see nothing wrong with Freak dancing.
pops
BTW..if you are offended by the "freak dancing" they aren't even shy about showing you ON THE SCHOOL DANCE FLOOR-you ought to see the naughty, fumbly moves they are busting {sometimes the dancing stops ALL TOGETHER if you know what I mean} if there are no chaperones around. Sometimes it's us older folks who have to adjust their perceptions/methods to solve a greater, more compelling problem in today's very challenging society.
Thanks for those numbers, not what I would of thought. What do parents that dont have health insurance do when their kid is sick but they dont have coverage or the extra cash to take them to the doctor? How do they get their kid a note?
This is not just referring to Parkside or Bennett but all Wicomico Co. Schools: it seems that the schools are spending the majority of time and resources on meeting state guidelines instead of teaching. Obviously good attendance is important but the focus on it is too much, there are times when children are sick and that's all there is to it. Also, the teachers are required to teach to whatever test is coming up, not subject tests they use to grade the children on, but standardized testing. It is unfair for the children who are missing out on some critical lessons as well as the teachers who are trying to fit regular curriculum in with getting the children to pass the tests.
Pops - a lot of parents don't have a clue. They see it on TV or if they go out to a dance/bar, just couples though. They just don't know that their daughters are bending over, face down, in a group, in a circle. They only see the floor! The boys stand behind each girl.
They put women's rights back 100's of years. When I first witnessed it that is all I could think of. And I am not a "feminist".
It is official I guess, they teach to pass but do not educate anymore. We can't get rid of the bad teachers so we hire more to analyze the students.
Sounds more like the students are pawns?
Were all Pawns.
OMG-back in the 80's the middle school and high school dances were how kids "hooked up" before texting and IM-ing.The teachers made sure there was no drugs or drink circulating and so it was pretty safe.I remember the more adventurous boys would break dance.....or attempt to.
Break dancing is for those that don't have righteous disco moves....oh TotMom,the good olde days-working part-time in the paint store to save up for Saturday Night.. to see me in that white liesure suit...the hair...the medallions...."You Should Be Dancing" by the BeeGees on the 8track....a little late night White Castle..striking.. {and some of you parents/grandparents don't think I know why your bed frame wobbles after leaving the kiddies home alone for the weekend!!!} The one excuse you can NEVER use now is you haven't been warned!!
its the same rules for all school
1.6 gpa or better
no more than 2 unexcused absences
no suspensions or office referals in 30 days
the reason no one went is JMB is out of control
teachers are dressing in black to show how mush they are dissatisfied and it has become a joke
the administration openly admits they cant control the students
our BOE needs to take over JMB now!
or maybe our state should
the school and its administration are a disgrace to wicomico county
also white kids are being beaten up for just being white and they are hiding it - teachers even deputies are scared - please help us!
7:05 You have just scared the HELL out of me. I did hear the new principal is having difficulty. Any Bennett teachers out there???? Anonymous is protected. Please offer some insight.
Statistics and numbers can be deceiving sometimes.
7:05. Is that really a fact? {seriously not arguing..very curious if that is current policy}-just TWO unexcused abscences and you are disqualified from extra-curriculars?? I am merely an unfrozen caveman emu herder, but if THAT is true these unenlightened, primative ways surprise and frighten me. Way back, when I was singing "How Deep Is Your Love" in my girlfriend's ear, we even got 10 unexcused absences a year before the suits "took the easy way out" and made us walk the plank...and I was in the national honor society {1.6 gpa...c'mon...you kids need to raise the bar FOR YOURSELVES TOO-look at the "[lack of] Help-Wanted" sections lately?} and needed/deserved a day off at the beach too!!
4:38 I so sorry, wasn't ignoring you, missed your comment. I used "X" because it was a confirmed policy but I didn't know the exact number. Not posted on WCBOE. I still find attendance as a priority, an issue. Thus the post.
I quess our society is reaping what it sowed. At least a portion of it anyway. Two societies, two social classes, two agendas, two futures. I dont think were talking about a dance anymore.
4:38. I almost missed your little popcorn "excuse me" too. Pick a screen name so we can talk more personally. Yes, to give you a direct answer, I do consider attending the school itself a school activity, and in today's society keeping the kids in the secured, supervised environment is very much the basic type of "school activity" I expect my county property taxes to pay. How else can I help you {specifically} tonight during the snowstorm?? BTW...before you moan at ME-any of four mayoral candidates trying to "Steal Your Love", or at least a score of BOE officials, could probably show some intestinal fortitude and add a little comment or two here. But we all know THAT won't happen either, don't we!!
Stop blaming the schools and the admin - no, they aren't perfect, far from it.
But if kids are drinking, dancing inappropriately, missing school, and having sex, it's the parent's fault. Period.
Your kid's science/english/math teachers are there to teach a subject. Some of them don't do it well, some are great and teach a subject and a whole lot more.
But they simply ARE NOT there to parent, and, in fact, don't have the authority to.
Parents need to step up and take responsibility for their kid's behavior and quit passing the buck.
BTW..did I actually just have to re-explain to someone here {that I assume is an adult} that I felt "school attendance" itself is properly classified as a "school activity." A mind is a terrible thing to waste!! You guys should leave the kids alone and start healing yourselves!!
3:20. You are looking through rose colored glasses. Parkside the best school? Maybe the newest buliding, fanciest technology, but will take Mardela over any of the 3 city schools. Its not the fanciest, they dont have a brand new school, but they have some of the best kids around. I like my child being at a small school like Mardela, I dont worry about my child's safety at Mardela like JMB, that is where my child is supposed to go but we take him to Mardela, because JMB is out of control and we are very happy with the staff and community feel of Mardela.
RB. We didn't believe you either until we read it. Save yourself. Come next door where the Risk board is hot and the beer is cold! bring your shovel.
my child is a honor roll student, with a 4.2 gpa, and could not attend the dance because she has two absences. RIDICULOUS!!!
3/4 of you people are so uninformed and ignorant the facts its disgusting, im sorry but yeah, esp you L Caruso.
BTW get off parksides nuts
Parkside does not use attendance to keep kids from the dance. the dance policys are for the individual schools.
Parents will be kicking the door down to try and get students into the "NEW" JMB. Don't be fooled. It's lipstick on a pig!
This is a Wicomico County Board of Ed Policy. Mardela's Winter Formal Dance was canceled because they didn't sell 100 Tickets, after parents had already bought new dresses, shoes and made hair appts, dinner reservations, etc. What about the students, especially the seniors, that will never have another winter formal dance. You know kids have the stomach virus and can't leave the bathroom but they want a doctors note. Alot of parents, including myself as a single parent, can't afford to run to the doctor for every little sniffle. What has happened to the leaders? A parent note used to be acceptable. One of my children was in the ER on saturday evening and on Monday got sick again and went to the nurse and she told him to go back to class that he was ok, after she tried to give him somebody elses ritalin. She got a piece of me. This is why students "DO" need cell phones at school. There are a few good teachers/school staff left but most of them just don't care anymore. There is a girl at Mardela (catcher of the softball team) that was fighting in school, well she only got 2 days suspension instead of the county policy of 5 days, because the softball coaches mother (who is a teacher/guidance counselor)knew she would not be able to play under the county's 5 day suspension rule. She also missed try outs but the Coach Shiles is going to let her come back on the team. This is why schools lack alot of School Spirit and teaches kids its ok to break the rules.
3:20. You are looking through rose colored glasses. Parkside the best school? Maybe the newest buliding, fanciest technology, but will take Mardela over any of the 3 city schools. Its not the fanciest, they dont have a brand new school, but they have some of the best kids around. I like my child being at a small school like Mardela, I dont worry about my child's safety at Mardela like JMB, that is where my child is supposed to go but we take him to Mardela, because JMB is out of control and we are very happy with the staff and community feel of Mardela.
8:34 PM
RIGHT ON! We may not have the newest, fanciest school in the county but we don't have drug problems, major fights or racial problems and the students care about each other. Mardela is the only school that they did not find drugs last week during the K9 searches. We also have the teachers that have been around alot longer and still care about the students and know them by name. Most of the problems that occur here are from the students the county sends here from the city that already have issues from other schools. The county should keep students in their own school district, Parkside for example, as long as you are a doctor or lawyer child you can attend with no questions asked. Wicomico County needs some new leaders especially at the Board of Ed.
Hey idiots that think parkside is new. The majority of the school is 35 years old. It has some major problems. The CTE sections are only 10 years old so maybe your confused.
2 Unexcused absences since the start of the third term - four weeks ago
I am a JMB Teacher. I have taught there many years. There are problems there, basically because Adminstration at JMB and the Board Level do not support the teachers/Staff the way they should. We continue to write referrals/but its becoming a joke to the students-----hardly is any type of punishment done. Principal is hardly at the school, she is in that meeting or another. One DOS only averages 3 days a week, if she is lucky. When in School, she rarely goes out of her office. Principal Batts states it is the teachers/staff responsible to take back our school. What about Administration helping out? The Sheriff stays in his office instead of patroling the school. Adminstration on Cafeteria duty sit on the stage, instead of walking around correcting the cursing and throwing of food, etc. When a student curses out a teacher a student gets In School Supension (Slay on the wrist). I agree at lot of the problems are from the parents not holding their kid responsible at home and the language that is used at home is brought into our school. Students and teachers/staff are afraid to go in the hallways. Recently, a student hit a teacher. Guess What?
The Student got 2 days suspension. That student should have been shown the door for the rest of the school year. Does this give you an insight of what is going on at JMB. COME ON ADM.
HELP US OUT. I can't use my name for fear of retaliation.
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