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March 24, 2000
Students question Sleepy Eye school boardBy FRITZ BUSCH Journal Staff Writer SLEEPY EYE -- Sleepy Eye Public School students and parents spent most of two hours Thursday night addressing the school board and administration about personal safety concerns due to what they called less-than-equal discipline and punishment action. The students' and parents' biggest concern was what they said were eight death threats and numerous fights with fellow students by the same student that they said is still in school. Some school board members and administrators sounded miffed about the threats. They claimed they were not aware of them until reading about them in newspaper accounts following a Monday morning high school walk out in which about 50 students left the building for about 30 minutes, protesting what they considered inconsistent discipline policies. Sleepy Eye Elementary Principal Arla Dockter, the school's human rights officer, said she will talk to the eight students who's lives were said to have been threatened, according to the students. "You can't tell me that they didn't know there was a problem here," said an angry parent after the meeting. "I've got three kids in school here. Right now, I don't feel like sending them back here next year. I may send them to the school across town. My son said he is afraid to go to school." The student body was represented by three students at the meeting--junior Justin Remus and sophomores Brooke Augustin and Annie Hillesheim. Augustin spoke first. She presented the media and others with five questions to the board and administration, and provided answers. 1. What kind of standards can we set for discipline? Sleepy Eye High needs to form a discipline committee and set some standards for punishment. 2. Why is punishment so subjective? These standards of discipline must be followed by everyone, regardless of who they are. 3. What happen to zero tolerance? From day one, the student body has been told that Sleepy Eye has a zero-tolerance policy for violence and it seems to have disappeared. 4. How can we stop the lies and rumors in the school and community without compromising data privacy? Not being able to inform concerned individuals about situations has made them jump to their own conclusions which are often more gruesome than the truth. 5. What can we do to prevent another walk out? Students in this school and parents in this community are not going to give this up. If something isn't done to insure the safety of the students and teachers, and guarantee the equality of punishment and discipline, students will walk out again. "If it does come to this, I can't say I'm sure they will be coming back," said Augustin. "We need to work together as a community to prevent this from happening." The meeting grew heated at times. At one point, Kent Augustin took a newspaper story and walked up to Sleepy Eye Superintendent Jay Haugen and loudly asked him to explain part of the story about Monday's walk out. Sleepy Eye School Board Chairman Reynold Dittbenner pointed towards the door and ordered Augustin to leave the room. "I'll leave, but I don't want to go to somebody's funeral over this," shouted Augustin as he walked out of the high school library. Jim Nachreiner expressed his dismay over what he said was improper handling of an incident last year in which his wife, a high school teacher, was assaulted by a student. "The police didn't find out about it until they noticed she was black and blue when they saw her on the ambulance crew. This was not properly handled," said Nachreiner, his voice wavering with emotion. Mark Bruggeman suggested students talk to their parents about school discipline problems, if they didn't feel they could make a point with school administrators. "This is nuts. Would everybody please just calm down?" asked Bruggeman. Darla Remus asked why the school handbook was so vague? "If anybody said anything wrong back when I was in school, they were in trouble right away," said Remus. Dittbenner said he wasn't sure just what the board would do. He said the board would take the issues to committees to begin with. "I wish I could make things happen fast, but it won't happen tomorrow," said Dittbenner. Haugen said the administration and board could not act on half-truths. Students denied the death threats and fights were half truths.
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