Des Moines Register, Saturday, May 23
School board members face some tough decisions. Dividing resources among a diverse population with very different learning needs is a daunting task. Recruiting, empowering and retaining top-notch teachers is a priority, but only after the board comes up with money to repair leaky roofs and crumbling old buildings. There is rarely enough time in the day or money in the coffers. And, the administration, staff, parents and community often make conflicting demands.
However, the Des Moines School Board routinely finds time to fiddle with things not broken and tinker in areas beyond its mandate. In 2005, the board complicated the sale of the vacant Rice property in Beaverdale by forming a committee to review economic-development proposals. In the end, the district chose the wrong developer and still holds the land today. If the district had no use for the land, it should have been sold outright or swapped for property the district could use. A school board dabbling in economic development and zoning may seem odd to some, but it is just another day at the board table for this group.
This week, the board approved a new student code of conduct that makes the school the ultimate parenting authority of any high school kid who wants to play in the band, join the football team or participate in any other extracurricular activity. According to the code, it is "in effect 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week." It does not matter whether the student is at home, traveling abroad or at his grandma's house.
Even more astounding, a student can be penalized even if he does nothing wrong, but is on the premises with students who do. For a district that has trouble keeping kids in school, it seems strange it would seek to expand its scope to include policing how a kid spends her summer and routing out students to punish by association.
The code specifically states that "reliable" information from social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook would be considered evidence by the district. I will now pause while you stop laughing about Facebook and MySpace being reliable sources of information.
One bold school board member attempted to remove language in the code that prohibits certain otherwise legal activities conducted away from school. Unsuccessful in his attempts, he bravely voted for the flawed code anyway. Huh?
Another member praised this new conduct code by saying "when (students) are representing us, we have the right to say you must behave." I would agree if he was referring to those times when students are at school functions, playing on the sports field or participating in a school activity. He was not. This board member and his colleagues seem to think any high school student who participates in activities beyond the school day represents the district at all times and in every corner of the globe. This policy supersedes parental authority; at least, it does for Johnny if he wants to be on the debate team next spring.
It is difficult to fault the school board for wanting to develop a new student code of conduct. Standardizing the patchwork of individual school policies and enhancing existing and often vague district policies could improve school safety. That is not what the district did on Tuesday. The new conduct code is a gigantic overstepping of authority and opens the district to a myriad of costly legal challenges.
The school board should repeal this new code immediately and work with administrators to write one that provides discipline guidelines for students during school functions. The school board has enough to do without trying to act as police force and omnipotent parent for all of the kids of Des Moines.
If you disagree, I will refer you to the district's latest high school dropout figures.
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