Mashpee schools followup
I just realized I've been pretty remiss in my followup on what happened in Mashpee a few weeks ago -- specifically, a murder threat made by an elementary school student that went unreported either to parents or to the police until the media got a hold of the news.
Shortly after I sent this letter to the local newspapers and TV studios the principal and superintendent had a meeting with concerned parents at the Quashnet school to discuss the incident.
The main focus of the meeting was on forming a "Safety Task Force" with parents to discuss the school's stated safety policy in the student handbook, and to figure out how that needs to be revised.
A few parents, including me, stood and and explained that the "safety policy" wasn't what bothered us nearly as much as the lack of communication, but I'm afraid we were drowned out by the shrill cacophony of hysterical parents who want a "zero tolerance" policy in place without fully understanding what that is and how it affects the environment our children are trying to learn in.
Supt. Bradshaw and Mr. Dees both threw out pablum like, "Maybe we need to lock the front doors while school is in session," despite the fact that this doesn't at all address either the event that occurred or how it was handled. One parent suggested that she wanted to see the police roaming the hallways of the school and she wanted to throw the book at any kid who stepped out of line.
Fortunately the town police chief, Rod Collins, stood up at that point and told the throng that he didn't want teachers to be cops and he didn't want his cops to be teachers, either. Thank God, the voice of reason.
Sadly, there was very little else heard from reason that night.
For what it's worth, the Enterprise did pick up my letter to the editor, which I was happy to see. I've heard nothing from anyone else, though, so I presume the rest of them just figured it was pointless ranting. *sigh.*