Fw: DENVER - A state task force says it has little tolerance for the zero tolerance policies that have become standard procedure in school discipline

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----- Forwarded Message -----To: Undisclosed List Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 10:04 PMSubject: DENVER - A state task force says it has little tolerance for the "zero tolerance" policies that have become standard procedure in school discipline

DENVER – A state task force says it has little tolerance for the “zero tolerance†policies that have become standard procedure in school discipline. What is lacking, the task force says, is common sense, and they say they’ve heard enough.

October 19, 2011 Hayden FOX31 Denver

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-state-lawmakers-looking-to-add-common-sense-to-school-discipline-20111019,0,5779095.story

Consider the case of a Denver mother who says she was horrified to see her 8-year-old son, who has autism, handcuffed and taken away in a Denver Police patrol car after an outburst on a school bus.

“He got in the back of the cop car,†she says. “He turned and looked at me, and I’m crying even more because there’s nothing I can do.†In another incident, an Arvada mother says it was “heart wrenching to see her 11-year-old son handcuffed and booked at the Arvada Police Department after he drew stick figures at school. Sen. Newell, (D-Littleton) says a legislative task force heard far too many stories like these as they gathered information on school discipline, and she says putting common sense back into a “zero tolerance†system is long overdue. The Task Force has proposed draft legislation to address the issue. According to the Task Force, nearly 100,000 Colorado children have been referred to law enforcement by their schools for mostly minor offenses that once would have led to a trip to the principal’s office. Zero tolerance policies, however, mandate such students end up arrested

and expelled. “What we’re trying to solve is the problem of having kids swept into the criminal justice system, so that, inadvertently, they’re walking away from school, not with a diploma, but with a criminal record,†Newell says. The Task Force was made up of lawmakers, law enforcement, lawyers, teachers, students and parents. It also included people with developmental disabilities and child advocacy groups. Newell says the draft legislation is designed to put some common sense back into the school discipline system and give local schools more discretion. “We’re trying to give more flexibility in the local control so in the local schools they’re not required to expel a kid who accidentally brings a butter knife into the classroom because his mother packed it into his lunch,†she says. Newell says the proposal brings the pendulum back to the middle. The proposal now goes through a review process

and will be introduced when the Legislature convenes in January.

[Guest guest]

Horrifying photo and situation. Any state doing this can be sue under discrimination and hate crime because they are targeting the disable population with policy and implementation. Sent from my iPadOmayra Matamoros, MHSA, JD

----- Forwarded Message -----To: Undisclosed List Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 10:04 PMSubject: DENVER - A state task force says it has little tolerance for the "zero tolerance" policies that have become standard procedure in school discipline

DENVER – A state task force says it has little tolerance for the “zero tolerance†policies that have become standard procedure in school discipline. What is lacking, the task force says, is common sense, and they say they’ve heard enough.

October 19, 2011 Hayden FOX31 Denver

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-state-lawmakers-looking-to-add-common-sense-to-school-discipline-20111019,0,5779095.story

Consider the case of a Denver mother who says she was horrified to see her 8-year-old son, who has autism, handcuffed and taken away in a Denver Police patrol car after an outburst on a school bus.

“He got in the back of the cop car,†she says. “He turned and looked at me, and I’m crying even more because there’s nothing I can do.†In another incident, an Arvada mother says it was “heart wrenching to see her 11-year-old son handcuffed and booked at the Arvada Police Department after he drew stick figures at school. Sen. Newell, (D-Littleton) says a legislative task force heard far too many stories like these as they gathered information on school discipline, and she says putting common sense back into a “zero tolerance†system is long overdue. The Task Force has proposed draft legislation to address the issue. According to the Task Force, nearly 100,000 Colorado children have been referred to law enforcement by their schools for mostly minor offenses that once would have led to a trip to the principal’s office. Zero tolerance policies, however, mandate such students end up arrested

and expelled. “What we’re trying to solve is the problem of having kids swept into the criminal justice system, so that, inadvertently, they’re walking away from school, not with a diploma, but with a criminal record,†Newell says. The Task Force was made up of lawmakers, law enforcement, lawyers, teachers, students and parents. It also included people with developmental disabilities and child advocacy groups. Newell says the draft legislation is designed to put some common sense back into the school discipline system and give local schools more discretion. “We’re trying to give more flexibility in the local control so in the local schools they’re not required to expel a kid who accidentally brings a butter knife into the classroom because his mother packed it into his lunch,†she says. Newell says the proposal brings the pendulum back to the middle. The proposal now goes through a review process

and will be introduced when the Legislature convenes in January.

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