Student Allegedly Threatens to Shoot Thots At School With a Musket

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

We need a sub-forum on thots. They do not sound hot.

[dannno]

We need a sub-forum on thots. They do not sound hot.

Being a thot requires being hot.

[Ender]

We need a sub-forum on thots. They do not sound hot.

"You, dear sir, are a poet and you did not even know it."

-Sir Percy Blakeney-
aka The Scarlet Pimpernel

[dannno]

Crisis at San Marcos High School

Threats to Students and Counter-Productive Solutions

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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

by HOWARD WINANT

There’s a crisis at San Marcos High School. Recently online threats have been made against female students there, which understandably freaks out parents. Unfortunately there has been an inadequate response by school leaders, who do not know how to deal with this situation in a positive way. Pressured by parents, they resort to the standard (and now Trumpian) response: armed police in the school. These are euphemistically called “Student Resource Officers” (SRO) but they are just armed, on-duty cops. In fact it is revealing that SMHS, the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD), and other advocates of police in the hallways would find it necessary to come up with that euphemism at all.

Of course the school should work together with parents, students, educators, and the community to effectively remedy gender- and race-based conflicts in our schools. But as a social scientist, I can tell you that research shows “police in the hallways” does not work. In fact, it fosters division, racial and gender-based antagonism, and increases the danger to kids in schools. If you want to learn more about this, take a look at Kathleen Nolan’s book Police in the Hallways: Discipline in an Urban High School(University of Minnesota Press, 2011), which is one of the best of the new research works out there.

Not all parents and community people are reacting in this knee-jerk way. Only some people are letting themselves be governed by fear, which is ultimately irrational and counterproductive. Other parents — backed by community people and school staff, and also listening to student voices — are organizing against police in the hallways of San Marcos.

A movement of concerned parents, students, staff, and community members of the SBUSD is organizing against this counterproductive push for using the police. Looking toward the upcoming March meeting of the SBUSD Board, we are proposing the following points as action items for the meeting:

1. There should be no armed police (so-called School Resource Officers or SROs) on the San Marcos High School Campus. We firmly stand against SROs in our school system and urge the Superintendent and Board of the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) to do the same. The perception that the presence of cops in school would create a safer environment is incorrect. It would instead have a disproportionate impact on girls, students of color, and disabled students. If you want more evidence that police in the hallways (SROs) are harmful, not helpful, in dealing with in-school social conflicts, see the Nolan book I mentioned. There is also an online summary of the evidence that cops in school does not work, available at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/SROdata.

1. (2) We are also demanding that any already existing SROs (yes, there already are some) on school campuses in the SBUSD will receive in-depth, multi-day, recurring training in implicit bias. Any SRO on campus should also receive in-depth, multi-day, recurring training in nonviolent de-escalation and intervention strategies. Training in implicit bias, de-escalation, and intervention should begin before any cops are placed on campus and be maintained and updated in regular intervals throughout their assignment as an SRO.

1. (3) We demand that the SBUSD and SMHS in particular provide intervention programming to students, parents, and staff. These programs should target the misogyny, bullying, and racism that have been reported by students as being a part of SBUSD campus culture.

1. (4) We demand that a task force on mental-health services be formed to ensure the mental-health services provided to students are effective in promoting widespread prevention of psychological crises and limit feelings of stigma for those seeking help.

1. (5) We demand that a course in Ethnic Studies be included as a graduation requirement for all SBUSD high school students. Ethnic Studies includes gender studies, and the study of other marginalized groups. This has now been mandated by the California Department of Education (See the Social Content Sheet here). Research shows that these courses increase empathy and understanding, and improve intergroup relations.

1. (6) We demand that Superintendent Matsuoka visit the SMHScampus and address the student body to explain the above actions being taken to improve the safety of students and target problems within the campus culture.

Howard Winant is a professor of Sociology at UCSB and a member of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), Santa Barbara.


https://www.independent.com/news/201...s-high-school/

[dannno]

Good lord, do people not realize this is exactly WHY trolls operate?? To stir $#@! up???

It could have just been a stupid stream video/chat on the internet that nobody saw......

But NNOOOOOOOO.. we have to fire the principal, then we have to remove school board members for firing the principal... all cuz of some dumb video about a musket that didn't even exist!!!

Contingent of San Marcos Parents Call for Recall of Boardmembers

Hundreds Angered by Board Vote to Remove Principal

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

A substantial force of San Marcos High School parents wants to recall Santa Barbara Unified School District boardmembers Kate Parker, Jackie Reid, Wendy Sims-Moten, and Ismael Ulloa Paredes, who voted last week to remove Principal Ed Behrens this June.

Citing privacy concerns, the district has not explained why Behrens will be demoted to a teaching position. Behrens’s supporters claim he’s been unfairly punished for his handling of a cyber threat in January, when several female students were allegedly targeted by a group of male students. Only Boardmember Laura Capps voted against the demotion.

https://www.independent.com/news/201...-boardmembers/

[dannno]

Principal: Fired for not over-reacting enough

Student: Misdemeanor, probation, no jail time

LOL

San Marcos High School Chat Room Participant Convicted
Criminal Threat Reduced to Misdemeanor


Wednesday, October 3, 2018
by KEITH HAMM


The first-year San Marcos High School boy involved with threatening the lives of at least 16 female fellow students has been convicted of making a terrorist threat, according to a high school parent familiar with the case, adding that the original felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. The sentence includes six months of supervised probation.


The boy was part of a private online chat room that hosted a video created by another San Marcos boy describing out how to kill female students with a musket and bayonet. The convicted boy followed up the video on social media with a list of female students who ought to be killed. According to several parents, the boy in the video was never charged. No names have been released publicly; the identities of minors are protected.


Reached for comment, District Attorney Joyce Dudley said, “As a matter of law we are only allowed to discuss any potential disposition with victims and juvenile victims’ parents.”

[AZJoe]

If only he had called for their miserable deaths, castration, and feeding them to swine, the kid could qualify to be a Georgetown Professor.

[r3volution 3.0]

[dannno]

1. (5) We demand that a course in Ethnic Studies be included as a graduation requirement for all SBUSD high school students. Ethnic Studies includes gender studies, and the study of other marginalized groups. This has now been mandated by the California Department of Education (See the Social Content Sheet here). Research shows that these courses increase empathy and understanding, and improve intergroup relations.

1. (6) We demand that Superintendent Matsuoka visit the SMHScampus and address the student body to explain the above actions being taken to improve the safety of students and target problems within the campus culture.

Howard Winant is a professor of Sociology at UCSB and a member of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), Santa Barbara.


https://www.independent.com/news/201...s-high-school/

https://www.independent.com/news/201...bara-high-sch/

Ethnic Studies Now to Be Required in Santa Barbara High Schools

After Three-Year Campaign, Education Activists Achieve Victory

Thursday, November 29, 2018
by ERIKA CARLOS (CONTACT)


In a critical attempt toward reducing the achievement gap between ethnic minority students and their peers, the Santa Barbara Unified School Board unanimously voted on November 13 to require ethnic studies coursework for high school graduation. The board meeting was packed with enthusiastic students and their supporters, as well as a small, vocal group of parents who opposed the initiative during public comment, criticizing it as “race-baiting” and “anti-American.”


The new requirement, scheduled to begin in 2023, is the result of three years of activism by the Santa Barbara Ethnic Studies Now! Coalition. The group was founded by community activist Fabiola Gonzalez, who said that she wished such an education ​— ​which reflected her own heritage and experience ​— ​had been available for her and her family.


Growing up, Gonzalez struggled to find her place in her school and community. Gonzalez is a first-generation Latina American; her parents immigrated to Santa Barbara from Mexico. It was her biggest secret that she worked with her parents as a gardener when she wasn’t in school. “It was something I felt a lot of shame about,” said Gonzalez. “It was not something I could bring to school.” Ethnic student minorities such as Gonzalez are not given the opportunity to see themselves or their histories in their studies. “I always felt like that’s just how it was,” said Gonzalez. “That I had to change myself to try to fit in.”

A self-described “typical good student,” Gonzalez never received lower than a B, was active in extracurricular activities, and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 2009. Despite her good grades, she found herself struggling at City College. “There was a moment where I could have easily gotten stuck or lost and given up,” she said. Then she took her first Chicana studies course. “Those classes helped me look beyond my own life and barriers. They pushed me to work towards something greater than myself,” said Gonzalez. “But I was also frustrated that it took 19 years of my life to finally have access to an education about my own history, identity, experiences, and family.” Her older brother didn’t complete high school. “It wasn’t that he wasn’t smart or didn’t care,” said Gonzalez. “It just wasn’t the right information that he could connect to.”


A course in ethnic studies “teaches you to first of all learn about and love yourself,” she said. For Gonzalez, that meant learning about her parents and the immigrant experience. “Ethnic studies was so impactful for me because I was able to bring all of my personal history into the classroom in a way that made me feel both proud and supported by academics,” said Gonzalez. In a supportive and inclusive class environment, students have challenging conversations about power and difference. It gives every student the opportunity to learn about the diverse cultures with whom they coexist in their communities. Decades of research prove that such an environment improves cognitive ability, which in turn improves grades, class attendance, and the ability to empathize with students from all backgrounds.


Gonzalez is a testament to the success of ethnic studies. She transferred to UCLA, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Chicano studies (and a minor in education) and began a master’s at CSU Northridge. Along the way, she met activists involved in California’s ethnic studies movement, which led her to realize that Santa Barbara high school students would benefit from ethnic studies classes. She invited around 30 Santa Barbara parents and educators she hoped would share her passion for the subject. On December 14, 2015, she was surprised to see more than 40 people at the first Ethnic Studies Now! Coalition meeting at La Casa de la Raza. “It proved to me that our community not only needs this, but that it is also hungry for it.” High school students joined and energized the movement, eventually rising to become effective activists and leaders.


Just like the Parkland, Florida, students who witnessed the school massacre in February, Santa Barbara students began to speak out against the dangerous world they experience. Just in the last year, students have grappled with school lockdowns, online bullying, and violent threats against female students. In fact, local activists consider an education in ethnic studies as one possible solution to this violence among students. “If taught properly, ethnic studies classes provide at the very least a safe space for students to think out loud about these issues and share these experiences,” said Gonzalez. “Having that space alone creates a tremendous impact [against] the kind of violence that happens at school every day.”


Coincidentally, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 student strikes that led to the creation of the first ethnic studies department at San Francisco State University. A statewide model curricula on ethnic studies will be available by 2019 to standardize content and facilitate course adoption within California high schools. Oxnard and Los Angeles Unified, along with nine other districts, have already implemented ethnic studies requirements.


Gaining the social benefits of ethnic studies, however, requires more than the availability of courses. There must be permanent funding, adequate training for teachers, and sustained support both within the school district as well as the community. Santa Barbara members of the coalition are insisting that input from the whole community must be included in the implementation of the program.


During the three years of pursuing this program, coalition members worked closely with district officials to make sure their proposition was ready — ​the finalized plan involves modifying the district’s existing graduation requirements to include a five-unit ethnic studies course that’s transferable to the University of California and California State University systems. The units will not increase students’ required unit load and will be part of required core curriculum.

Boardmembers unanimously offered praise and support. “Not only is this a movement,” said Boardmember Wendy Sims-Moten, “but it is a shift in culture, the way we think, and [the way we] have conversations moving forward.” Noting that the “real work” has just begun, Board President Jackie Reid added, “Let’s get this right so that other school districts follow suit.”


Ultimately, the night belonged to coalition members celebrating their long-fought victory. “If there is one thing that ethnic studies teaches us, [it] is that we are makers of history,” said Gonzales. “And I believe that indeed, tonight, we are making history.”

[oyarde]

CalExit