Dougherty system reimburses parent for student’s bond after profanity arrest at school
A reader sent me this story out of the Albany Herald about the school system reimbursing a parent for a bond after a student was arrested for using a profanity toward a teacher. The reader wrote, “I think it’s a first for any school system and a new low for Dougherty.”
I was surprised to see a school system using its funds to pay bond for a student. The new story addresses the questions of the legality of such an expenditure.
It appears that the school-based police officer made the decision to arrest the student, and the administration did not agree. (The story says a request had been made to police to send the superintendent’s office all warrants for arrest of Dougherty County School System students.)
While this story is about the unique aspect of reimbursing a student’s bond, it also points to the more universal truth that high school principals and their school resource/police officers don’t always agree on how students should be disciplined or whether an arrest should occur. In metro Atlanta, I am aware of cases where school officers made arrests for minor violations over the objections of the principal.
But this incident takes that difference of opinion to a whole new level:
Assistant Dougherty County Schools Superintendent Kenneth Goseer told a School Board Safety and Security Committee Thursday that the system had reimbursed bond money to the family of a student who was arrested by the DCSS police department.
“I am aware of one incident where that happened,” Goseer said when asked by board member David Maschke whether system funds had been used to reimburse a student’s bail money. “There was an incident of profanity directed toward a teacher at Dougherty (High) and she was arrested and sent to jail while wearing her ROTC uniform. We issued a check to the parents to reimburse then for the bond money for what we considered to be a bad arrest.”
DCSS Executive Director of Finance and Operations Robert Lloyd confirmed that a check had been issued, but when asked the amount and who authorized the payment, Lloyd responded, “You’ll have to ask Mr. Goseer about that.”
When asked for his opinion on the reimbursement, DCSS Attorney Tommy Coleman told the committee that it was against the law to use school system money for anything other than educational purposes.
The Herald learned late Thursday afternoon that the Dougherty County District Attorney’s office is now aware of the incident and is exploring if any violations of the law took place.
Board member Carol Tharin, also a member of the committee, was incensed by the admission. “Somebody had to authorize this check,” Tharin said. “I want to know who authorized it, the amount and will we be reimbursed?”
Maschke then instructed Goseer to ask Superintendent Joshua Murfree for a report on the matter, including reimbursement plans. Goseer agreed.
“I don’t think this thing was very well thought out at all,” Tharin fumed.
Goseer responded, “Well, I have just the opposite opinion. You don’t understand the number of phone calls we get every day.”
Maschke then expressed concern that the administration was acting on its own. “I don’t think the administration should be making unilateral decisions,” Maschke said. “It’s mind-boggling to me. We need to let people know we don’t do that (bail reimbursement) anymore.”
The revelation comes days after the school system was forced to turn over emails that showed Goseer, who was believed to have been working on behalf of Murfree, ordered DCSS Police Chief Troy Conley to run all warrants for arrest of DCSS students by Murfree’s office before executing them.
When Conley balked at the idea, Murfree responded in an email to Conley saying that he just wanted to be kept informed of the department’s activities because he was catching heat from people who he did not identify because he didn’t know an incident had happened or because they thought he knew things that he didn’t.
“I told the superintendent that he doesn’t have the authority to tell the school police who to arrest or not arrest. The law is clear,” Coleman said. “Our police department is certified by the state and swore oaths to uphold the laws of the state of Georgia. School system policy does not supersede that authority.”
That prompted Maschke to ask, “So the school system police is an autonomous authority?”
To which Coleman replied, “This is correct. They have the authority to interpret the law as they see it.”
“This whole incident is old news and overblown,” Goseer said, referring to the March 15 emails. “It was sparked by the School Board wanting to be informed prior to the media getting it. We simply wanted to be notified of warrants and arrests.”
Mascke interpreted the emails differently, specifically referring to a message from Gosser to Conley that read: “As of today March 15, 2012, there will be no more warrants or arrest made unless authorized by Superintendent Joshua Murfree. Please inform ALL Officers.”
“I think the email is very clear,” Maschke said. “We want make sure everyone is on the same page with this and understand that the superintendent doesn’t have the authority on warrants or arrests.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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20 comments Add your comment
Beverly Fraud
May 8th, 2012
11:25 am
Speaking of universal truths
“…it also points to the more universal truth that high school principals and their school resource/police officers don’t always agree on how students should be disciplined or whether an arrest should occur. In metro Atlanta, I am aware of cases where school officers made arrests for minor violations over the objections of the principal”
Yes, because FAR MORE OFTEN than we care to admit, the officer is concerned with rule of law, and the administrator is concerned with “making the numbers look good.”
Which is why the Atlanta Police Dept. can be called over FIFTY times to a SINGLE high school, yet that high school will report ZERO serious discipline incidents.
As reported in the AJC which sadly UTTERLY FAILED as a watchdog to do a follow up, and allowed the APS Mouth Organ to get away with the tired pathetic we need to look into it and get back to you excuse.
Glenn
May 8th, 2012
11:37 am
After nearly 10 years as a member of the Doughtery County School Board, David Maschke has finally thrown his hands up and decided not to seek reelection. He originally ran for office after he discovered that a contractor was overcharging the DCSC several millions of dollars on construction costs he was overseeing on the project, and when he notified the DCSM of the issue, he was fired rather than the contractor begin forced to refund the millions of dollars. Maschke ran for the School Board, won, and then was able to bring all of the facts to the public. Once everything came out, the money was reimbursed/matter resolved to the benefit of the DCSC, and ever since Mascke acted as a champion for the citizens of Albany and Dougherty County all the while becoming an even bigger target of the people who were on the inside, making their money on the projects Mashke had disrupted. After ten years, and continually being in the minority, being insulted and locked out of his own business opportunities, Maschke has decided it’s time for someone else to step up and continue the fight.
Glenn
May 8th, 2012
11:38 am
Those should have been DCSS.
mathmom
May 8th, 2012
11:42 am
My children went to a Georgia high school – some of the coaches routinely posted bond for athletes who were arrested at school or away from school. Of course, if you weren’t an athlete, nobody from the school posted your bond.
Aquagirl
May 8th, 2012
11:42 am
As of today March 15, 2012, there will be no more warrants or arrest made unless authorized by Superintendent Joshua Murfree.
Control freak much, Mr. Murfree?
Howard Finkelstein
May 8th, 2012
12:01 pm
Whomever authorized/approved of the bond for this flunky student, should be terminated.
catlady
May 8th, 2012
1:00 pm
Is cursing a teacher against the law? Was the arresting officer a duly sworn officer? If yes, then the school board has NO DOG in this hunt. The public should innundate the BOE with requests for them to pay the bond of various (alleged) lawbreakers. Then, remove those who approved this!
catlady
May 8th, 2012
1:03 pm
Also, get rid of spineless administrators who will allow this kind of behavior without swift removal of said student to the jail!
TimeOut
May 8th, 2012
1:35 pm
While there’s nothing wrong at all with requesting prompt notification of pending or completed student arrests, we are all tired of the ‘let’s make ourselves look good by hiding the truth’ scenarios that emanate from public schools’ administrative offices. Let’s vote out legislators who create policy and law that require those schools with higher numbers of documented interventions, including arrests, to face consequences for same. The reason some other schools appear to have better-behaved students is because the adminstrators cover up the truth. I would rather see real numbers. I want schools to suspend, arrest, complete expulsion of, or otherwise remove disruptive students. No one should have to tolerate verbal abuse in the work place. Abusive customers in restaurants who lambast servers with a barrage of obscenity find themselves in the back of a police car. Teachers are no less deserving of protection from abuse. Threats, intimidation, verbal abuse, physical abuse—it should all result in an escort off of and temporary if not permanent expulsion from all school system properties. Many student outweigh and tower over their teachers. This can be the truth in many an elementary, as well as middle and high school. When are we going to start caring about the bullying of adults by children with an overblown sense of entitlement fed by our legal and educational systems and possibly their own parents as well? It’s an uncomfortable thing to admit, but prior to teaching in Cobb County, I could always tell when its students entered a performance or other metro activity. They were louder and more of a distraction during any performance than any student in my care from south Fulton County. There is a pervasive sense of entitlement among upper and lower middle class students in Cobb and several other sections of our city, state, and nation. We can legislate our way toward a better system. We cannot expect administrators or their subordinates to risk their jobs in order to tell the rest of us the truth that we don’t want to know.
Ashley
May 8th, 2012
2:13 pm
She was arrested in her ROTC uniform……where is the discipline and respect she supposedly learn in that class? Apparently she is a disgrace to the uniform , there is never a good reason to swear at a teacher period.
Gwinnnettian
May 8th, 2012
3:48 pm
When I taught in the Houston TX metro, a student would receive a citation for cursing at a teacher. There was a fine $$$ and the parents had to go to court with their child. Also, students received citations for skipping school. I believe the fine was $250.00 This held the parents accountable for the behavior of their child!
Archie (out of Arkham)
May 8th, 2012
4:24 pm
@Gwinnnettian: That is a great idea! When I taught at a high school in South Georgia, we would have multiple fights there almost daily during the Spring (after the “testes” were over and done!). I suggested at a faculty meeting that we suspend fighting students indefinitely and make the parent(s) pay a specified amount of money to get them back in school. Like many of my ideas, this one went over like screen doors on a space shuttle! I agree with you on the concept of holding the parent(s) responsible for the behavior of their child.
Dr. John Trotter
May 8th, 2012
5:42 pm
Typical response. Many school administrators are afraid of the defiant and disruptive students and their irate and irresponsible parents. Kissing the parents’ butts. Ha! How pitiful.
http://www.theteachersadvocate.com
echo
May 8th, 2012
6:55 pm
If I were the teacher who had been cussed out, I would go cuss the he!! out of the idiot who wrote the check and declare that they needed to go ahead and cut the check for my bond as well!
I like the idea of fines for skippers. If kids could be fined for breaking school rules and teachers had a ticket book like the police…it would be a new day in education! There wouldn’t be much of a “budget deficit” at my school just based on $1 fine for tardies!
school_is_home
May 8th, 2012
10:54 pm
Wow. This sums up all the issues I’ve been reading about on this blog. Student curses teacher. Student is punished. Parents defend child. Administrators do not support teacher. Just Wow!
I do think that the teachers whine sometimes, but come on! I don’t care what the teacher did or said, students just don’t get to curse at teachers in school. Someone in ROTC ought to know better, particularly when in uniform. I would be beyond incensed if my child were arrested at school, but they better not have done anything that could even vaguely be worthy of arrest. Is cursing an offense worthy of arrest? I don’t know. Should the administrators reimburse bond? Nope. Just doesn’t pass the smell test.
Wonder what else is going on in that school and district?
I'm a teacher
May 9th, 2012
8:55 am
The teacher that was cursed at and the school posted bond for the kid has a case against the district for hostile workplace – but probably will not press it because of the repercussions – that is why a lot of this stuff still goes on is schools – the teacher is usually the one thrown under the bus. This is why I am a member of GAE – not because I agree with their policies and agendas but because of the liability insurance and the access to lawyers.
I'm a teacher
May 9th, 2012
8:58 am
I also agree with several other posters – parents should be held more accountable for the behavior and attendance of their children.
contrarian
May 9th, 2012
11:07 am
“Arrest first, forget asking questions later,” should be the motto for PS law enforcement officers. This is a great example of a school administrator trying to do the right thing and getting slapped down by ‘zero-tolerance’ imbeciles. “Oh, the girl broke the law!” they scream. Seriously? Arrested for cursing? What happened to the concept letting the punishment fit the crime? I think that’s what is getting lost here. Everyone is so focused on whether the principal was interfering with law enforcement that no one seems to care that the young lady was being treated like a violent criminal for saying a bad word. It seems to me a couple of days of in-house suspension would be more appropriate.
But, then, I’m just a bleeding-heart liberal and who believes in the simplicity of justice.
Cartmanspeedzone
May 9th, 2012
2:39 pm
Contrarian,
You didn’t have to tell everyone you are a liberal, your comments are a giveaway. She didn’t just say a bad word, she cussed out a teacher who was there for her benefit. Just because it may be used in her home/culture, doesn’t give her the right to direct such hostility to ANYONE. I suspect if you’re a parent, you’re probably part of this problem..
sloboffthestreet
May 10th, 2012
9:18 am
Is it true Georgia law states that Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs. It seems to me this would just create another subgroup of filthy dirty A$$es. I wasn’t aware there is a law on the books making a profane outburst an arrestable offense. I do believe Georgia law does state that if someone uses profanity in a public school, after a warning the language is not allowed and the individual continues with the offensive language, that person can be removed from the property but I cannot find where it is an arrestable offense. Perhaps that is why they paid the bail? It would be helpful to have educated law enforcement dealing with laws and less of their personal interpretation of what they think is the law.