I can just about promise you there is more to this story than that FOX outlet is reporting....as usual.
Desert Springs Academy is one those Charter Schools everyone on the right seems to think is the greatest thing since free textbooks. As such, students are enrolled there voluntarily and the parents are expected to participate in their children's education.
As a part of the enrollment process, parents get a copy of the school's Parent Handbook, which includes this:
Conduct and Discipline:
Education is the primary mission of the school. All of Desert Springs Academy’s teachers recognize that the conduct of the students in their classroom affects behavior outside the classroom.
With that in mind, all
teachers explain and disseminate the rules and accompanying rewards and punishments that govern all aspects of classroom behavior.
They address tardiness,
missed homework, inappropriate behavior, dismissal, acceptable work, preparedness, and general citizenship.
Disciplinary Action:
Disciplinary Action can be summarized in five steps:
Reprimand (The teacher gives a reprimand to the student in private with the Director in attendance, if the situation warrants).
Demerit
After-school detention.
Suspension
Expulsion
To assure that learning is not interrupted by behavioral disruptions, Desert Springs Academy enforces a policy of demerits and after-school detentions. The goal is
to work with parents to reinforce and support agreed-upon standards of courtesy, respect, and behavior, which are an important aspect of children’s education, and to prevent the loss of valuable instructional time. The maintenance of an orderly and harmonious classroom is essential to learning, and the policy of demerits and detentions reflects the Academy’s educational philosophy.
Detentions are assigned after the second demerit is given for a repeated infraction. In an attempt to keep communication open,
teachers will contact parents by phone when a demerit or detention is issued (before) written notification is sent home. One-hour detention periods are held after school. The
teacher informs parents when a detention is required and they mutually agree to select the day it is to be served within a one-week period. A teacher or the Director may request a parent conference after the student has served a detention.
STUDENTS ARE RELIEVED OF ALL DEMERITS AT THE CONCLUSION OF EACH GRADING PERIOD.
Infractions that result in a demerit and/or detention include the following:
being disrespectful to a teacher, peer, or visitor
fighting or roughhousing
exhibiting inappropriate or boisterous behavior
speaking out in class without permission
being out of an assigned seat unnecessarily
being unprepared for class by not bringing books, or materials necessary for the class
violating the dress code
cheating, lying or committing plagiarism
any behavior deemed unacceptable by the Director or faculty
Suspending a student from school is reserved for the most serious offenses or the most constant misbehavior. It is instituted at the request of the Director in consultation with the appropriate teacher(s) and parents. AFTER A STUDENT HAS SERVED THREE AFTER-SCHOOL DETENTIONS IN ONE GRADING PERIOD, THE STUDENT SERVES A ONE-DAY IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION. Suspended students are expected to complete missed class work by the start of school the following day. Standards for return will be drafted at the start of the suspension period, during a parent conference with the Director and teacher.
If a student cannot or will not abide by the foregoing rules, that student may be expelled. After consultation with parents, student, and involved faculty, the Director may acknowledge that all other corrective avenues have been exhausted and recommend to the Governing Board expulsion of the student.
https://desertspringsacademyblog.wordpress.com/
Being unprepared for class by not having her homework assignments done is grounds for disciplinary action and the PARENT is a part of the process every step of the way.
The point is that IF the school followed it's own procedure (and there's no reason to suspect they did not), that girls parent was aware that her daughter was not doing her homework from the very beginning. She had ample opportunity as a Mother to correct that behavior and back up the school standards she voluntarily signed up for. Apparently, she had REPEATED opportunities to do so, yet failed to enforce the homework rules at home.
Now, she comes to the end of the school year and her daughter is singled out for an "award," she may have even been aware of beforehand (see first emboldened statement above), and it's all suddenly the school's fault and they're just picking on her poor little kid.
Hey Mom! If you're so worried about how your little darling is being treated, where were you the rest of the year? Where were you while your kid lounged around the house not doing her homework all term long?
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