For James Parker, an alleged misunderstanding about a cellphone at school 2陆 years ago morphed into months of missed school, failed classes, and fallout that he and his family are still trying to address.
When James was a freshman two years ago at O鈥橞annon High School in Greenville, Miss., a teacher thought she saw him with a cellphone in class鈥攁 violation of school rules. In reality, he was listening to a classmate鈥檚 iPod during a break the teacher had given the students.
The next day, he was called into the assistant principal鈥檚 office, where he was asked to produce the phone. Although his parents told school officials that he didn鈥檛 own a phone, and the student who loaned the iPod that was at the heart of the issue vouched for sharing it with him, the school seemed to dig in its heels.
鈥淲e were informed that in order for my child to come to school, we had to produce a cellphone,鈥� says Wanda Parker, the teenager鈥檚 mother. Until then, he could not come to school.
Charging up an old phone and giving it to the school wouldn鈥檛 do: The school wanted a functioning cellphone. James eventually had a hearing at the behest of the state department of education, because the agency said James couldn鈥檛 be out of school for no reason. The school district filed his behavior under the category of insubordination. When his parents appealed to a disciplinary committee, the suspension was upheld. The young man was assigned to an alternative school.
Since James鈥� saga began, O鈥橞annon High has hired a new principal, Derrick Cook. He says the district鈥檚 electronic-device policy is still in force, but now the school is more inclined to give students some benefit of the doubt.
鈥淲e do take into consideration witnesses鈥� statements from the entire class, instead of just going by one person,鈥� Cook says. 鈥淭here is an opportunity for a child to vindicate themselves.鈥�
Still, says Assistant Principal Michael Ray, the school must police cellphone use on campus. District policy says students will be suspended for five days if they use a cellphone at school. If they turn in the phone, to be kept by the school until the end of the school year, they can avoid the suspension. If they don鈥檛 hand it over, they must attend an alternative school until they do, Ray says.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want the child out of school for a stinking cellphone,鈥� he says, but parents are informed of the school district policy when they sign the district handbook at the beginning of each year. 鈥淥ur hands are tied.鈥�
At the alternative school, James says, he often spent the day napping.
Short of a few brief writing exercises, he says, 鈥淚 was doing nothing.鈥� Every once in a while, he鈥檇 fill out the same sheet of paper: 鈥淚 go to O鈥橞annon school. My name is James Parker. I am in the alternative school. What can I do to not come back, to improve my behavior?鈥� he鈥檇 write. 鈥淚 am in the alternative program for a failure鈥攁 device that wasn鈥檛 mine that I didn鈥檛 give up.鈥�
And then, he says, 鈥渨hen you finish, that鈥檚 it. You go to sleep.鈥�
Falling Behind
His parents signed him up for an online test-prep program he used at home to try to keep from falling behind, and James pestered his teachers for schoolwork, to no avail. Meanwhile, his mother was kicking herself for transferring James to the 2,000-student Western Line school district. He鈥檇 been enrolled in another district, where she worked, but she and her husband, Roosevelt, thought it made sense for James to go to a neighborhood school.
The Parkers didn鈥檛 give up their protest of James鈥� placement. But it was almost two months before the state education department again intervened and James left the alternative placement and returned to O鈥橞annon.
James ended up failing math for the year and had to go to summer school to pass and get promoted to 10th grade. But he never seemed to catch up. His grades were poor, making him ineligible for extracurricular activities. At the end of 10th grade, he failed state tests in math, reading, and biology.
鈥淭he child wasn鈥檛 heard out,鈥� says Roosevelt Parker, the student鈥檚 father. 鈥淭he principal wasn鈥檛 open-minded. What are they trying to do?鈥�
Now a junior at O鈥橞annon, James must keep taking the state tests until he passes to collect his diploma.
鈥淚f we haven鈥檛 passed, we can鈥檛 walk. We don鈥檛 graduate. I can鈥檛 get my diploma and go to college,鈥� he says.
Read a related Quality Counts story: Discipline Policies Shift With Views on What Works
Joyce Parker, who is a member of the nonprofit Mississippi Delta Catalyst Roundtable and is no relation to James Parker鈥檚 family, says his story illustrates how indiscriminately some districts use suspension as a punishment, without considering the long-term effects. She is also on the coordinating committee of Dignity in Schools, a New York City-based advocacy group that works on curbing out-of-school suspension.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking about guns and weapons here,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about minor infractions.鈥�
