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HS Fines Students $250 For Being Late/Truant

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LewisTT

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Muskogee*High School is fining students for missing class and being late:

Principal Kim Fleak said they've raised expectations for their students moving forward, but kids and their parents, who are most likely paying the fine, say it's out of line.

"There's no way that I could afford a $250 fine," said Johanna Hondy, whose daughter goes to the high school. "I don't know anyone in this town who can afford that really."*

Fleak said it's a way to make sure kids are in class.
Click to expand...
https://ktul.com/news/local/muskogee-high-school-starts-fining-students-for-being-late-missing-class
 
Idiotic

That will cause any student who is going to be late, to call in sick and be absent that day. Or at least the smarter ones.

Detention is a better punishment
 
PirateMk1 said:
First how did they get such authority. Second how do they intend to collect?
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From the article, "The high school is now implementing the state law that fines students for being late or not showing up'
 
Crovax said:
From the article, "The high school is now implementing the state law that fines students for being late or not showing up'
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This is gona be fun. I dont expect that the fine system is going to hold up.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Idiotic

That will cause any student who is going to be late, to call in sick and be absent that day. Or at least the smarter ones.

Detention is a better punishment
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Most kids aren’t that smart. Calling in sick requires a doctors note or parental authority. I guess it sucks to suck. Start going to class so my tax dollars are less wasted. Hooligans.
 
tac138777 said:
Most kids aren’t that smart. Calling in sick requires a doctors note or parental authority. I guess it sucks to suck. Start going to class so my tax dollars are less wasted. Hooligans.
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Right

and when said kid calls mom or dad saying I am going to be late for school, and get a $250 fine, what do you think they will do? Call the school and say the kid is sick
 
I don't think this will work when many students and their families have more difficulties and are exhibiting these symptoms of dis-engagement in-part because of socio-economic status.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
 
Can’t wait to see how this plays out.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Right. and when said kid calls mom or dad saying I am going to be late for school, and get a $250 fine, what do you think they will do? Call the school and say the kid is sick
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Did you bother reading the article or were you one of the kids who thought Cliff notes was good enough?

The fine is AFTER four (4) infractions in a four (4) week period... :roll:

The kids were only concerned about having to cross the campus in time to not be late. Since there is no time clock at the front of each classroom I don't see the problem for a minute or two, but be 10 minutes late four times in four weeks...

This is Muskogee OK, a district where attendance is a chronic issue. Dunno if this will continue but it will be a wake-up call for parents who routinely don't bother to even attend a parent teacher conference... (even back in the 90's I was amazed how few parents come in for a conference on the day the teacher's stay late in deeply conservative rural Oklahoma)

I imagine some in here will post their bias rather than try to understand the issues of a small rural fly over state town... :peace
 
I can see this being abused by the school to get more money.
 
Carjosse said:
I can see this being abused by the school to get more money.
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Sure, or, push out students or families it doesn't want to deal with.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
 
LewisTT said:
Muskogee*High School is fining students for missing class and being late:


https://ktul.com/news/local/muskogee-high-school-starts-fining-students-for-being-late-missing-class
Click to expand...

This is one of those states that "couldn't afford" to pay their teachers, so the fine doesn't pass the smell test for me.

Since 2008, education spending per student in Oklahoma has fallen 28%, they were running on four-day weeks, and many eliminated art and language classes and shut down sports programs.
Teachers in Oklahoma were forced to take on second and even third jobs, so that they "could afford to be teachers"...Oklahoma teacher salaries were the lowest in the entire country.

Yeah sure, stick it to the parents. Of course most of those parents didn't want to pay taxes, so this is comedy gold...kinda like a town with almost no tax base where the mayor decides to set up a nice speed trap to fund town expenses, and often a lot more.
 
LewisTT said:
Muskogee*High School is fining students for missing class and being late:


https://ktul.com/news/local/muskogee-high-school-starts-fining-students-for-being-late-missing-class
Click to expand...

Immoral beyond belief. The medium income of a Muskogee household is $36,322 a year, which is $22,717 below the national household median. This is exploiting a poor community with no strong political voice.

"Sorry you're late kid. You owe $250. Oh, you can't afford books and school lunch anymore? Womp womp."
 
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Lord Tammerlain said:
Idiotic

That will cause any student who is going to be late, to call in sick and be absent that day. Or at least the smarter ones.

Detention is a better punishment
Click to expand...

I have to disagree. Before I state this, I want you to know I don't mean this disrespectful toward you:

Taking kids out of class for not being in class does nothing but give them what they want in the first place - to not be in class. It's like firing an employee for quitting, or making a swimmer stay in the pool on a hot day for not getting out of the pool. It's the Brer Rabbit trap - "please don't throw me in that briar patch."

Parents are legally responsible for their children - period.

If a kid is truant regularly, the parents should be held responsible. In North Carolina the parents are held criminally liable in a court of law, not just a fine from a school.

NC parents face prison for children’s school absences

In NC there are 10 legitimate excused absences:
>illness or injury
>medical or dental appointments
>caring for a sick child if the student is the custodial parent
>a death in the immediate family
>religious observances
>going to required court appearances
>taking advantage of valid educational opportunities (such as serving as a legislative page), and
>visiting with a parent in the military who’s been called to duty, is on leave, or has just returned from combat deployment

Here's a good article from Lawyers.Com about - What Happens to Truants and Their Parents in North Carolina?
 
notquiteright said:
Did you bother reading the article or were you one of the kids who thought Cliff notes was good enough?

The fine is AFTER four (4) infractions in a four (4) week period... :roll:

The kids were only concerned about having to cross the campus in time to not be late. Since there is no time clock at the front of each classroom I don't see the problem for a minute or two, but be 10 minutes late four times in four weeks...

This is Muskogee OK, a district where attendance is a chronic issue. Dunno if this will continue but it will be a wake-up call for parents who routinely don't bother to even attend a parent teacher conference... (even back in the 90's I was amazed how few parents come in for a conference on the day the teacher's stay late in deeply conservative rural Oklahoma)

I imagine some in here will post their bias rather than try to understand the issues of a small rural fly over state town... :peace
Click to expand...

Muskogee went from some of the finest schools to the worst in a generation.

I only hope and pray that Will Rogers High School continues to thrive.
 
Good one, Oklahoma
 
It sounds like this idea was brought on by folks who really don't have a clue what they're trying to manage.

My wife is a HS math teacher; most kids can't seem to be able to bring their own calculator. They're provided by our tax dollars now.
 
Beaudreaux said:
I have to disagree. Before I state this, I want you to know I don't mean this disrespectful toward you:

Taking kids out of class for not being in class does nothing but give them what they want in the first place - to not be in class. It's like firing an employee for quitting, or making a swimmer stay in the pool on a hot day for not getting out of the pool. It's the Brer Rabbit trap - "please don't throw me in that briar patch."

Parents are legally responsible for their children - period.

If a kid is truant regularly, the parents should be held responsible. In North Carolina the parents are held criminally liable in a court of law, not just a fine from a school.

NC parents face prison for children’s school absences

In NC there are 10 legitimate excused absences:
>illness or injury
>medical or dental appointments
>caring for a sick child if the student is the custodial parent
>a death in the immediate family
>religious observances
>going to required court appearances
>taking advantage of valid educational opportunities (such as serving as a legislative page), and
>visiting with a parent in the military who’s been called to duty, is on leave, or has just returned from combat deployment

Here's a good article from Lawyers.Com about - What Happens to Truants and Their Parents in North Carolina?
Click to expand...

I understand the idea of trying to get students to be in class, and support policies that will do that. Fining low and middle income families for kids being late is not going to do that. If the kid is a teenager, and somewhat uncontrollable it will result in the parents pulling the kid from school rather than face multiple fines (with the expectation they can not afford them).

Or the kid is having a fight with the parents and as punishment is intentionally late for 4 classes in a row. Opp's their goes a couple days wages for the parent.

This policy might be good for good students who are rarely late to class or absent. But for the marginal students, it will just drive them out of the school system, or out of their parents homes
 
How*much would you guys have lost if this applied to you in*high school?

Id owe at least $5,000 senior year

Self educated. Dont need bunch of pansy HS teachers teaching me irrelavant stuff in HS that wont make me money.

Public schools are waste of time.
 
I'd never pay, if forced to I would do so in buckets of pennies blocking the entrance to the driveway of whoever proposed this madness.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
I understand the idea of trying to get students to be in class, and support policies that will do that. Fining low and middle income families for kids being late is not going to do that. If the kid is a teenager, and somewhat uncontrollable it will result in the parents pulling the kid from school rather than face multiple fines (with the expectation they can not afford them).

Or the kid is having a fight with the parents and as punishment is intentionally late for 4 classes in a row. Opp's their goes a couple days wages for the parent.

This policy might be good for good students who are rarely late to class or absent. But for the marginal students, it will just drive them out of the school system, or out of their parents homes
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, I'm not defending the fines in the OP article. I personally think they are way, too, high and will probably end up creating a worse situation. We tried that approach in NC, and the state government decided it was counterproductive, but still wanting to hold the parents accountable got the legislature to write the laws I gave you the link to.

They work better than a fine in that the parents have to comply and the law is not an incentive to for the parents pull their kids out of school all together. The NC state law covers kids from the ages of 7 to 16, and their parents.
 
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