Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution
January 21, 1999, Thursday, ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: CHEROKEE EXTRA; Pg. 01JQ
LENGTH: 796 words
SERIES: Home
HEADLINE: Keeping students safe;
The fatal beating
of a Cherokee eighth-grader puts discipline of school bullies
in the spotlight
BYLINE: Ann Dickerson
BODY:
Although there is a perception among
some that discipline in the schools is worse than ever,
Cherokee County officials say the opposite is true.
"I would say right
now that discipline is the best it's been in a long, long time
at Booth Middle School," said Booth principal Phil Gramling.
The recent
case in which 15-year-old Jonathan Miller is charged with killing 13-year-old
Booth student Josh Belluardo at a bus stop in the boys' neighborhood in
Woodstock served to put discipline of school bullies in the
spotlight. The case also prompted renewed discussion about what schools are
doing to keep students safe. Gramling, who is in his seventh year as principal
at Booth, said the Cherokee school board in recent years has given
administrators another choice between keeping troublemakers in class and
permanently expelling them.
As of last fall, seventh- and eighth-graders
can be referred to the county's alternative school, which is housed in the
board's complex in Canton. Ten middle school students are enrolled in the
program, principal Jeffrey Garrett said, along with 62 high school students.
According to testimony Gramling gave in Jonathan's bond hearing,
Jonathan got into trouble 34 times in his two years in middle school, and was
suspended 11 times and placed in in-school suspension eight times for offenses
such as pushing and taunting other students and cursing at a teacher.
Jonathan was a sophomore at Etowah High when the bus stop attack
occurred.
Gramling wouldn't comment on whether Jonathan should have been
sent to alternative school when he was in middle school, but the point is moot:
It wasn't available for middle school students when Jonathan was at Booth.
To parents of students who would like to see Jonathan and others like
him kicked out of school permanently, Gramling is sympathetic but unyielding.
"We figure middle school is the last chance to turn a kid around," the
principal said. "We can't do it in all cases, but if we can't win with the kid,
then we know he's lost. As long as the student isn't a danger to others, we'll
do everything we can to keep him here."
A new proposal would go further
to make schools safe, Gramling and others say. The board has asked special
education director Ham Kimzey to investigate the feasibility of
an alternative school for special education students grades six
through 12.
The Individuals With Disabilities Education
Act, a 22-year-old federal law, says school systems must provide the disabled
with a "free and appropriate education" that addresses the
disability while integrating the child into normal school life
as much as possible.
One byproduct of the law has been that is it
virtually impossible to suspend or expel a special education
student, even if the student brings a gun to school. Under the state's
zero-tolerance policy, a regular student who brought a gun on campus would be
suspended for a minimum of nine days and most likely suspended for the rest of
the semester or school year.
"An alternative school for special ed
students has been the missing piece of the puzzle for years," said Randy Martin,
principal at Teasley Middle School. "If we could get that, we would have a good
system in place for dealing with a comprehensive range of
discipline problems."
Gramling estimated if the school
were in place right now, he has three students he would recommend for it. Martin
said he could think of six who might be sent there at some point during the
year.
Kimzey estimated that the program might accommodate 50 to 70
students.
"There aren't a lot of kids who would need to go there,"
Gramling said, "but the ones that do are the ones that we feel might do
something dangerous."
Kimzey is scheduled to report his findings to the
board in March or April.
School officials are uncertain how to respond
to anti-bullying legislation that State Rep. Chuck Scheid (R-Woodstock) plans to
introduce to the General Assembly this session. Scheid will propose that bullies
who have been disciplined once be kicked out of their schools for a second
violent offense.
School board member Nora Monahan said she hasn't talked
to Scheid about the proposal and doesn't support it. "I think that school
discipline needs to be kept at the level of the teacher and
administrator," Monahan said. "We're trying to provide outlets for students who
need additional help and an alternative setting."
Gramling said
the new alternatives make discipline more effective.
"There was a time when it was very dismal to be an administrator and try
to have good discipline in the schools," the principal said,
referring to the late 1980s. "But in the past couple of years, that's changed
for the better. I think we've got a good system working here now."
GRAPHIC: Photo JOSH1204A 1_287314:
Charged in
beating: Jonathan Miller attends his bond hearing last month
at the Cherokee
Justice Center in Canton. / FRANK NIEMEIR / Staff
Photo JOSH1106A
5_273597_279618:
Shock, grief: Schoolmates assembled a memorial at the base
of a flag
flying half-staff at Booth Middle School in Woodstock on Nov. 5,
in
honor of student Josh Belluardo, who died the previous day. / FRANK
NIEMEIR / Staff
LOAD-DATE: January 22, 1999
