By Viv Sade for Busco Voice
CHURUBUSCO, Ind. – There was standing room only at Monday night’s meeting of the Smith-Green Community Board of School Trustees after six parents – and their supporters – showed up to voice concerns about their children being bullied and treated unfairly at Churubusco High School.
Phil Lemper told school board members that he took issue with the proceedings – or lack of proceedings – for the parental appeals process in cases of student disciplinary actions.
“There are a lot of problems that the board needs to be aware of,” Lemper said. “I have been lied to by two administrators and there is no appeal process. It is not fair.”
Lemper said he did not want to bring his complaints to a public meeting, but had no choice. “I was forced to come to a public meeting to discuss this,” Lemper said. “I tried all other (avenues).”
Lemper said his child had endured racial insults and slurs at school before being expelled with no appeal process.
“To say that I think that these administrators (who lied to me) should be terminated tonight goes without saying,” Lemper told board members Tanya Young, Cathy Petrie, Nick Uecker and Mike Sturgis.
Board member Steve Edwards was not present at the meeting.
Board members did not address Lemper’s concerns or those of three others who spoke after Lemper.
“You need to be sure the employees are doing what you ask of them,” Lemper said. Right now the only course of action for a parent who thinks they or their child are begin treated unfairly is legal action,” he said.
“I do not know the current administrators, with the exception of one,” said local resident Phyllis Anderson, who is retired, said. “But it’s discouraging for me to read what is going on in this school. Some things need to change and you need to make those changes or you will not be re-elected,” she said.
Steve Winebrenner said he empathized with Lemper, as his family had similar experiences at CHS. “I too, was lied to by administrators,” Winebrenner said. “I’ve been in the education system for a long time, and I can tell you that (what goes on here) is wrong.”
Winebrenner said he was involved in an appeal process, but the mediator chosen was a friend of his, which created an uncomfortable situation for both of them.
“We in the education system have been given great power,” Winebrenner said. “And the courts will not rule against a school system, and there are valid reasons for that. But we must remember that we are here for the kids.”
“We need to take a serious look at the process and see if we can get a better balance,” he added.
Another parent, who asked – for her child’s sake – not to be identified, said her child had been repeatedly bullied at school while administrators were seemingly negligent or inattentive toward the abuse.
“(My child) came home one day and said (he/she) never wanted to go back to this school,” she said.
The mother of the teen told board members she has repeatedly talked to teachers and administrators about the problem, but nothing has been done.
“You need to watch and see what is really going on,” she said. “There is bullying going on and kids are being picked on and some of (the staff) are aware of it.”
In other school board business:
- The board agreed to purchase a new activity bus for $66,281 from Midwest Transit. The 14-passenger bus will have six extra camera systems and will replace old and worn out equipment, Jerry Lange said.
- The Destination ImagiNation Team of six students and two coaches will travel to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. May 19-24 to compete in a global competition after placing first in the region and state.
- A new superintendent has been hired and will be announced at a special board meeting Monday, May 11, at 7 p.m. A reception will be held after the meeting.
- Declining graduation rates will be addressed in a report at the June 1 meeting.
- Claims were approved for $357,256, which included 243,672 in payroll.
- The next school board meeting will be May 18 at 7 p.m.
Do you have a comment on this article? Have you or your children ever been bullied or intimidated at school? Have you been involved in an appeal or disciplinary process at SGCS? If so, was the outcome fair and satisfactory to all parties? Post comments below.
Terminating the administration is not going to do a bit of good. I understand Mr. Lemper standing up for his son…but unfortunately for him — he never saw what really happened in the classrooms and hallways. Kids aren’t expelled for being picked on, they are expelled for making bad decisions – in this case a series of bad decisions – before the hammer is brought down. I wish his son the best of luck, but trust me — the expulsion was merited.
I feel that my grandchild, Christian, has been treated very badly by some of the people in the Smith-Green School System and if there are others, as we hear, that are being treated as such then there needs to be something done to correct the system. I am a person that believes that what comes around goes around and I think sometime in some peoples’ lives in that system, that they will pay for everything that has caused my grandson to not get the education that he is entitled to.
I was disgusted to learn of the Lemper’s troubles. What has happened to the school? This poor little boy is being tortured and the school is doing nothing about it. What happened to “Zero Tolerance”? The school is lucky, that they haven’t involved a lawyer. I know if my child was being abused like that and NOBODY stopped it, I would have heads on a platter!! I have had my own troubles with the elementary principal, so I guess I shouldn’t be shocked that she would sit back and do nothing. The only way to get anything done in this school system is with an attorney. Good luck to the Lempers!
SGCS has always been and always will be a joke. Nothing will change until the clowns are removed from the administration. Way to go Busco!
Looking forward to a consolidation.
Thatta girl. Way to jump on the “blame the administration” bandwagon. In the interest of the kids involved here, I won’t tell you why the child was suspended–but trust me, it wasn’t because of his ethnicity. The administration followed the rules, and they took action when it needed to be taken. But, of course I understand your charge … I mean, it is totally rational to get one point of view and then make sweeping generalizations about professionals that are well-liked by students, staff and SGCS. Great post.
Paul,
How do you know the reason the child was suspended, Are you privy to student/admin issues? I think it is OK to support your admin buddies, but did you have to drink the cool aid? The HS administrators know the least about the policies and procedures than anybody, yet they are the ones enforcing them. The board, especially Mr.(new guy), won’t even return calls of concern. It is time for a review of the administrators, but until the new Super gets settled in, don’t expect alot. Elections for the at-large spots are in Nov 2010.
To Paul
I agree with dad, why do you know so much, must of got all the details from the administrators. I’m a outsider and I’ve worked with kids for over 35 years and kicking a kid out of school is not the answer. You say ethnicity was not a factor, why do you bring it up then, maybe it is since the administrators can’t tell the truth on the facts. Where’s the truth.Can you imagine what they tell board members, if they lie to parents.From a outsider my question would be to the administrators, due you treat all problems with fairness at the school including sports and everything. We are talking about fairness to all students and parents.
I’m not privy to any information that isn’t common knowledge. Ask a few students or teachers…maybe even some other parents if they know why the child was suspended. My guess is a good majority of them do. I am not defending the administration based on personal interest. I don’t have a relationship with any members of the administration. I don’t really care to start one (I’m not much a fan of kool-aid either). I don’t feel that the public is getting the full story. I do understand that these issues bring up major concerns, as they should. But, at what point do we as a community give school board members, administrators, and teacher a chance to do their jobs. I’ve been on the front lines in the past questioning certain decisions. It is our right to do so. But, a decision was made to expel a student. Why? Expullsions occur when a student has become a danger to himself and/or his peers. A decision was made by professionals…they acted in the best interest of the entire student body. There was no hidden agenda, no racial under-tones. These decisions are not easy, I’m sure. But, I’m sure a great deal of analysis and thought went into the decision. Again, I understand people’s concern. But, it isn’t fair to assume incompetence without knowing what happened and why the respective actions were taken.
I GUESS MY FIRST QUESTION TO ‘PAUL’ IS WHY ARE YOU FOCUSING ON JUST ONE CHILD? AS I RECALL IT STATED, THERE WERE SIX PARENTS AT THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING THAT HAVE ISSUES WITH THE ADMINISTRATION. QUESTION #2 WHY DID YOU STATE ‘…IT WASN’T BECAUSE OF HIS ETHNICITY’? WHEN DID ANYONE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE ISSUES HAVING TO DO WITH HIS ETHNIC BACKGROUND? THE ONLY THING I SEE INVOLVING ETHNICITY IS THE FACT THAT MR. LEMPER STATED HIS SON HAD RECEIVED RACIAL INSULTS AND SLURS AT SCHOOL BEFORE HE WAS EXPELLED (NOT SUSPENDED AS YOU STATED IN YOUR LAST POST, BIG DIFFERENCE). IT SEEMS TO ME, TO THINK YOU KNOW THIS INFORMATION, YOU MUST BE A FRIEND OF THE ADMINISTRATORS OR AN ADMINISTRATOR. IN WHICH CASE, SHAME ON YOU!! AND 3RD QUESTION, HOW DO YOU ADDRESS THE MOTHER OF THE TEEN THAT HAS BEEN BULLIED TO THE POINT OF NOT WANTING TO GO TO SCHOOL, AND THE ADMINISTRATION HAS DONE NOTHING ABOUT IT? YOU ALSO STATED IN YOUR FIRST POST THAT ‘KIDS AREN’T EXPELLED FOR BEING PICKED ON, THEY ARE EXPELLED FOR MAKING BAD DECISIONS’. HOW IN THE WORLD IS A CHILD SUPPOSED TO STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES WHILE BEING PICKED ON REPEATEDLY WHEN IT SEEMS THE ADMINISTRATION JUST WANTS TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY? AND WHEN THEY TRY TO STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES, THEY GET INTO TROUBLE. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT’S A NO WIN SITUATION FOR THESE KIDS BEING BULLIED (WHETHER FROM ANOTHER KID OR AN ADMINISTRATOR)IN THIS SCHOOL. IF THERE WERE SIX PARENTS AT THIS MEETING WITH CONCERNS, HOW MANY MORE ARE OUT THERE THAT ARE TOO AFRAID TO COME FORWARD FOR FEAR OF THEIR CHILD/CHILDREN BEING PINPOINTED OUT BY THE ADMINISTRATION OR BULLIED BY OTHER KIDS???? I’M NOT IN THIS SCHOOL DISTRICT, BUT I DID ATTEND CHURUBUSCO AND I LOVED IT. I HAVE TO SAY THAT IT BREAKS MY HEART TO SEE KIDS GO THROUGH THIS KIND OF ABUSE FROM ADULTS AND NOTHING BEING DONE. IT WAS SUCH A GREAT PLACE TO GET AN EDUCATION….WHAT HAPPENED???
I am reponding to Paul and anyone that shares his point of views. I have not expressed “sweeping comments” or “accusations” that I can NOT stand behind. If you care to dig dipper, you would find that there were holes in this whole process. I commend you though for standing up for the administration. It is apparent to me by your comments that you have/had access to my son’s information or assuming more than you should. I am confident in the fact that I know my parental rights and the legal rights of my child. By the dishonesty of the school administration in this matter shows a lack of integrity and character to futhur educate the children of this community. And by the support we have received by the community and other families that feel betrayed by this administration, I feel compelled to respond to your post and would be willing to discuss this with you personally.
Sincerely,
Phil Lemper, Jr.
as a school board member what are your responsibilitys ? you will be told by your superintendant not to micro manage when you are elected. why did you run for school board ? did you want to serve on the school board to be told by administrators what you needed to say and do or to pursue a personal agenda of your own ? if so you are not serving the voters of your district ! you are the governing board who hires and fires the people who are responsible to make sure that your school meets all state and federal laws concerning the education of all students in your district . you cannot get around the laws that the state and federal government mandate doing so means that you are violating the law . wake up smith green board members , you are a good community and the people deserve to have a quality school . you have the worst school ratings in your political district . improvements start with the school board . show us you care about the kids . former school board member
When accusations suffice for proof, mediocrity is an acceptable substitute for excellence, and turning a blind eye is more preferable than taking a hard look, people — like Paul — will believe anything and expect nothing worthwhile. They absolutely should pursue litigation, if for no other reason than to expose the administration to the sort of scrutiny they should be getting — but sadly aren’t getting — from the elected representatives of the people.
I think that the school is not a very good place to have your children. I honestly don’t think that they care about the children. The administration needs to be looked at. I think that we need new administration and so we can be a better school. Also the high school is run by some people that need to put thier head on straight and think about the kids a little more.
Do not judge the school administration, unless you know the facts. Our school has many biracial students. We are not in the 70’s anymore. Kids are much more accepting of others these days.
Unfortunately, the administration is not allowed to disclose all the facts regarding this case to the public. Many students and staff members are aware of what happened. I’m sure if the public was made know the facts, they would agree with the punishment.
Even though I may not always agree with decisions made by the administration, we have a great school. It seems to me the parents who complain the most are the ones whose children have trouble following the rules. We all have rules to follow all our of lives. We need to help our kids see that making bad choices will have consequences.
Dear Paul,
The expulsion was merited? Ask teachers, students, and parents about why he was expelled? Have you ever heard of the game “telephone”? You know, starts out as one thing, ends up completely different. There are always three sides to every story…yours, mine, and the truth. Unless you were a PART of this incident, you don’t know it was merited.
Frankly, I would like to see this family file a suit against the administrators and/or the school system. Until someone does they will continue their ego-maniacal ways.
By the way, Paul, you sound oddly like an individual who gets paid by the school system…coach, substitute teacher, former anti-administration student who I’m sure made absolutely no bad decisions while he was in high school…hmmmm. Maybe you DO like kool-aid!
I don’t have any idea what’s going on but as a former student at CHS I do know that if you didn’t have the “right last name” you were virtually ignored…by all teachers and staff. It’s a sad fact. There was never any improvement or learning due to these “rules”…thank goodness my children attend a wonderful school that builds a child up and teaches them the fundamentals they will need to further their education and lifes lessons…heaven knows CHS never did any of that for me.
Mr. Lemper,
I want to apologize to you. My comments were not intended to hurt your son or anyone else in your family. Obviously you and I don’t agree on this situation. However, you are a man who is defending your family, and I cannot fault you for that. This is a website that allows people like me to speak their opinions with no consequence. At the end of the day, my opinion carries no weight…who really cares what I think? Contrary to popular belief, I am not a teacher at the school. This case of mistaken identity is somewhat obnoxious, because now the focus of these comments has gone from the topic of the article to personal information that is inaccurate. While I don’t agree with you, I do wish you the best of luck, Mr. Lemper.
I agree with the parents on this one. No I don’t know much about this situation nor do my children attend this school,(NH) but I can relate to you because my son gets picked on by girls and we have raised him to never hit girls and to always give a warning, tell the teacher, and if all else fails DEFEND yourself! Well after talking to the counselor the first time after being held down with sticks to his throat and being demanded to tell these girls they were “hot and sexy” she told him specifically to come to her if there were any other problems. SO a few weeks later the same group of girls were chasing and kicking my child in the private parts.He first ran away from them but then they chased him down and started kicking him again, so he kicked one back to get away and the bell rang to go inside and he immediately went to the counselors office and explained the situation because he wanted it to stop. But you know what happened they tried to punish him! No joke!! They told us by him defending himself he needed to be punished too-I don’t think so!! Then when asked if everyone was getting the same punishment I was told it wasn’t any of my business. So that right there shows that things are not handle fairly! Why does it have to come to this in the first place. I’m sorry when you have a 9 year old doing exactly what he was told to do (by parents and school) why are the ones getting bullied the ones getting punished!! It is a no win situation and will be until people start pulling their heads out of their butts!! I feel really sorry for the parents going through this-we moved once because of this problem and I am sorry to say it hasn’t changed much. The last school told us we should expect for him to get picked on because he is too nice. Well a lot of good it did to raise our kids with morals!! Good luck to you and don’t let it go or it will never get better!!! I will continue to raise my children with respect and morals as I’m sure you did and teach them that if no one else is there to protect you then you must DEFEND yourself. I will also say as an adult the racial comments I have heard in Whitley County are out of control and I know of places that won’t hire anyone of a different race. So to say it isn’t the 70’s anymore that person is completely blind-no it isn’t the 70’s but things in small towns with mainly white people it isn’t much different. I am so sorry that people have to continue to be immature. Everyone comes from the same place and hopefully ends in the same place. God Bless and Good Luck!!
Paul – You said that your opinion carries no weight. You would be surprised as to just how much weight your opinion carries to a teenager out there that may look up to you…
FYI…..I do know for a fact that the student in question has been in trouble before for “bullying” and “beating up” another student this year on more than one occasion, so all I have to say to the parents is keep an open mind and ditch the “not-my-kid” attitude. Sometimes punishment is warranted and in the long run, beneficial.
Since this article ran sometime ago, I have not posted to any of the “opinions” on here. Supportive or nonsupportive against us. But, since the last post from Lisa it really raised a concern to me. First of all, we have never said anything about our child being perfect. Second of all, if my child has beat up another student(s) on more than one occasion, don’t you think as his parents we would have been informed? We knew that coming public with this would not be easy. Please understand, if we didn’t have documentations along with audio tapes that supported our child was not treated fairly in this process, we would have never came public with this….but we do. We have fought this fight not only for our child (as any parent would do) but to try to make a change in the school system for the next child this could face. There are some procedures that needs to be looked at within the school system. We are not the only family that has had to deal with unfairness within the school system. (as listed in the article) It saddens me that our child has been attacked because we (and others) have felt it was important for the need of changes to be addressed within the system. I do belive that there are good educators within our school, I do believe this is a good community. There just needs to be some changes that would make our school a better place for our children to have the education and the fairness for ALL children. So, if you feel focusing on our childs situation alone is the best way you see to making our school a better place, then so be it. God Bless you and the journey that lies ahead.
verbal bullying is worse than all kids there are terrible i would love to get outta there if i could
I am not aware of the facts of the situation mentioned above regarding the bullying but what I saw tonight of the Churubusco police, a manager at McDonalds, and the person working at the BP was nothing less than racism at its best. What a disgrace to our town. I am very upset about this. I have seen white youth for years do what these two black youth did tonight at the McDonalds, and at the BP and they have not experienced the bullying, and lack of respect as these two obviously scared youth did tonight. The people’s reactions and behaviors toward them was so obvious it was maddening. People of Busco, we have a problem in our town with cultrual insensitivy and yes, racist attitudes. Wake up.
we r ridiculed at any chance for trying to be different or unique it is harsh there u have to hav the right last name
bring white lightning back!!!
I am not surprised at all by all the attention and focus on our school. Not only this issue but other issues of concern at this time. My prayer is that together these parents (of all issues) and their courage to not just turn their heads to the injustice this school demonstrates on these students will change the practices of this school for a better future of it’s students. The school has not just recently acted in poor judgment. They’ve been doing it for years. I graduated from CHS. Over some 30 years ago I was expelled from school for 3 days because I would not tell the principle I saw another student do something in the hallway. I was told quote “if you do not tell us he did this and you saw him then we will have to expel you”. The truth was I didn’t see that student do anything but because he and I were both in the hall at the same time and noticed by a teacher they felt I should have seen what happened. Well I was punished for not lying. I was expelled 3 days. All these years later that whole situation still makes me angry. And all these years later it is still happening. My parents went to the school but I begged and pleaded with them to drop it because I knew I had several years yet before I would finish. I had NEVER been in trouble at school and was involved in many extracurricular activities. My parents were told that I was nothing more then an example for other students to learn from. When they want an answer they will get it! The boy they were after only needed to be expelled 1 more time and he would be banned from our school system. That was their goal. I was just merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now all these years later and in between we are still battling this school and their lack of fairness. “Bullying is AWFUL” and it comes in all forms. I was bullied some 30+ years ago by the administration. Kids are bullied by this administration and teachers and they bully each other. We can’t expect an administration who is guilty themselves to fix these problems. But unfortunately we just keep getting the same quality of board members. We only change their faces and names. This year my child has been bullied by a teacher from the first week of school. I went to the school a conference was held. Did it do any good – NO! Does my child deserve this – no. But 1 person can’t change anything. And hopefully now with so many issues being brought into light and the news of Smith Green traveling all over the United States people who never heard of Churubusco before are now tracking these issues and concerns. It’s sad we didn’t make the headlines for the golden apple award or being an exceptional school! Thanks to the Administrators, the board and many cruel people in this community who want to bash those who are standing up. And one more thing it really saddens me that their are a FEW very good teachers in this system unfortunately they have to be grouped with all the bad ones and this isn’t fair either!
Not surprising to see one of these kids kicked out of school. They always were wild kids. I get tired of hearing parents stand up and say oh little johnny didn’t do anything, or susie wasn’t in the wrong. If you raised your kids and knocked them back in line they would act like productive members of society. When you choose not to punish them, and leave it to the teachers to do so, you get what you get. If they still spanked them in school instead of giving out time outs and suckers maybe they wouldn’t be a problem when they got older. Quit blaming other people for your failure as a parent and step up. Otherwise you are just letting your kids down.