Students' Rights Forum

Students ‘Rights Forum

On January 30, 2016 the Massachusetts Human Rights and the Progressive Labor Party organized a forum regarding students’ rights in relation to the so called School to Jail pipeline. About 30 people attended the forum. Half of the attendees were students. The groups had advertised the event at a couple of Worcester public high schools.  Several staffers from Worcester public schools could also be seen in the audience.

One of the presenters, Walter Joval a therapeutic counselor, spoke of the harm done to children by the school to jail pipeline and the trauma they suffered. Ruth Rodriquez, a long time activist, spoke on how charter schools were draining money from the already underfunded urban public school districts and how standardized high stakes testing is causing some students to leave school.

Nathan Wong, a defense lawyer, spoke of the rights the students have when facing the school police. He indicated that a student did not have to answer questions in a police investigation unless a parent was present; even with a parent present, a minor did not have to answer questions in an investigation. Mr. Wong noted that unless a person was under arrest the person was not obliged to remain with the police. He also pointed out although lockers are considered public and could be searched without a warrant; a student personal property required a warrant for a search.

I was the last speaker. I spoke on how the City of Worcester was out of compliance with the update of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) required by State statutes. I spoke as well on the topic of Chapter 222 which sets forth the rights of students in disciplinary matters. The purpose of Chapter 222 was to reduce the number of suspensions and time out of the class room for students. This is to be accomplished by providing a cooling off period for staff and students in order to ensure that no snap decision are made. The decisions regarding suspensions and expulsions should be well considered.

The full time school police do not have to comply with Chapter 222. The School Safety officer, Mr. Pezella, had indicated that arrests of children at school were up since the police were stationed in schools. There is a need to update the MOU to indicate that the police should operate per Chapter 222 and the police are directed by the principal or her designee.

It is understood that there will be times that the school police will have to operate in emergency situations and make snap judgments. What is an emergency should be defined in the MOU as it is also defined in Chapter 222. It is also understood that the some of the staff of a school prefers to have police on campus just for these emergencies.

Recently there was a safety audit of the schools and the concerns of all parties should be discussed in the implementation of the safety recommendations found in the audit.

During the informal talks after the forum, where information is exchanged, it became known that the school police and the staff at the Worcester schools are aware of the concerns the forum sponsors and others have about the school to jail pipeline. There seems to be some effort to use the school police in a cautious manner.

Several people representing community group indicated that there will be a larger meeting in March of parents, students, and concerned people to discuss the so called racist school to jail pipeline and other issues. Hopefully the City will invite this coalition to help in the formulation of its policies.