Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Discipline Tfunk topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents urge Ball Chatham CUSD 5 to reverse TFUNK suspensions, criticize speed of investigation
Summary
Parents representing TFUNK told the school board the district rushed to judgment in a brief investigation, asked for suspensions to be reversed and the performance group's ban lifted, and called for use of restorative measures instead.
Parents representing the student performance group TFUNK told the Ball Chatham CUSD 5 Board of Education they were "profoundly disappointed" with how district leaders handled allegations involving TFUNK members and asked the board to reverse suspensions and lift a ban on participation.
"We are asking you to do the right thing and and to correct this situation by reversing the suspensions for the affected students, lifting the ban on participation in TFUNK, and issuing a statement that no bullying and no hazing occurred within TFUNK," said Melissa Malinski, who spoke on behalf of TFUNK parents.
Malinski told the board she and other parents believe the administration "determined guilt as soon as the accusations were made, then rushed to conclude the investigation in less than two days," and said parents and students reported that eyewitness accounts that did not support the accusation were ignored. She said some students resigned from TFUNK in protest and described the sanctions as "traumatic" for seniors.
The parents asked whether the investigation interviewed the TFUNK advisors, naming teachers Phil Mitchell and Nick Brokamp, and urged the district to have used restorative measures per the student handbook instead of punitive sanctions. "To the extent there was any need to correct behavior, why didn't the administration follow its own handbook and pursue restorative measures?" Malinski asked.
Malinski named a group of signatories at the end of her remarks and asked the board to lift the ban and reinstate students so they could participate before graduation. The board did not state an immediate next step on the investigation or the parents' requests during the meeting.
