CRESTVIEW — Today, a group of parents is protesting the lack of an appeal process for students who have been disciplined for violating the rules at Davidson Middle School.
Jeremy Fouquet said his sixth-grade daughter was given a day’s suspension after she intervened when a boy allegedly pushed his sister at their school bus stop. The boy received two days’ suspension.
“My little girl’s a good girl,” Fouquet said. “There’s no appeal process at the school.”
VIDEO: "Right now, none of us mean anything."
Fouquet said he tried to appeal his daughter’s suspension to School Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson but she did not respond to calls, texts, emails or Facebook messages.
Fouquet said though the students receive anti-bullying instruction at the beginning of the school year, the school doesn’t follow its own policy.
“It’s bad when the anti-bully program is run by bullies,” he said.
POLICIES TO FOLLOW
Okaloosa School District Community Affairs Program Director Henry Kelly said schools have strict policies they have to follow when disciplining students.
“School policy was followed and, if the parents have a concern on policy, the school board is the policy board for the school system,” Kelly said.
Fouquet has since heard from several other parents who are also upset there is no appeal process for school discipline. Some joined him on State Road 85 in front of Winn-Dixie Friday afternoon.
“How do you dismiss something like that when it has been going on over several people,” parent Gerald Houck said.
“They can’t ignore a bunch of us all together,” Fouquet said. “I’ll keep on doing this until there’s some type of appeal process in place.”
SCHOOL BOARD APPEAL
“We welcome them to come to the school board and address the board,” Kelly said. “If there are shortcomings in the system, help us work through those issues together. The school board exists for this reason.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said, if students or parents witness bullying situations, they should not intervene themselves.
“The idea is if you see actions that you are concerned about, notify the SRO or school administrators,” he said. “Do not intervene. Our bus drivers, our staffs, our teachers are all trained in these situations. We have procedures to address them.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Parents protest school discipline procedure