I am the great-great grandmother of a 12-year-old seventh grade student who was expelled for 12 calendar months from Batesville Jr. High School. This student is a good student who makes fairly decent grades, scored proficient/advanced on MCT2 tests, has never been in trouble, but the school and the school board all saw fit to expel her from school.

On Oct. 9, 2014 she was threatened to be beaten up if she didn’t write “Bomb Threat” on a bathroom wall.

Because of her writing those words on the wall, she was expelled for 12 calendar months. Nothing happened to the girls who bullied her. My granddaughter and her sone have gone through all the proper chains of command but the expulsion still stands.
We asked if she could go to the alternative school, and we were told that is not an option. But nobody could explain the purpose for the alternative school.

We were told that the district was going to check into a correspondence course, but as of Jan. 9 2015, we have not heard from any of them.

The law was passed for “No Child Left Behind,” but mine is being left behind. So I am asking if that there is anyone who knows how to help us get this child back into school before October, 2015, please let us know. We feel she was not given a fair chance. Even the justice system gives first offenders a fair chance.

Ada Mae Jones
Batesville

(Editor’s note: Superintendent Tim Wilder would not comment on this particular matter but did explain that serious violations are investigated by the principal and referred to a disciplinary committee made up of administrators outside of the particular school where alleged offenses occur to come to an unbiased decision.
That committee uses policy spelled out in the student handbook and facts of the case to determine the punishment to follow.)