|
It seems that Tyler's partner-in-crime, Meagan Daniels (age 13), was also
expelled from
school for one year and won't be getting her 8th grade diploma (a big deal
in Montana).
Her crime is that she volunteered to keep the broken BB-gun in her locker
so Tyler
wouldn't be in trouble when the Fascists tore-through his locker.
Well, the state
sure showed her what happens to those that aide and abet criminals
(12-year-old Tyler
Huetter).
The lives of two young children have possibly been ruined to appease agents
of the
state. Where's the outrage?
Comments?
~ Ben
Second student, expelled for hiding BB gun, speaks about
experience
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian Meagan Daniels felt so sure her friend Tyler Huetter wasn't a violent student, she agreed to hide his backpack - which held a BB gun - in her locker at Hellgate Elementary School. "I knew it wasn't like a real gun that could hurt people," Daniels said. "Tyler's not a fighter. I could never see him hurting somebody. I never opened the backpack." Tyler was concerned that his locker was about to be searched and teachers would find the pistol he found on the way to school that morning, March 17. As it happened, Hellgate Elementary was locked down at eighth period that day, and all lockers were searched. Tyler Huetter's backpack was found in Meagan Daniels' locker, with the BB gun, a drug pipe and a knife inside. A Missoula County sheriff's detective interviewed Daniels, who admitted she was holding the pack for Huetter. At a school board hearing March 31, both Daniels and Huetter were expelled for 12 calendar months. The decision was especially traumatic for Daniels, who is 13 and due to graduate from eighth grade this June. The federal rule requiring a 12-month expulsion for weapons incidents means she may well miss most of her freshman year of high school. "Just a few days after that gun was found (at Hellgate Elementary), that kid killed nine people in Minnesota," said Meagan's father, Alan Daniels, referring to the school shooting in Red Lake on March 21. "You can't tell me people weren't thinking about that when they decided to suspend Meagan. You could just see the writing on the wall at that point." The Daniels and Huetter families found their children caught on the points of state, federal and school policies that, wrapped together, make it difficult for them to ever become normal school students again. Fortunately for both families, public interest in their situation has prompted several people to offer donations of tutoring, books, Internet education services, legal help and tuition money for private schools. While both families were still reviewing their options as of Friday, school officials also will soon be considering what to do with expelled students who want to resume their education. Even though Daniels is leaving the elementary district that expelled her for a new high school district, the punishment follows in her record. "Because of what's happened from Columbine forward, people are really hesitant to under-react," said Missoula County Public Schools' Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Wilson. MCPS' enrollment policy states that a student expelled from another district "will not be allowed to enroll" in an MCPS school for the duration of their punishment. Wilson said she was not familiar with the facts of the Hellgate Elementary incident or the students involved. Speaking generally, she said the MCPS Board of Trustees may consider suspending its rules or even changing its policy to allow someone like Meagan Daniels to enroll next year. But, she added, the choice between protecting the safety and security of thousands of children against the long-term benefit of a single child being able to contribute to society is one of the most difficult balancing acts a school administrator or trustee can make. The federal Gun-Free Schools laws require school districts to enact policies that include 12-month expulsions for students who bring weapons to schools. However, the rules also allow local districts some leeway to offer lesser punishments. Hellgate Elementary Superintendent Doug Reisig said last week that his duty to protect the school's 1,200 other students outweighed any leniency for Huetter or Daniels. As his school resource officer and other Missoula law enforcement experts said, the BB gun Huetter brought to school would have been deemed a deadly threat by any officer who saw it. People may question whether a BB gun fits the definition of a firearm. But the legal principle turns more on how its appearance makes other people react. A robber might put a finger in a jacket to threaten a bank teller and be convicted of armed robbery as a result. So might a police officer mistake a BB gun for a real weapon. If the student pointed it at an officer, the officer could be expected to shoot in self-defense, Reisig said. And that's a risk no school official ever wants to consider, let alone be party to. So schools levy the harshest penalty they can: expulsion. That leaves Meagan Daniels and Tyler Huetter in an area of educational limbo. Montana law requires children to attend 180 days of accredited school a year until age 16, according to state Office of Public Instruction chief legal counsel Kathy Warhank. It provides public schools to complete that requirement. When a student is expelled, the public school system loses its obligation to educate that student. But the compulsory education law doesn't go away - it just moves the burden onto the parents. It's similar to a person convicted of DUI losing their driver's license, Warhank said. They may still be required to attend court-ordered alcohol treatment classes across town. The fact that they can't drive there doesn't excuse them from attending. Neither does the fact that a student is expelled excuse him or her from continuing to seek an education until age 16. The irony is that if Meagan and Tyler had committed a lesser crime, they would probably have been suspended and returned to school by now. If they'd done something more serious, they'd probably be sentenced to a juvenile detention facility, which by law must provide them with education. "It's tough when you do something bad at the school level, but the legal system doesn't pick them up," MCPS' Wilson said. "We don't want to run our schools like prisons for the safety of students. You can get an education at Pine Hills (the state juvenile detention facility), but we don't have anything in the middle." That dilemma appeared almost insurmountable for the Danielses and the Huetters. Both families lack the income to send their children to private schools, or lack the time and personal education to do an adequate job teaching their children at home. Meagan's mother, Lois Daniels, said since the expulsion, she's been trying to set up a home school on her own. She takes Meagan to the library, to area museums and other places, but admits her own understanding is behind her daughter's, particularly in math. "I don't let her sit around here and do nothing," Daniels said. "I'll teach her what I know. I guess I'll teach her life skills." Meagan said she's used some of her time on the Internet researching ancient Egypt, a personal interest. She doesn't see many friends. Most of her school companions have stopped talking to her, she said. "I walk a lot, too," Meagan said. "I've lost about 10 pounds - I've exercised so much." If Meagan and Tyler want to return to public school next March, they may be required to take tests showing their educational progress. If they attend an accredited private school, they may be able to get back into their regular school grade. The situation is different for private schools. They are not bound by the federal guidelines, and generally take a case-by-case approach to admitting students who've been expelled by other school districts. At St. Joseph Elementary School, a private Catholic school in Missoula, Principal Pete Joseph said he personally reviews the applications of students wishing to enroll. In the three years he has been at the school, there has not been an expelled student make such a transfer request. "We don't have a policy per se on a weapons charge," Joseph said. "We look at all past history of a child. If a kid comes to us expelled from a school, I want to see the past history, the grades they received, talk to the former teachers. We take that all into consideration." Joseph said since Tyler Huetter's story became public a week ago, some community members had offered to help pay tuition for him to attend St. Joseph. On Friday, both families said they were considering that possibility. "We're not sure what we're going to do yet," Tyler's mother, Sheryl Huetter, said Friday. "But at least now we do have options." Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe to the Missoulian today � get 2 weeks free! Copyright � 2005 Missoulian Tel: (406) 523-5200 a division of Lee Enterprises Go to top of page |
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