Fall 2006 Domain I - Competency 003 Discipline Case Studies.

Domain I - Competency 003

Discipline

Case Studies

Jayme Rodriguez

Case 1

Custody

Case 1: Jayme Rodriguez

• Issue– Ms. Rodriguez called with a concern regarding her daughter

Jayme Gomez. Her daughter’s father had come from California and presented to the principal a court order for them to allow him to see his daughter. Ms. Rodriguez said that the father has only seen his daughter two or three times in her six years. The daughter was scared because she is only six and she thought he was going to take her away. When the mother got to the school, the mother asked to see the court order, but was not allowed to. She was told that she would have to go to the court and request it herself. The mother is not sure if the court order was from Texas or California.


• Issue– The school officials told her that they had attempted to call her, but her

telephone was not a working number. They did not attempt to call her emergency contacts. The mother said that she had had her telephone disconnected because the father had been calling and demanding to speak to his daughter at early hours of the day, such as 3:00 a.m. Ms. Rodriguez states that she had listed on the registration card her father, her mother-in-law and a neighbor’s number. She said the school only called the neighbor and the place where she used to work. Ms. Rodriguez states that she has since changed the telephone numbers on the cards. However the principal said that she would not call the mother-in-law since Ms. Rodriguez is not married to her present husband by law.


• Issue– Ms. Rodriguez is also concerned because the principal told her to put

the paternal father’s information on the card and he would be contacted for anything regarding her daughter. Ms. Rodriguez protested putting the father’s name on the card, but the principal said she was going to put the information on the card. Also the principal told Ms. Rodriguez that she should take off the stepfather’s information because they would not contact him because he is not the paternal father. The stepfather has been the father in essence; he is the one who her daughter recognizes as her father. However, the teacher has told Ms. Rodriguez that they have been instructed not to give any information to the stepfather since he is not married to the mother. The daughter had been having problems with another child in class and the stepfather had been wanting information to help with the situation.


• Issue– Ms. Rodriguez said that she was never served any papers to

appear in any court. She called the attorney general who counseled her to get a restraining order if she wanted the father to be kept away. She said that even though she did not marry the father, they lived together for a few years and separated when the daughter was nine months. He was with another woman who did not want the daughter, but they are now separated and he now wants to reestablish contact. He has just gotten out of jail and in the past, the mother has allowed him to visit, but with one of her family members present. The last time he saw her was in 2004.

Mr. Gonzalez

Case 2

Cell Phone

Case 2: Mr. Gonzalez

• Issue:– Mr. Gonzalez called to report that he has

been dealing with this issue for 2 to 2 ½ months. His daughter’s $600 iPhone was confiscated in class at Achieve High School and was subsequently stolen from the vault where the school authorities had put it. He would like it replaced or found before the school year ends. He said he had an appointment with Achieve High School to fill out some forms on Monday.


• Issue:– The secretary to the APs at Achieve High

School said that she had spoken to Mr. Gonzalez the previous week and that she had requested that he come in and fill out vendor forms so that he could purchase a phone and be reimbursed as a vendor. She said that making parents vendors is how they had dealt with this before instead of going through the insurance.


• Issue:– Mr. Gonzalez called the Superintendent’s office from Best Buy

where he is about to purchase the new iPhone and was wanting to make sure that he would be reimbursed. The secretary at the superintendent’s office asked that I call Risk Management and Purchasing to apprise them of the situation. In the meantime, Mr. Currey was waiting at Best Buy for a phone call back from the Superintendent’s office. Both Risk Management and Purchasing said that making a parent a vendor to reimburse him for a lost or stolen item was not correct. They should use petty cash funds. I called Mr. Currey and told him to go back to Achieve High School and speak directly with the principal.


• Issue:– The secretary at the superintendent’s office called Risk

Management and Purchasing to apprise them of the situation while Mr. Gonzalez was waiting at Best Buy for a phone call back from the Superintendent’s office. Both Risk Management and Purchasing said that making a parent a vendor to reimburse him for a lost or stolen item was not correct. They should use petty cash funds. Mr. Gonzalez was told to go back to Achieve High School and speak directly with the principal.

Ms. Hernandez

Case 3

School Supplies

Case 3: Ms. Hernandez

• Issue:– Mrs. Hernandez has been trying to retrieve supplies

that the kindergarten teacher from Pier Elementary School requested at the beginning of the year. The family had to transfer her son to a parochial school. She has not been able to get a call back from her son’s teacher nor the principal. She has only received a call from the secretary and the assistant principal.


• Issue:– The mother said she was embarrassed to have

to call about this issue. She did not want to call but they are in a financial crisis and the supplies that the teacher requested were expensive (over $100) – not the Dollar Store type of supplies. The teacher had asked for name brand scissors, Play-Dough, Rubbermaid tubs, etc. The mother said that her son had not yet used the supplies when he left.


• Issue:– The next day, the mother said that the situation was

resolved the previous night around 7:00 p.m. She said that the secretary called her and that they decided that if the son goes back to Pier Elementary School, the school will purchase his supplies. She was concerned what that the school would forget and make her buy supplies once again. The secretary said she would remember.


• Issue:– The mother said that the school was treating her son as if he

were a problem child in November, when she transferred him out. She said that she had sent her husband to speak for her, but she could not attend the meetings and the school did not help her husband. She said during that time she was diagnosed with cancer, her father and then a neighbor died within a span of three weeks. She said that her son was scared and he was going to therapy to help him deal with all the changes. She would have appreciated some simple caring from the campus.


• Outcome:– The school clerk who helped Mrs. Hernandez

said that she is collecting supplies that she will take to Mrs. Hernandez later. A lot of the supplies had been used because it was put in the community bin.

Ms. Flowers

Case 4

Bullying

Case 4: Ms. Flowers

• Issue:– Ms. Flowers’ daughters attend Achieve High School; one is 15

years old the other is 17 years old and a senior. The senior, Veronica has been having problems with a group of girls, who are now sophomores, since last year. Ms. Flowers called regarding two issues. The first is that a boy wrote a gang symbol (19th Street Gang) on Veronica’s notebook the previous day. She confiscated the notebook from her daughter (putting it in a paper bag to protect the evidence) and is concerned that the gang is becoming very active at the school.

Case 4: Ms. Flowers

• Issue:– The second concern is regarding a group of girls who

has been harassing her daughter since last year. The group of girls is lead by a sophomore. This group has even followed the 15 year old daughter home – they were in a group of three cars and the daughter was walking home. The girls were asking the 15-year-old where was Veronica. Veronica is 17 years old and is trying to stay out of trouble so she can join the army upon graduation.

Case 4: Ms. Flowers

• Issue:– Ms. Flowers would like to see the harassment

stop. Her daughter has a right to learn. She has seven children and is a single mother. I told her I would look into the situation and call her the following day.

Case 4: Ms. Flowers

• Issue:– The mother said she went to the school at lunchtime to see the

situation, and she found that the lunchroom was unattended by adults and she found the security guards outside the lunchroom talking with a police officer. She asked for directions to the principal’s office from the security guards who escorted her there. While at the principal’s office, she heard over their radios that there had been a fight at the cafeteria with one of the boys having a knife. She said that the African American student was sent home and the one with the knife (the Hispanic) was allowed to remain on campus.

Case 4: Ms. Flowers

• Issue:– Ms. Flowers said that she talked to one of the assistant principals who

claimed she was at the cafeteria and did not see Ms. Flowers come into the area. Ms. Flowers also claims that the principal has not been helpful and has not put attention to this matter. On Friday, when the girls followed her daughter home, Veronica called the police to file a report on Sondra who is on probation. Other girls involved in the bullying are Denise, and Esmerelda. Ms. Flowers did not know their last names. Ms. Flowers claims that everyone is more concerned about Denise because her mother died. Ms. Flowers claimed that she also talked to a principal from a different school about this case who said that this would be considered “mutual combat.” She said the girls dress inappropriately even though there is a new dress code in place.

Case 4: Ms. Flowers

• Issue:

Fall 2006 Domain I - Competency 003 Discipline Case Studies.

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