Scandal Poolesville High School Student Arrest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you trying to create controversy when there isn't any?

There were no issues with the student while the child was at Poolesville.

The student did well at Ewing so they transitioned back to a regular school program. I have no knowledge of what happened at Clarksburg but some kids are going through a lot and obviously this child needed help at that time.

The alleged criminal activity was something that could have happened before they were placed at Poolesville and had nothing to do with the school.

This seems like a standard part of being part of being in public school and as a Poolesville parent I do not have concerns about how this was handled other than the principal revealing too much information about the student so that busybody parents like you could have ammunition to gossip about the child.

Students getting arrested in school for criminal behavior is NOT “a standard part of being in public school.” The fact that you believe that and want to normalize that is a serious problem.

The principal’s letter is actually a model for other MCPS principals on how to provide specifics, defuse gossip and rumors and stick to the facts. Other principals need to take note.

Completely disagree. The discretion shown by the BCC principal is how these types of incidents should be handled. It is none of your business why certain students transfer and where they transferred from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To your main question:

There's no such thing as permanent expulsion in MCPS. I think this might be cause of state regulation though. Not sure.

But kids who get expelled from one school get placed in an alternative school, like Blair Ewing. But Blair Ewing and other alt schools are not permanent placements, so then they "graduate" from the alt school. Depending on the offense, the kid might get returned to their homeschool, but more often, MCPS shuffles them to another high school, which seems to have been the case here, where they shuffled the kid from Clarksburg to Poolesville.

I wonder what he did to get arrested. Was it drug dealing?

Agree with this. The kid who got stabbed at Banneker MS is 12 years old with a rap sheet you wouldn’t believe. She was at Briggs Chaney got expelled and mcps put her at Banneker. She attacks a girl and got stabber herself and is now suspended pending expulsion. She’ll prob be put back at Briggs Chaney. It’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it's been handled. Kid had a warrant for his arrest, warrant was served, kid was arrested without issue. Where is the scandal?

15:07 outlined the alternative placement process

Agree—although it doesn’t make me feel too comfortable about who might be in class alongside my kids, I wouldn’t say it rises to the level of “scandal.”i

My only question would be whether there were any consequences for the student showing up at Clarksburg, necessitating the shelter-in-place. I know they probably can’t release details, but you’d think they would at least include something vague about it being dealt with according to established procedures.

Is it legally considered trespassing for a student to show up at a different high school during school hours, presumably without permission from the school’s administration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda-Chevy Chase parent here. According to rumors (because the school doesn't want to share), the students who were involved in a fight that injured the Principal and head of security were a transfer from another high school, and one with a ankle monitor. BCC parents have been up in arms over the safety issues at the school. It started with the assault of WJ students after a game in the fall. Then there was an armed carjacking of a vehicle in Silver Spring, driven all the way to the BCC campus. Then the fight that injured the Principal. There has been an uptick in vaping and drug use at BCC, which has led to bathrooms being closed at lunchtime, which is a nightmare for kids who actually need to go, because there are long lines for the few bathrooms that are kept open. Magical for anyone on their period or people with digestive issues.

So yes. Your Poolesville thing seems par for the course for the state of MCPS today.

Montgomery County needs to build more alternative schools to permanently educate violent youths, instead of sending them back to their home schools. Staff and students in regular schools need to feel safe coming in every day.

Building more alternative schools sounds good, but then you have to staff them. My brother taught at an alternative school for a year and said some of his students were scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you trying to create controversy when there isn't any?

There were no issues with the student while the child was at Poolesville.

The student did well at Ewing so they transitioned back to a regular school program. I have no knowledge of what happened at Clarksburg but some kids are going through a lot and obviously this child needed help at that time.

The alleged criminal activity was something that could have happened before they were placed at Poolesville and had nothing to do with the school.

This seems like a standard part of being part of being in public school and as a Poolesville parent I do not have concerns about how this was handled other than the principal revealing too much information about the student so that busybody parents like you could have ammunition to gossip about the child.

You are part of the problem if you think an arrest is normal. We can do better as a community!

[Anonymous]

Letter to parents:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ed0uo8HtXbXGibzzerJYSR_QaxeyUb3j/view?usp=drivesdk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda-Chevy Chase parent here. According to rumors (because the school doesn't want to share), the students who were involved in a fight that injured the Principal and head of security were a transfer from another high school, and one with a ankle monitor. BCC parents have been up in arms over the safety issues at the school. It started with the assault of WJ students after a game in the fall. Then there was an armed carjacking of a vehicle in Silver Spring, driven all the way to the BCC campus. Then the fight that injured the Principal. There has been an uptick in vaping and drug use at BCC, which has led to bathrooms being closed at lunchtime, which is a nightmare for kids who actually need to go, because there are long lines for the few bathrooms that are kept open. Magical for anyone on their period or people with digestive issues.

So yes. Your Poolesville thing seems par for the course for the state of MCPS today.

Montgomery County needs to build more alternative schools to permanently educate violent youths, instead of sending them back to their home schools. Staff and students in regular schools need to feel safe coming in every day.

Building more alternative schools sounds good, but then you have to staff them. My brother taught at an alternative school for a year and said some of his students were scary.

If the kids are that bad staff it like a jail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you trying to create controversy when there isn't any?

There were no issues with the student while the child was at Poolesville.

The student did well at Ewing so they transitioned back to a regular school program. I have no knowledge of what happened at Clarksburg but some kids are going through a lot and obviously this child needed help at that time.

The alleged criminal activity was something that could have happened before they were placed at Poolesville and had nothing to do with the school.

This seems like a standard part of being part of being in public school and as a Poolesville parent I do not have concerns about how this was handled other than the principal revealing too much information about the student so that busybody parents like you could have ammunition to gossip about the child.

Students getting arrested in school for criminal behavior is NOT “a standard part of being in public school.” The fact that you believe that and want to normalize that is a serious problem.

The principal’s letter is actually a model for other MCPS principals on how to provide specifics, defuse gossip and rumors and stick to the facts. Other principals need to take note.

Completely disagree. The discretion shown by the BCC principal is how these types of incidents should be handled. It is none of your business why certain students transfer and where they transferred from.

Strongly disagree with you and MCPS on this. Not faulting the BCC leadership, who is between a rock and a hard place. Although I do believe Dr Mooney is in over his head. ALL Principals are ill equipped to deal with student safety in a humane way, given lack of resources. That’s why a lot of them are leaving. The much respected WJ Principal left *mid year*! None of this is normal! They cannot do their jobs, and ensure the safety and basic comfort of students, without more security and the power to ban violent offenders.

In my Bethesda neighborhood, families left in droves over virtual learning. The ones that stayed are livid over safety concerns. The situation is not good, despite the fact that instruction is still very good because great teachers haven’t left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda-Chevy Chase parent here. According to rumors (because the school doesn't want to share), the students who were involved in a fight that injured the Principal and head of security were a transfer from another high school, and one with a ankle monitor. BCC parents have been up in arms over the safety issues at the school. It started with the assault of WJ students after a game in the fall. Then there was an armed carjacking of a vehicle in Silver Spring, driven all the way to the BCC campus. Then the fight that injured the Principal. There has been an uptick in vaping and drug use at BCC, which has led to bathrooms being closed at lunchtime, which is a nightmare for kids who actually need to go, because there are long lines for the few bathrooms that are kept open. Magical for anyone on their period or people with digestive issues.

So yes. Your Poolesville thing seems par for the course for the state of MCPS today.

Montgomery County needs to build more alternative schools to permanently educate violent youths, instead of sending them back to their home schools. Staff and students in regular schools need to feel safe coming in every day.

Building more alternative schools sounds good, but then you have to staff them. My brother taught at an alternative school for a year and said some of his students were scary.

It’s understood that a school for violent kids won’t be run on the same lines as the normal ones. What they get is juvie with a degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Letter to parents:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ed0uo8HtXbXGibzzerJYSR_QaxeyUb3j/view?usp=drivesdk

Both the Clarksburg and Pooledviille Principal letters were very detailed, thorough and reassuring. More of this please, MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda-Chevy Chase parent here. According to rumors (because the school doesn't want to share), the students who were involved in a fight that injured the Principal and head of security were a transfer from another high school, and one with a ankle monitor. BCC parents have been up in arms over the safety issues at the school. It started with the assault of WJ students after a game in the fall. Then there was an armed carjacking of a vehicle in Silver Spring, driven all the way to the BCC campus. Then the fight that injured the Principal. There has been an uptick in vaping and drug use at BCC, which has led to bathrooms being closed at lunchtime, which is a nightmare for kids who actually need to go, because there are long lines for the few bathrooms that are kept open. Magical for anyone on their period or people with digestive issues.

So yes. Your Poolesville thing seems par for the course for the state of MCPS today.

Montgomery County needs to build more alternative schools to permanently educate violent youths, instead of sending them back to their home schools. Staff and students in regular schools need to feel safe coming in every day.

Building more alternative schools sounds good, but then you have to staff them. My brother taught at an alternative school for a year and said some of his students were scary.

It’s understood that a school for violent kids won’t be run on the same lines as the normal ones. What they get is juvie with a degree.

I taught at an alternative school in Maryland in a nearby county. There are typically a lot of therapists on staff and it is easy to get a student removed who is disrupting. However it is important to understand that most of the students sent to these facilities have multiple major problems in life. They have been “thrown away” repeatedly. They typically have have a mix of major trauma, often have learning disabilities, poverty, drugs or issues, family abuse, etc. They need a lot of support to be successful. However it is not a jail or “juvy”. It is important for them to understand that it is a second chance. In my opinion though, most of the kids would be fine if they had a one on one or shadow adult at their home school. The actions leading to arrests that people are talking about here are usually happening out of school and outside the school day.

[Anonymous]

If you look in the daily arrest log a juvenile in Clarksburg was arrested for first degree rape on Valentine’s Day. That matches up with what is being said.

[Anonymous]

Someone in local Poolesville FB group posted a copy of a court record: the juvenile in question was arrested for rape on 2/14 and a 20 year-old with the same last name was arrested for illegal gun possession on the same date (his brother). So probably two of them kidnapped a girl at Clarksburg HS at gunpoint and the younger brother raped her… All of this was not informed to the school/local community until the FB group revealed it. Now the principals of Poolesville and Clarksburg sent out the letters explaining the details. There will be a community meeting on this incident in Poolesville tomorrow night.

[Anonymous]

The transfer of students among various MS and HS. One of the outcomes of a county-wide school district. What if the Clarksburg cluster was a school district and Poolesville was a neighboring school district, each with its own board of ed...you probably don't see students (and teachers and admins for that matter) being shifted around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you trying to create controversy when there isn't any?

There were no issues with the student while the child was at Poolesville.

The student did well at Ewing so they transitioned back to a regular school program. I have no knowledge of what happened at Clarksburg but some kids are going through a lot and obviously this child needed help at that time.

The alleged criminal activity was something that could have happened before they were placed at Poolesville and had nothing to do with the school.

This seems like a standard part of being part of being in public school and as a Poolesville parent I do not have concerns about how this was handled other than the principal revealing too much information about the student so that busybody parents like you could have ammunition to gossip about the child.

Students getting arrested in school for criminal behavior is NOT “a standard part of being in public school.” The fact that you believe that and want to normalize that is a serious problem.

The principal’s letter is actually a model for other MCPS principals on how to provide specifics, defuse gossip and rumors and stick to the facts. Other principals need to take note.

Completely disagree. The discretion shown by the BCC principal is how these types of incidents should be handled. It is none of your business why certain students transfer and where they transferred from.[/quote]

You can stand on that hill. Not me.