Malicious damage to our schools | Eastern North Carolina Now

By:  Hood Richardson

Both social and public media have bandied about the damage done to the Washington High School cafeteria area recently, allegedly by graduating seniors. Very little information has been given to the public by Beaufort County Schools officials.  Almost all of the information the public has could be called gossip.

At the risk of being in error, here is what I have heard from several sources.  A break-in occurred at night with security cameras running.  Someone acquired a key from a school official to gain entry.  Tables and furniture were destroyed, with damage also to wall coverings.  Cooking oil was poured on the floors.  There was other damage.  The damage cost was estimated to be as high as $15,000.

The Beaufort County School System made a decision not to report this criminal activity to the Washington Police or the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department.  This decision tells a lot about the character of these officials because public officials have the fiduciary duty to protect the public property in their care and to report criminal behavior.   In my opinion, school officials have no protection for their failure to follow the law. There were 57 graduating students identified.  The school system decided the appropriate punishment is to not allow these students to walk across the stage to get their diploma.  Their diploma will be mailed to them.  This is a slap on the wrist.

There are a host of issues about school board management, if what I have reported and what the School System has not reported, are accurate.

A conscious decision by the School Board and their employees not to report criminal activity and willful property damage to law enforcement raises serious questions about their integrity and dedication to their elected and appointed offices.  The knowledge of criminal behavior regardless of the age of the perpetrator should always be reported to law enforcement.  How much other criminal activity has gone un-reported,  un-enforced and winked at.  Such slack school administration sends strong messages to young minds.

We know there are serious problems with discipline in Washington High School.  This is evidenced by the number of people who have held the Principal’s job during the past several years.  High rates of turn over usually indicate weak and unsure management.  Discipline problems and criminal acts indicate a failure on the part of school administrators and their superiors to enforce and teach non-criminal behavior.  Washington High School had four years to instill a sense of acceptable behavior in these students.  The education system failed our students again.

There is a huge divide between juvenile behavior and criminal activity.  Juveniles make mistakes and make bad judgments.  Criminal activity is hard to define, but, like pornography, is  easily recognized when seen.  No doubt we should proceed in a compassionate way to handle juvenile behavior and with much less compassion in the case of criminal activity on school property where students are old enough to know better.

It is not up to any school employee to cover up criminal behavior.  In researching to write this article I ran into people who believe the school system is a sovereign entity. Something like an Indian Reservation.  There are no limited exclusions from law enforcement on any public property.  When it comes to criminal activity, school officials who cover it up are as guilty as those who commit the crimes.

I am disappointed that the school system did not react in a positive way with press releases informing the public.  A lot of damage was done on social media as rumors spread. A simple statement that the public would be protected would have done wonders. Early on, the School System should have announced that those students involved would be required to pay their proportionate part of the damages to public property. No need to say they would not get a diploma until paid, that would only bring on a lawsuit. A lot of damage is done in prohibiting allowing graduates walk across the stage.  This is a useless and inappropriate punishment that serves no purpose.

I am also concerned that school administration does not understand the use of our legal system.  Management seems to believe their job is to make bad situations look as good as they can by handing out slaps on the wrist for bad behavior.  There are rumors of other criminal activities that have been covered up.  One of the major deterrents to bad behavior is informing the public.  Yes, disclosure to the public is a deterrent.  That sends a message to all the students, their parents and the public as to where the limits are.  Covering up these incidents provides no direction to define good behavior.  Disclosure requires a dedicated school board, superintendent, and staff, especially school administrators, who have a duty to maintain good order and discipline in our schools.

Keeping teachers in the Beaufort County School System is difficult.  The dominant reason any person leaves any job is working conditions.  Teachers must be able to control their classrooms.  Discipline has to be handed out fairly and with certainty.  Halls must be safe.  Students with bad behavior that cannot be corrected should be expelled from the school system.  Some parents should be prosecuted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.  These statements may cause some fear among some of us. Once the limits of behavior are known a lot of the bad actors will change their behavior.  The School System has to use their legal resources to defend teachers and employees on discipline issues.

I am well aware that all of these ideas cannot be piled on the schools at one time.  However, the School Board should develop a plan to gradually install and enforce behavior standards.  Could the focus start in the 8th grade and gradually move into other grades.  I am also talking about changes that need to be made among the employees of the school system.  Most of them have no idea as to what behavior the School Board is willing to enforce.

Compare what schools should be doing against what they are doing.  Schools should produce students, whether graduating or dropping out, who are honest, considerate of others, educated to the point of being able to write, read, perform basic mathematical functions,  be familiar with our Constitution and Bill of Rights, be able to identify criminal behavior, and be uncontaminated by social and propaganda stigmas.  Social and propaganda stigmas include, but are not limited to. critical race theories, diversity-equity-inclusion theories, sexual identity confusion, racial stigmas, etc.  

There are plenty of basic materials in mathematics, language, true history and civics to occupy 12 years of study.  The basics do not change.  Math books, spelling books, English books, and basic science books do not change that much. These books should be good for 100 years or until completely dilapidated.

The lessons from the handling of the Washington High School incident fly in the face of what schools should be doing.  The lesson to younger students should be: “These Seniors got punished and we should expect the same treatment if we do similar things.”  That lesson is not being taught.  

Several incumbent School Board seats are up for election this fall.  These board members should be replaced with conservative candidates.  The conservative candidates are:  Malissa Polk, District 1 and Stacey Davis, District 5.  There is a contest between incumbent Republican T. W. Allen and unaffiliated candidate David Hudson in District 3.  We need a School Board that will make it clear that school administrators are not to allow vandalism and violations of law in our schools.  Accepting the unacceptable makes the unacceptable acceptable.