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Dear Editor:
In a long Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Board of Trustees meeting on June 9, the Board voted 4-3 to approve all the School Handbooks. There were two sections of the HSE Student Conduct Code in those handbooks that came under scrutiny: adding the punishable offense of microaggressions in all the handbooks and the Athletic Rules and Consequences (ARC) section in the High School Handbook.
While the vote looked close, one of the members, Sarah Donsbach, voted no – not because of the those two issues but because of other language in the handbooks.
Both new policies are flawed either due to poorly designed policy (ARC) or violation of First Amendment rights (microaggressions).
ARC
The ARC policy was an attempt to provide an approach to get a student athlete charged with a felony or misdemeanor back into HSE. Speakers pointed out that being charged is not being convicted and because due process takes time, a student athlete could miss a substantial portion of the season in their given sport. The impact could be devastating to a star athlete who might be up for athletic scholarships.
Valid points, but the first question is why you would want a student charged (which implies the DA has evidence for the crime) with a felony back in the school? Second, it was all about athletes – what about the non-athletes? And third, it was not written or even reviewed, as far as I can tell, by the HSE law firm. At no time did the board say it was reviewed by the HSE retained legal team or that they had input from HSE lawyers.
Based on the discussion, it was clear that the new policy needed work and a legal review to mesh the criminal law with HSE policy. While the Board has all summer to correct the ARC language, they chose to approve it, perhaps to avoid any further scrutiny of a bad policy.
Microaggression
The biggest issue with the handbooks was the inclusion microaggressions as an offense in the Student Conduct sections of all the HSE School Handbooks. The language in the handbooks is:
Microaggressions can be defined as every day, subtle, intentional, or unintentional interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups. While Hamilton Southeastern High School understands those individuals communicating a microaggression might not intend to express bias, the school recognizes the responsibility to educate students on the reality of bias perceptions.
Issues regarding microaggressions may be addressed through restorative conversations led by school administration, teachers, and/or guidance counselors rather than punitive measures. Habitual occurrences could lead to consequences applicable to inappropriate conduct as defined in Section 28.
(Note: Section 28 refers to a part of the discipline handbook)
Back at the May 11, 2022, Board meeting, I and others pointed out the problems with “microaggression.”
We noted that the definition used for microaggression is limited to any protected class or marginalized group. We asked, why not all HSE students?
We pointed out the offense is in the eye of the accuser and not on a firm basis of fact or that the accused even meant the alleged offense.
By including microaggression in the student conduct section of the school handbooks, the Board is going down the path that many colleges have taken, which is now in litigation. For example, the University of Virginia and the University of North Texas are in First Amendment litigation over punishment when questions or criticism of microaggression were raised at those schools.
It is not hard to project that putting microaggressions in HSE policy will have a devastating effect on HSE staff and students.
Staff will have to watch every word they say for fear of causing someone (other staff or pupils) offense. There will be many who will not want to work in this hostile work environment. This has happened at Georgetown University where Professor Ilya Shapiro, a noted Constitutional scholar, resigned because in his words, “The freedom to speak is no freedom at all if it makes an exception for speech someone finds offensive or counter to some nebulous conception of equity.”
HSE currently has a staffing issue, and policies like this will only exacerbate it.
What is the effect that this sort of woke policy will have on students? Will parents take their students out of the HSE to avoid them being subjected to arbitrary and capricious accusations? More importantly, is HSE teaching their students to be like the two Parson children in the book 1984? They accused Winston of thought crimes and then the daughter turns her father into the Thought Police for what he said in his sleep.
That is not the school system as a taxpayer I want to support. Instead, HSE should be focused on teaching all students the 3Rs (Academic Excellence) and to be self-reliant, assured of their own self-worth, and able to deal with personal issues on an individual basis. If HSE does not, they will be creating a class of undereducated, entitled, thin-skinned individuals who will not be employable in the real world.
We must remind the electorate of the HSE Board members that supported for this flawed policy of microaggressions in the November 2022 School Board Elections.
Raymond F. Maddalone, Ph.D.
Fishers
While I agree with some of what Dr. Maddalone had to say, he went off of the rails and exposed his argument as simply a slippery slope fallacy. With any rule, policy or law there will be a good deal of ambiguity, we must not tolerate those whose actions creates significant harm to escape culpability by retreating into the gray areas.