bnapoli.com

Need for resource officer again underscored Region 15 superintendent points out recent goings on
Sunday, March 13, 2005
By Marrecca Fiore
Copyright © 2005 Republican-American

SOUTHBURY -- Zero tolerance refers to a policy school districts across the state and the nation have adopted in recent years.

It's a policy that led to a recent 10-day suspension and one day expulsion of a 9-year-old Wolcott pupil for carrying a Cub Scout knife into school. It's a policy that led to the arrests of eight Pomperaug High School students for an alleged counterfeiting scheme in February. And it's why Region 15 Superintendent Frank Sippy is asking residents of Southbury and Middlebury, for the second year in row, to support a full-time, uniformed police officer for Pomperaug High School.

Sippy defended school policies to get tougher on students.

"Five years ago, there were certain transgressions that would have been handled by the school district and are now handed over to law enforcement agencies," he said. "I think there's a general belief that we can't be the ones to make the decision as to whether or not an offense rises to the level of breaking the law. We can't be police officers and we can't be judges."

Sippy said teenagers are exposed to too much violence in today's society whether it's through video games or movies or music. Times have changed and the schools need to change with them, he said.

Quinnipiac University Professor of Sociology Rachel Ranis agreed, but said it's more than exposure to violence that's got schools cracking down on students.

"The problems in school used to be chewing gum and not paying attention to teachers," Ranis said. "Kids have changed and there's much more to worry about. There's big things like Columbine. But there's also other, smaller problems that have school administrators saying 'Geez, if we don't do something like zero tolerance, things are just going to get out of control.'"

Middlebury Police Chief Patrick Bona said kids who do the crime need to know they'll also do the time.

"We live in an unforgiving society," said Bona, whose department, along with the Southbury Resident State Troopers office, has been investigating the counterfeiting incident. "And kids need to realize that if you break the law, you're going to get called on it."

Ranis said stricter school policies and police officers in schools are the only option administrators have.

"We've definitely put a tighter noose around the necks of children as a way of dealing with problems," she said. "But in many ways (officials are) between a rock and a hard place. The authority of teachers has been undermined in many ways. At one time, it was supported by parents. There isn't that kind of support anymore, at least not the same respect. ... To some degree parents want to share power with their kids and that's a good thing, but it comes at a cost. And today's teachers have their hands full."

Southbury and Middlebury police charged eight students last month with varying degrees of forgery and larceny charges, following an investigation of counterfeiting that occurred in the school in February. More arrests are coming in the incident that involved one student printing fake $1 and $100 bills and distributing some of the money to several other students who spent the money in the school's cafeteria. Officials have never said how much money was printed, nor how much was spent in the school's cafeteria.

The counterfeiting scheme is just the latest issue. Last year, in citing the need to fund a full-time resource officer, Sippy told the Southbury Board of Selectmen the school has had ongoing problems with drugs, alcohol and fighting. This past January, a 17-year-old student was charged with driving while intoxicated after damaging the school's soccer field with his vehicle.

"If we don't have a school resource officer to help us with these incidents, what are we going to do. Are we going to lock the school down," he said recently. "I hope not. But it could come to that."

But Brett Napoli, 18, believes much of the talk about problems at the school is blown out of proportion and that fighting, drug and alcohol problems happen at every school in the state. Napoli and Tom Brickley, 17, of Middlebury, both seniors at the school, said actions of a few are being made to be a reflection of the whole in media reports.

"I don't like how we're put in a negative light," Brickley said of recent articles that have brought unwanted attention to a few Pomperaug students who are being accused of participating in a counterfeiting scheme. "It's only one side of the story and it makes our school look worse than it really is."

Because of that, Napoli has started a Web site, www.bnapoli.com, where students can express their opinions of what's going on at the school. Sometimes they'll just chat. Other times, they'll respond to newspaper articles or other press coverage.

"I just wanted to give kids a place to go that had no limitations," Napoli said. "Some of it is just pictures of me and my friends. But it's also something intellectual. It's like having our own newspaper where we can write articles and give our opinions. It's a place where people can interact and become a community.

"When it comes to the underclassman who were involved with the counterfeiting thing, in one light you could say they were just trying to get some free food," Napoli said. "In another light, you can say these are 15- and 16-year-olds who want to be treated like adults. Well, you can't commit a federal offense and not expect to be treated like adults."

Sgt. Ken Kramer, of the Southbury Resident Troopers office, agreed.

"They're 15- and 16-years-old, if they don't know right from wrong now, when are they going to know it," he said. "People are making more and more excuses for kids. You know the money is counterfeit and you know it's illegal."

Sippy said, even before schools adopted zero tolerance policies, he doesn't believe counterfeiting is something that would have been handled internally. "I think something like that is clearly, in our culture, a serious offense," he said.

Two out of four of the teens charged as adults in the recent counterfeiting at Pomperaug High School appeared in Waterbury Superior Court last week and asked to be considered for youthful offender status. If granted, they'd be tried as juveniles and no record of the crime would be available to the public.

Ranis said trying juveniles as adults is not the way to go in terms of preventing youth crime.

"It's absurd to try children as adults," she said. "In some states, juveniles have to be released from jail at age 18, regardless of the crime. So instead of changing those laws to better represent the crime. They're changing the laws to make it easier to charge students as adults. It's a step backwards, but it's because we're so nervous. Kids aren't fighting with fists and bats anymore. It's guns and knives."

Sippy believes having a full-time school resource officer could prevent incidents such as the counterfeiting incident from happening. Officials estimate the position could cost at least $50,000 to fund for a newly trained officer, and much more for a veteran.

"I think if we have a full-time officer vested in the school community, it will provide students with someone they can confide in," he said. "We're trying to be proactive, not reactive."

But Napoli isn't sure.

"As seniors, we could just walk away from this and never look back," Napoli said, referring to himself and Brickley. "We want to make it better for future students. You can't learn and you can't grow up, if people are constantly treating you as if you're doing something wrong. It just makes for an uncomfortable environment."