Slashdot Mirror

The school's statement makes no sense either. The school's policies are published here I don't see where he ran afoul of them.

Under academic honesty, the bullet-point for fabrication, since clearly he fabricated the device.

Actually Mr. Willie Neil is probably the culprit. You can contact him using the form here: http://www.mtechmiddle.org/apps/email/index.jsp?e=556355455527553555415453555555195545552555355417554555275557&n=Willie+Neil The reason I believe it is thus is because he does not appear on the school staff list, while Heather Potter does(albeit without the title vice principal) This change was recent as the page cache on google has not changed... Strike that - apparently google has pulled it down now too. LOLZ!

I actually read TFA, and it states, as the summary quotes, "Apparently, the student violated school policies", but the article doesn't state the policy in question. It is hard to know if this is a case of stupid overreaction or a real violation of the rules. Does anyone know the exact wording of this "policy"?

http://www.mtechmiddle.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=58810&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=87933&hideMenu=1&rn=8708720

Exactly.

My first assumption is that the 'policy' he violated is a rule against weapon lookalikes (aka, a fake bomb). Schools are crazy about 'zero tolerance' that common sense doesn't apply. I bet they think that because someone was able to mistake it for a bomb, it automatically becomes a lookalike, regardless of the actual design intent.

Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to find out what the schools weapons policy actually is. Their stated policies don't list anything about their weapons policy, and their "Student Handbook" apparently was uploaded by someone who doesn't understand how to copy an attachment from an email....

Exactly.

My first assumption is that the 'policy' he violated is a rule against weapon lookalikes (aka, a fake bomb). Schools are crazy about 'zero tolerance' that common sense doesn't apply. I bet they think that because someone was able to mistake it for a bomb, it automatically becomes a lookalike, regardless of the actual design intent.

Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to find out what the schools weapons policy actually is. Their stated policies don't list anything about their weapons policy, and their "Student Handbook" apparently was uploaded by someone who doesn't understand how to copy an attachment from an email....

You're invited to find any part of the policy that the student could have violated in any way with their motion detector project.

You could share your thoughts with them

You can read them here. If you can see where the kid violated school policy, I'd appreciate it if you could explain it to me.

The school's statement makes no sense either. The school's policies are published here I don't see where he ran afoul of them.

Sure. I'll save you the read: there is nothing relevant in there.

http://www.mtechmiddle.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=58810&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=87933&hideMenu=1&rn=6634111

Their About Us/Mission and Vision Statement is a gas, though.

Reading the article (I know, but someone has to :-) ) it seems that it wasn't a Science Fair project, it was just something the kid had been playing around with at home and then brought it in to show his friends. The kid violated school policies

No he didn't... the school policies are here:

http://www.mtechmiddle.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=58810&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=87933&hideMenu=1&rn=8708720

After looking twice I can't even find the part where it says "may not bring guns or knives or other weapons", let alone "may not bring anything that could possibly at a distance be mistaken for something dangerous".

and that is why they said he should get counselling.

Personally I think the school should pay for counseling, since the only reason he would need it is for the trauma of being treated like a terrorist :-)

So the school has a policy banning kids from being inventive and wanting to show that inventiveness off. Anyway - thats one kid the school system has scared off technology - well done San Diego Unified School District.

The ironic thing is that this is supposed to be a "Tech Magnet" school. Quoting from their mission statement:

All Millennial Tech Middle School students will cultivate their technology skills to enhance their motivation and curiosity to excel academically in order to become productive citizens that will drastically impact the developing information age.

All Millennial Tech Middle School students will cultivate their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills to enhance their motivation to excel academically in order to become global leaders and productive citizens in their chosen career path.

That sounds like the kids might be expected to construct fun things related to science.

Granted, it also sounds like you should expect your kid to be traumatized by the teachers. Not by the police, though.

What we should all do is send letters of protest to the school. I have just written them asking them to apologize to the student and his family. I have suggested that the vice principal in question should be counseled on the proper way to react in such a situation. I know the chances of the school issuing an apology is low, but enough of public pressure will eventually force them to. And anyone who lives near this school should be their for the next board meeting to protest what has been done. You can contact them here: http://www.mtechmiddle.org/apps/contact/

Now I can't say what policies he might have violated; ...

Someone on the comment thread attached to the FA gave an actual link to the school's actual policies.

There's nothing there about bringing in an electronics project, though I guess there was always the possibility that he was so enamored with it that he engaged in a "public display of affection".

Here's the Contact Us page for Millennial Tech Middle School.

http://www.mtechmiddle.org/apps/contact/?rn=8783875

Maybe if enough people ask, they'll actually tell someone why they have a complete fucking moron in a position of scholastic authority over their kids.