Tag: public schools

12-year-olds could get vaccinated without parental consent under bill proposed in Connecticut

Connecticut state Rep. Kevin Ryan has introduced a bill that would enable kids aged 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental permission.

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: That the general statutes be amended to allow a child twelve years of age or older to receive a vaccination with the consent of such child’s parent or guardian,” the text of the measure reads.

Connecticut House Minority Leader Rep. Vinnie Candelora described the proposal as “very disturbing.”

State Rep. Holly Cheeseman pushed back against the proposal, raising the prospect of a scenario in which a person’s child experiences “an adverse reaction” but the parent does not know what has happened to the child.

“Minors under the age of 18 cannot be vaccinated by a healthcare provider without parental consent,” according to portal.ct.gov. But the proposal put forward by Ryan would rob parents of this authority.

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Educator Sexual Misconduct Is On The Rise In US Public Schools

From sexting to rape, there is a disturbing uptick in sexual misconduct by public school teachers and other staff against students across the United States.

The growing problem was recently highlighted by an audit of Chicago public schools where dozens of staff members ranging from teachers, administrators, and counselors, to security officers—even a sign language interpreter—were found guilty of committing a variety of sex crimes against students while in school.

The audit was conducted by the Sexual Assault Unit of the Chicago school’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

The OIG did not respond to inquiries by The Epoch Times about the audit’s findings.

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Virginia’s GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin slams ‘maniacal’ decision by SEVEN schools in woke district to hide merit awards from top students to boost ‘equity’ – as AG warns move could have cost youngsters college scholarships

Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has slammed the decision by seven Fairfax County schools to withhold from their students whether they received a prestigious national merit recognition as ‘maniacal’.

Only awarded to 50,000 of 1.5million high schoolers who score well on the PSATS, the prestigious award can help students compete for scholarships, honors accolades, and college admissions. 

The schools – which include America’s best-performing public school, Thomas Jefferson High – have explained their decision to keep the results secret as a form of ‘equity.’ They insist it’s part of a new school strategy meant to provide ‘equal outcomes for every student, without exceptions.’ – but parents are furious. 

As a result of the deception, pupils who had been named ‘commended students’ by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation were purposely left in the dark so as to not ‘hurt the feelings of’ other students. 

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Michigan Middle School Threatens to Sue After Official Releases Photos of Grade School Children Pole Dancing at Club During School Outing

Michigan grade schoolers enjoy the local adult club’s pole dancing facility in recent class outing.

Michigan School District Superintendent Robert Shaner threatened to sue a local official for releasing a photo of grade schoolers pole dancing at a local night club during a recent school outing.

The school says the kids were having lunch at the club when the dancing took place.

FOX News reported:

A trip from a Michigan school district brought students to a restaurant with an attached lounge that included stripper poles, according to a trustee on the school board, who called the incident an example of “poor judgment.”

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Former Texas School District Employee Arrested Over Allegations of Multiple Sexual Encounters With Student

Texas deputies have arrested a 21-year-old woman for allegedly having multiple sexual encounters with a student at the school at which she was employed.

Marisol Solis was arrested on Jan. 5 under charges of trafficking of persons.

Hays County Sheriff’s Office said they received, in November last year, a report involving a Dripping Springs Independent School District (DSISD) employee and a student within the district.

“The report alleged the employee and student had multiple sexual encounters over a period of time,” according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office.

Investigators worked closely with DSISD over the allegations, leading to the sheriff’s office arresting Solis under a first-degree felony.

“This case is still being investigated and there is potential for additional charges,” the sheriff’s office said.

According to an official statement released by Dripping Springs ISD, Solis was fired on Dec. 16, 2021, having last been on any campus in the district on Nov. 29, 2021, as reported by Fox News.

“Dripping Springs ISD remains committed to the safety and security of all students and takes prompt and immediate action to partner with law enforcement agencies to investigate and take action when it receives reports involving the safety of the children in the Dripping Springs community and all students across Texas,” the statement concludes.

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Chicago schools watchdog finds hundreds of employees groomed, sexually assaulted students

Hundreds of Chicago teachers and school officials sexually groomed and assaulted students last school year, according to a report released this week. 

The Chicago Public Schools Office of the Inspector General released its annual report Sunday, saying it substantiated more than 300 misconduct allegations out of more than 600 complaints for the 2021-22 school year.

An OIG investigation concluded one teacher groomed and sexually assaulted a 17-year-old student three times. That teacher was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault. After a November 2022 trial, the teacher was acquitted on all counts, the report said, despite evidence provided by the student and social media records. 

Another investigation revealed a former JROTC staff member had sex with a high school girl over the course of a year when she was 16 to 17 years old, the report said. The girl was also given alcohol and marijuana and purchased marijuana for him, the OIG said.

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America’s Systemic Racism Problem Is Mostly In Woke, Anti-Asian Education Bureaucracies

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin began 2023 by asking the state’s Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate the allegation that officials at Thomas Jefferson High School (TJ) intentionally withheld notifications of National Merit awards from the school’s students and families (most of them are Asians) in the name of “equity” and “inclusion.”

Asra Q. Nomani, a human rights activist and a proud mom of a TJ graduate, broke the latest scandal at the school right before Christmas. According to Nomani, the scandal was initially uncovered by another TJ mom, Shawna Yashar, whose son took the PSAT test. He was recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation “as a Commended Student in the top 3 percent nationwide — one of about 50,000 students earning that distinction.” It was the kind of honor that would have helped his applications for colleges and scholarships last fall had the TJ officials not withheld his award announcement. When the TJ officials eventually notified him of his award, the deadline for his college applications had already passed, which rendered the award useless. 

Nomani learned that her son, a graduate of TJ’s class of 2021, was never told by school officials that he was a “Commended Student” in 2020. Even more infuriating is that these two young men’s experiences were not the result of some honest one-time mistake.

Nomani discovered that “the principal, Ann Bonitatibus, and the director of student services, Brandon Kosatka, have been withholding this information from families and the public for years, affecting the lives of at least 1,200 students over the principal’s tenure of five years.” These officials’ actions (or inactions) disproportionally hurt Asian students because the majority of the school’s student body is Asian. By intentionally withholding awards and eventually delivering them late and in a low-key way, these officials robbed the students and their families of chances to celebrate hard-earned achievements. 

In addition, these officials caused undue harm to these students’ college applications and scholarships. For some first-generation immigrants with no other financial resources to fall back on, the damage caused by these school officials’ actions could have a lifetime effect, with some students having to settle for less prestigious colleges or be forced to take out more student loans. 

After Nomani broke the story, TJ’s director of student services, Brandon Kosatka, justified her action by insisting, “We want to recognize students for who they are as individuals, not focus on their achievements.” Does she understand that celebrating someone’s achievement and acknowledging someone’s effort is an important part of recognizing students as individuals? 

Meanwhile, Bonitatibus “still hasn’t publicly recognized the students or told parents from earlier years that their students won the awards. And she hasn’t yet delivered the missing certificates.”

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Arkansas Elementary School Teacher Assistant Pleads Guilty To Producing Child Pornography

A now-former teacher assistant at an elementary school in Arkansas pleaded guilty to child pornography charges earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Augustus Shenker, a 22-year-old, pleaded guilty to three counts alleging he produced child pornography inside an Arkansas classroom.

Shenker was indicted over child pornography charges in June 2021 after the FBI received a tip in May that alleged Shenker had a Dropbox account with an email that possessed seven different explicit child pornography videos.

FBI investigators looked into Shenker and realized he was employed at an early education school in Little Rock.

Shenker’s place of employment, Miss Selma’s School, educates students as young as 18 months old through fifth grade.

After FBI agents got a warrant on Shenker, they seized his iPhone and discovered six videos Shenker made in March 2021 where he groped a preschooler in a classroom.

A hidden folder on Shenker’s phone contained 19 more videos of explicit child pornography filmed in the classroom at Miss Selma’s School.

United States Attorney Jonathan Ross called Shenker’s actions “unthinkable abuse.”

“This defendant violated the trust parents placed in him each day by placing their children in his care. Using his position to exploit preschoolers is an unthinkable abuse, especially in their own school—the very place we expect children to be protected,” Ross said.

“We appreciate the hard work of the FBI in identifying and arresting this defendant and hope this conviction deters others who would harm children,” he added.

Shenker first told investigators he formerly had a problem with child pornography years ago. Investigators also discovered thousands of images of child pornography across Shenker’s devices.

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Race to the Bottom: High School Withholds Academic Awards for the Sake of ‘Equity’

It’s almost funny how when it comes to the American education system, leftist indoctrination and pandering has paved the way for “equity” to be a good trait or quality.

We all know that simply isn’t the case…

The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, has come under intense scrutiny and fire after it was revealed that the school had intentionally delayed notifying students of national academic honors in the name of “equity.”

A Fairfax County parent, Asra Nomani, joined “Fox and Friends First” to lament the award delays and the philosophy backing up such decision-making.

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Canadian school threatens students with ‘suspension’ if they photograph trans teacher, parents say

A Canadian school has allegedly threatened its students with the possibility of suspension if they are caught taking pictures of a now-infamous transgender teacher who wears giant prosthetic breasts in class.

The transgender teacher, now known as Kayla Lemieux, at Oakville Trafalgar High School in Oakville, Ontario made headlines back in September when photos and videos of her first started going viral.

The local school board defended her at the time. Halton District School Board Chair Margo Shuttleworth told the Toronto Sun in September that protecting their employees’ “gender rights” is “the stance the school board is taking and they are standing behind the teacher.”

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