ROTC cadet suspended for having drill props

Please. Allow me.

The high school's web site:

http://www.cths.ccsd.k12.co.us/

Here is some other useful information:

Brooke Gregory [email protected]
Principal 720-886-1904

Rob McLelland [email protected]
Assistant Principal 720-886-1911

Mark Wahlstrom [email protected]
Assistant Principal 720-886-2050

Just how STUPID are school administrators these days?

I have several children in public schools right now. My mom was a public school teacher back in the day. My wife spent three years working at an elementary school.

Trust me, public school administrators generally were, are, and will be, the bottom of the education barrel. They really love these so-called "no tolerance" rules because...drum roll please...they require NO THOUGHT WHATSOEVER to carry them out. And you know, being good at "thinking" is not what caused them to become administrators.

The best strategy is to deal with them as rarely as possible. And mostly try to just stay below their radar screen.

David,
Small quibble, but, Young Marines is NOT a JROTC program, it's an after school voluntary association, like Civil Air Patrol or Sea Cadets. That said, what happened to this young lady is simply outrageous.

If the school HAD a JROTC, they would probably be accustomed to Drill pieces and not freak out like this. I was in my High School's NJROTC unit and the Drill pieces we used were deactivated M-1 Garands...the bolt was welded shut and the firing pins removed...but otherwise they were indistinguishable from the real thing unless you looked closely and tested the bolt to confirm it wouldn't open. My freshman year we had 1903 Springfields with fiberglass stocks. Up close you could easily tell they were fake (and they were more fun than the Garands we replaced them with because they were virtually indestructible despite dropped spins, etc), but from a distance, no. And the 1903 Springfield bolts actually functioned, you could cycle it like a real bolt action, but the barrel was plugged, and no firing pin.

In the early years, when cadets would check out drill pieces and take them home, they would sometimes be stopped on foot by the local Sheriff's Department, who would confirm the weapon was non-functional, then send us on our merry way. Our NSI/ANSI were very stern with cadets about treating the drill pieces as if they were real, obeying the 4 rules of gun safety, and made it very clear that anyone caught horsing around with a drill piece would be severely punished and possibly kicked out of the unit.

In schools that lack a JROTC, sometimes the next best option are associations like Young Marines, Civil Air Patrol, or Sea Cadets. They're sort of like a military-oriented version of Boy Scouts. Some students even participate in both. It's no surprise that they also engage in close-order drill with inert drill pieces.

This is absolutely outrageous action on the part of school administrators and they should be ashamed of themselves. I hope the student is able to sue and prevail in court if it comes to that.

Here is the number for the Colorado Governor's Advocate 303-866-2885 Please call and tell them how you feel and that the Governor should step in and put some common sense in to the situation.

Mail
Bill Ritter, Governor
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792

Phone
(303) 866-2471

Fax
(303) 866-2003

Write Gov Ritter.
http://www.colorado.gov/apps/oit/governor/citizen/assistanceUtility/welcome.jsf

Colorado Atty David Lane just agreed to represent the girl involved, 630 KHOW Peter Boyles Page ,Peter Boyles is going to help with a fund raiser the Saturday at Gun Smoke Guns in Colorado. David Lane is one of the most aggressive Free Speech Atty in Colorado if not the USA.

Please call the school and the Colorado Governors office to keep the heat on.

That statute seems to me to be unconstitutionally vague.

Common sense is increasingly uncommon, particularly in school administrations...