Ardsley parents protest school’s handling of threats
-
- June
- 4
ARDSLEY — Parents protested at Ardsley Middle School this morning over the administration’s handling of a teen’s threats against individual students and the school.
The move was the latest showing of frustration since police on Monday began investigating claims that a 14-year-old boy posed a threat to students because of threats that had been overheard.
Yesterday, the school was evacuated after a threat was discovered on the Internet. The May 29 Web posting was titled “the-plot-to-bomb-ardsley†under the host name of “ardsleysucks.â€
Police say no charges have been filed and that the postings contained “no overt threat, just innuendo.â€
Parents say this is not the first time the student, who is the son of a school board member, has caused trouble for students.
Cary Sandberg, whose two children are in the high school, said he wants to see the boy expelled before he moves up to the high school.
“When I hear of bomb threats and threats against another person, I think about expulsion,†said Sandberg, 53, a school library media specialist. “It’s a new era of fear and paranoia and they have to act.â€
Stay tuned to the Hall Monitor for updates.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 11:51 am by Diana Costello.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
The school board meeting is June 11. I suggest parents attend. I suggest the mother resign. She has an obvious conflict of interest here. I also suggest the parents of AMS students file a lawsuit against the child and his parent.s
This is a pervasive problem in schools. Period. Students who bully, make threats, act out consistently, disrupt the classroom (and others’ learning) are ruling the roost because they have “rights”. Their rights are paramount to the rights of the majority of students who come to school to get an education. Many of the teachers, board members, administrators and parents are so afraid to offend perpetrators while others have just given up because the issue seems insurmountable. Many don’t even know it’s happening.
The American education system is in a downward spiral because many people are out of touch and do not want to admit there are issues because many of us (yes, I include myself, too, because I’ve become resigned to the issues at times, unsure how to address them or discouraged in doing so) don’t know where to start or how to combat the resistance, the cronyism, the coddling to and protecting of certain children and their “rights” to education that exempt the majority of children from protection. That this nonsense was not nipped in the bud from the get-go is sickening, and parents should demand 1) this board member is ousted from office and 2) that the rights of the many/well-behaved/educationally focused students should go before those of a snot-nosed little punk who was raised (or ignored by) his family to be this way.
I don’t blame this child one bit. While he may be culpable, legally, it is the neglect of the family in taking care of this issue (or people in the school building who don’t come down on this kid because he’s a “board member’s child”—frankly, the kid should be afraid to embarass his family, not strike fear into the hearts of adults who need permission to reprimand him), of taking care of sure signs of social-emotional issues, of listening to whatever adults had brought issues to light, that is an issue. Parents often cause the downfall of their own children because they don’t want to be responsible. Parents: your children are a reflection of YOU. If they mess up, it reflects on you. People WILL JUDGE YOU. If you choose to be your child’s buddy and allow your child to have a sense of entitlement, eventually it will come back to haunt you, just as those who teach their children to respect the rights of others will see the beautiful fruits of their labor, worry and caring discipline.
Good for those parents who stepped up to protect the rights of those children. You have earned the respect of your community and have hopefully sent a message to the parents in other communities who feel ignored but who can find power in numbers.
There are is no greater truth in the response above. I just wanted to say as a student of the Ardsley School District and as an ex aquaintance of this child, and i say child because he acts so. Through many past professional and personal problems with _, he needs to be removed. This deems that the mother (who surrounds her child with an “untouchable” Euphoria)be removed from her position. Her power on the school board has given the child many chances to create a potentially uncomfortable or unsafe environment for his peers. Now although no current issues could be pressed legally on the mother or child(according to greenburgh police) in the opinion of many (myself included) it is blatant that there is some involvement with this child. Bomb scares, personal threats? Any other child would be expelled or suspended for some serious time. As a community we can act. The oppressed can step up and remove the oppressor/s. It is not out of our reach to remove certain people from this district, to gain back the reputation our parents moved here for, a safe and honor deserving school district.
This kid should be reprimanded and he mom should herself resign from the board after her son’s ordeals . I have moved to Ardsley for its schools and paying mounting taxes every year and if even here we have to face problems like this then what are we doing in Ardsley . Lets move out or TAKE SOME ACTION NOW!