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Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor and Mel MelÃԚ Ô�šÃ”š©ndez
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2004 12:00 AM
Reyes Cavazos is expected to show up in court next Tuesday to answer for his 15-year-old son, who is accused of harassing one of his teachers.
But Cavazos doesn't know the answers. He just has a lot of questions.
Cavazos questions why Elizabeth Ann Moore, a reading teacher at Trevor G. Browne High School in Phoenix, requested an injunction against harassment from the Peoria Justice Court against his son without exploring other ways to resolve the problem, he said. He questions why the school's principal was not more involved or did not offer ways to help with the problems his son is
ccused of causing, he added.
Phoenix Union High School District officials say they acted swiftly and appropriately by suspending the student April 7, the day they received a second complaint from the
r
r
te
cher, citing repeated instances
of verbal abuse. The five-day suspension followed a three-day after-school detention on March 18 for obscene classroom behavior.
"The first complaint stated he cussed out the teacher, spit candy on the board and was disruptive in class," said Craig Pletenik, a spokesman for the 23,000-student district. "But there was no mention of repeated or daily harassment or obscenity in that one."
The district's student conduct guidelines call for detention or suspension of up to nine school days for "obscenity, profanity, defamation or abusive language." Two or more violations, or repeated offenses, can result in more severe penalties, including expulsion.
Phoenix Union School Board member Gary Peter Klahr said he believes t
he district acted responsibly.
"The problem is not the teacher, so I definitely feel for her," he said. "But we have mechanisms in place to address discipline problems. The sa
me
day
she went
to court we had already suspended the student and decided he was not returning t
o her class. So I think she jumped the gun."
Cavazos, who has three other children, is quick to point out that if his son was wrong, the boy should suffer the consequences. But he said he never heard from the district regarding the allegations of daily harassment or even that his son was being suspended.
School officials say they repeatedly phoned the sophomore's home to request a meeting with the parents to discuss both the March 18 and April 7 complaints and their disciplinary actions. When the district failed to hear back on the five-day suspension, it hand-delivered a notification letter to the family Saturday, Pletenik said. A letter had been sent home with the student on April 7, he added.<
br>
Cavazos said Moore only called him to tell him that she was requesting the court order, which she filed April 7, the day she filed her second complaint at school. In the court pet
ition,
Moore
alleges she is se
xually harassed and abused daily by the sophomore's vulgar language.
The pare
nts did meet with school officials early in the school year because their son was "being a class clown" and "talking in class," Cavazos said. "But it wasn't for anything like this."
The family acknowledged receiving the hand-delivered suspension letter at their west Phoenix home Saturday. Moore, reached at her Peoria apartment, said she did not want to talk about the matter.
The sophomore will not be attending Moore's class when he returns to school Thursday, Pletenik said.
Cavazos said he has tried to get help for his son, including counseling. He hopes the incident may get his son the help he needs.
"We've talked to him," he
said. "He's talked to counselors. All the grounding, the lectures, everything, it's not doing any good. I just don't know what to say."
<a h
ref='http
://www.azc
entral.com/news/articles/
0413vulgar13.html' target='_blank'>http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0413vulgar13.html</a>
Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor and Mel MelÃԚ Ô�šÃ”š©ndez
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2004 12:00 AM
Reyes Cavazos is expected to show up in court next Tuesday to answer for his 15-year-old son, who is accused of harassing one of his teachers.
But Cavazos doesn't know the answers. He just has a lot of questions.
Cavazos questions why Elizabeth Ann Moore, a reading teacher at Trevor G. Browne High School in Phoenix, requested an injunction against harassment from the Peoria Justice Court against his son without exploring other ways to resolve the problem, he said. He questions why the school's principal was not more involved or did not offer ways to help with the problems his son is
ccused of causing, he added.
Phoenix Union High School District officials say they acted swiftly and appropriately by suspending the student April 7, the day they received a second complaint from the
r
r
te
cher, citing repeated instances
of verbal abuse. The five-day suspension followed a three-day after-school detention on March 18 for obscene classroom behavior.
"The first complaint stated he cussed out the teacher, spit candy on the board and was disruptive in class," said Craig Pletenik, a spokesman for the 23,000-student district. "But there was no mention of repeated or daily harassment or obscenity in that one."
The district's student conduct guidelines call for detention or suspension of up to nine school days for "obscenity, profanity, defamation or abusive language." Two or more violations, or repeated offenses, can result in more severe penalties, including expulsion.
Phoenix Union School Board member Gary Peter Klahr said he believes t
he district acted responsibly.
"The problem is not the teacher, so I definitely feel for her," he said. "But we have mechanisms in place to address discipline problems. The sa
me
day
she went
to court we had already suspended the student and decided he was not returning t
o her class. So I think she jumped the gun."
Cavazos, who has three other children, is quick to point out that if his son was wrong, the boy should suffer the consequences. But he said he never heard from the district regarding the allegations of daily harassment or even that his son was being suspended.
School officials say they repeatedly phoned the sophomore's home to request a meeting with the parents to discuss both the March 18 and April 7 complaints and their disciplinary actions. When the district failed to hear back on the five-day suspension, it hand-delivered a notification letter to the family Saturday, Pletenik said. A letter had been sent home with the student on April 7, he added.<
br>
Cavazos said Moore only called him to tell him that she was requesting the court order, which she filed April 7, the day she filed her second complaint at school. In the court pet
ition,
Moore
alleges she is se
xually harassed and abused daily by the sophomore's vulgar language.
The pare
nts did meet with school officials early in the school year because their son was "being a class clown" and "talking in class," Cavazos said. "But it wasn't for anything like this."
The family acknowledged receiving the hand-delivered suspension letter at their west Phoenix home Saturday. Moore, reached at her Peoria apartment, said she did not want to talk about the matter.
The sophomore will not be attending Moore's class when he returns to school Thursday, Pletenik said.
Cavazos said he has tried to get help for his son, including counseling. He hopes the incident may get his son the help he needs.
"We've talked to him," he
said. "He's talked to counselors. All the grounding, the lectures, everything, it's not doing any good. I just don't know what to say."
<a h
ref='http
://www.azc
entral.com/news/articles/
0413vulgar13.html' target='_blank'>http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0413vulgar13.html</a>