Post by unk on May 17, 2007 8:08:25 GMT -5
www.guymondailyherald.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32016
By MIRANDA GILBERT
Staff Writer
Students and their parents will pay, in more ways than one, after breaking the rules of Guymon Public Schools Police Department. In fact, the rules will actually become city law after school officials meet with City Council on adopting ordinances against such things as truancy and disorderly conduct.
Guymon is looking to adopt measures already in place in other Oklahoma towns with a leading role in promoting and enforcing higher standards of education.
School administration travelled with Reed Barby, resource officer, to research these towns and school systems. They presented their findings to the School Board at last night’s meeting.
“They went on a recent trip to Putnam City and Elk City to look at their police department and their security officer,” Superintendent of Schools Doug Melton said.
Barby shared the ordinances and fines he found already in place at these schools.
“Truancy is a $94 ticket, each day, and if the parents permit truancy, it’s $149 a day, to the parents,” Barby said. “And yes, they will throw them in jail. He said we don’t have to do it very often, but he said you do it once or twice and word travels fast.”
“Failure to Control” or parents that will not control their minor children is a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $200 plus costs or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days or both. Disorderly conduct is a ticket of $149.
“That can be a cuss word,” Scott Dahl, School Board President said.
“If they get mad and going to cussing a teacher, boom,” Barby said. “I mean at some point and time we’re going to have the parents involved, either by their person or by their paycheck.”
“What we need to do is we need to set up a jurisdiction between us and the City of Guymon to figure out how this police department’s going to work and where Reed can go, and where the police can go because really we are going to have two separate police departments that are going to work with each other.”
“This takes city approval, it’s going to take City Council, so there’s going to be some work that we have to do with them,” Melton said. “But this motion, that we’re going to do, gives me the jurisdiction to go in and set up things with them.”
“Our goal is to have everything in place for the new school year,” Dahl said.
“Our number one problem that we have at the high school is truancy,” Mike Williams, assistant principal of Guymon High School said.
Williams said that Elk City has a city ordinance against truancy with some “teeth” in it, that fines students and/or requires community service.
Williams said that instead of sending the student home to play video games, the City can instead require community service at the school and have the student mow the lawns, for example.
“It can be whatever the school or the City Judge determines,” Williams said.
Barby said that their goal is to set up an agreement allowing him access to streets adjacent to school facilities, and buildings or land leased or used for school activities.
“We are in the process of of getting this put together, hopefully we’ll have it up and running by fall,” Barby said. “We’re building, basically, a police department from the ground up.”
“We are getting support from a lot of people, from the Police Department, the City of Guymon, the District Attorney, the Sheriff Department,” Melton said. “We’re getting some good collaboration from all of them.”
“Yeah and I am so appreciative, because there is not a department in this town that hasn’t said, ‘Whatever you need, whatever you need’,” Barby said, adding that the GPD has offered equipment and help in writing grants, while the District Attorney’s Drug Task Force is “just bending over backwards to help us.”
A motion was made to allow Melton to negotiate jurisdiction between the City and the Police Department and it carried unanimously.
By MIRANDA GILBERT
Staff Writer
Students and their parents will pay, in more ways than one, after breaking the rules of Guymon Public Schools Police Department. In fact, the rules will actually become city law after school officials meet with City Council on adopting ordinances against such things as truancy and disorderly conduct.
Guymon is looking to adopt measures already in place in other Oklahoma towns with a leading role in promoting and enforcing higher standards of education.
School administration travelled with Reed Barby, resource officer, to research these towns and school systems. They presented their findings to the School Board at last night’s meeting.
“They went on a recent trip to Putnam City and Elk City to look at their police department and their security officer,” Superintendent of Schools Doug Melton said.
Barby shared the ordinances and fines he found already in place at these schools.
“Truancy is a $94 ticket, each day, and if the parents permit truancy, it’s $149 a day, to the parents,” Barby said. “And yes, they will throw them in jail. He said we don’t have to do it very often, but he said you do it once or twice and word travels fast.”
“Failure to Control” or parents that will not control their minor children is a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $200 plus costs or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days or both. Disorderly conduct is a ticket of $149.
“That can be a cuss word,” Scott Dahl, School Board President said.
“If they get mad and going to cussing a teacher, boom,” Barby said. “I mean at some point and time we’re going to have the parents involved, either by their person or by their paycheck.”
“What we need to do is we need to set up a jurisdiction between us and the City of Guymon to figure out how this police department’s going to work and where Reed can go, and where the police can go because really we are going to have two separate police departments that are going to work with each other.”
“This takes city approval, it’s going to take City Council, so there’s going to be some work that we have to do with them,” Melton said. “But this motion, that we’re going to do, gives me the jurisdiction to go in and set up things with them.”
“Our goal is to have everything in place for the new school year,” Dahl said.
“Our number one problem that we have at the high school is truancy,” Mike Williams, assistant principal of Guymon High School said.
Williams said that Elk City has a city ordinance against truancy with some “teeth” in it, that fines students and/or requires community service.
Williams said that instead of sending the student home to play video games, the City can instead require community service at the school and have the student mow the lawns, for example.
“It can be whatever the school or the City Judge determines,” Williams said.
Barby said that their goal is to set up an agreement allowing him access to streets adjacent to school facilities, and buildings or land leased or used for school activities.
“We are in the process of of getting this put together, hopefully we’ll have it up and running by fall,” Barby said. “We’re building, basically, a police department from the ground up.”
“We are getting support from a lot of people, from the Police Department, the City of Guymon, the District Attorney, the Sheriff Department,” Melton said. “We’re getting some good collaboration from all of them.”
“Yeah and I am so appreciative, because there is not a department in this town that hasn’t said, ‘Whatever you need, whatever you need’,” Barby said, adding that the GPD has offered equipment and help in writing grants, while the District Attorney’s Drug Task Force is “just bending over backwards to help us.”
A motion was made to allow Melton to negotiate jurisdiction between the City and the Police Department and it carried unanimously.