Our office of inspector general is investigating inappropriate behavior at a school-sponsored event held off campus back in February. |
Our police department keeps a pretty close watch with their gang-intervention officers, and the police chief (John Blackburn) said we have not seen an increase in gang activity. Kids still fight like they do anywhere in the country, but that doesn't mean it's a gang-related issue. |
Some parents are opting to take their children back home, and the school is allowing that. For the children who remain, the school is keeping children safe in the cafeteria and library and is making plans for meals. |
That's a class C misdemeanor with up to a $200 fine and they'll have to go to court with their parents. |
The action by our police department was immediate, as was the action by school officials. |
The idea is to move the program, but to keep the idea behind delivering special services for these students. |
The principal has the ultimate authority for a school-sponsored event. |
The quickest way to earn a ticket out of Jones High School and into detention is to hurt one of those students from New Orleans. They've made it very clear to the Jones High School students that the children from New Orleans are our guests. We must treat them with all the dignity and respect we can. |
The reality is things have worked out rather well. |
The student shouldn't have been, even though this was part of an active drug investigation, strip searched. |
The system didn't break down, ... The system just wasn't designed to handle something so catastrophic. |
There's nothing we can do about that. There's a finite amount of money. That's a fact of life. |
These saved seconds will reduce the number of delays in our busiest airports. |
They've made it very clear to the Jones High School students that the children from New Orleans are our guests. We must treat them with all the dignity and respect we can. |
We are investigating whether HISD policies and procedures were violated in the way the search was conducted. |