Gensheimer: Local student carrying eyebrow shaver justly expelled

Think back to your earlier school days. Remember those teachers who delighted in punishing… Think back to your earlier school days. Remember those teachers who delighted in punishing students? Every school has them, or so it seems. But when it comes to stories about middle and high school students being disciplined, we are often too quick to blame supposedly fanatical teachers and administrators.

How disciplinary policies within schools work is a complicated process, which reinforces the common belief that teachers and administrators are unfair and power-hungry.

After reading a recent article on WPXI’s Web site titled, “Penn Hills student expelled over eyebrow shaver,” I was convinced that Linton Middle School officials punished Taylor Ray Jetter, the accused student, too harshly for bringing an eyebrow shaver to school.

The article begins, “It’s not a gun or a knife, but an eyebrow shaver that had school officials in Penn Hills take action earlier this month.”

After reading the article, I felt expulsion was an unfair punishment for simply having an eyebrow shaver in a purse at school.

Jetter’s mother said her daughter wasn’t given a chance and that she made an innocent mistake by leaving in her handbag what the school refers to as a weapon.

Initially, I found myself angry at the Penn Hills administration for its seemingly rash judgment. But, after learning how administrators deal with the task of punishing students for bringing weapons to school, it became clearer to me that the process is much more difficult and complicated than it appears.

According to Heidi Ondek, assistant superintendent at Quaker Valley School District in Leetsdale, Pa., school districts annually update codes and disciplinary policies.

“These school codes generally allow for punishments to be left up to the discretion of the principal on a case-by-case basis,” she said. “Therefore, it is more about fair decision-making on the principal’s part than the content of the school code.”

After the Columbine shootings, the Pennsylvania school system redefined what it considers a weapon, so each district must abide by that definition when disciplining students.

According to Pennsylvania’s Safe School Act, a weapon is defined as a knife, cutting instrument, cutting tool, nunchuck, firearm, rifle or any other tool capable of inflicting bodily harm.

Pennsylvania’s Act 26 states that any student who brings a weapon to school must be expelled for at least one year. However, superintendents have the ability to recommend different forms of discipline.

At the hearing, “the district presents its evidence and the student has the opportunity to respond,” Teresita Kolenchak, public relations coordinator at Penn Hills school district, said. “The hearing results are passed on to the school board with student-specific information redacted so that an unbiased decision can be made. The final vote of the board determines the student’s punishment and whether to accept the administration’s recommendation or hearing results.”

When it comes to disciplining, “principals really have to make decisions from the head and the heart,” Ondek said. “Some can be heavy-handed, but generally, administrators want to see students succeed.”

Although Jetter’s behavioral history and whether she intended to bring an eyebrow shaver to school remain unclear, administrators clearly gave her a fair tria,l and the truth of the matter is, she broke school rules and Pennsylvania law. The Penn Hills School Board voted 8-1 last week to uphold Jetter’s expulsion suggested by the Linton Middle School officials.

Sure, Jetter’s punishment might seem too harsh, but that determination can’t be made justly without all the details. After taking the time to learn more about the situation, it’s clear the district at least made the decision to expel her carefully and democratically.

Most important is that through strict disciplinary policies, the administrators are keeping their schools as safe as they can — even in the case of an eyebrow shaver, Penn Hills administrators did the right thing. They maintained a safe environment above all else.

E-mail Alie at alg62@pitt.edu