" You should have adopted this plan years ago "to stay ahead of it" Hartzell! You're not ahead of anything. "

" Once again Springdale schools are lagging behind. "

" The question is! Does the school have the "backbone" to follow through with the new so called anti-gang policy!!! "

" To little to late. The gangs must be stamp out completely or they will just grow. I have one kid left in the Springdale schools an because I am unable to home school and or move out of this dump she has to go to a school that is poor on policy as well as education. When I was a kid they taught us to stop drop and roll if we were on fire. I taught my girls to drop and roll when they heard gun fire. Whats next metal detectors. Once again I want to thank our fearless civic leaders for allowing this to happen to our town! "

" I remember when your biggest fear in school was being picked on by the school bully.

Oh yeah,that was before the flood of third world cultures coming here, where gangs are a way of life!! "

" "No specific gang-related activity prompted action on the policy." GIVE ME A BREAK!!! My child attends a middle school on the west side and there have been several incidents at school and on the bus with graffiti this year and my child tells me the hispanic kids go around trash talking about gangs all the time. These are kids that are 11-13 years old!! I can only imagine what it will be like when the kids get into jr high and high school. The school admin. is doing the bare minimum about this because they want all of the money (I hear they get around $5000 per student) that the growth of the hispanics bring. I too would love to be able to sell my home and move but that is practically impossible now that Springdale has been ruined by the influx. "

" Does anybody know how the policy defines "gang"? Hopefully it's as poorly written as the rest of the policy, and we can get rid of the fascists like the Boy Scouts and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, too. "

" I have 3 kids in the Springdale School System, from 1st grade to high school. The schools are excellent. I hope that every person that bad mouths the efforts of Springdale School personnel finds the time to volunteer on a regular basis at one of the schools. You know, so that you are actually doing something to help instead of just complaining. Gangs are everywhere, and the efforts of our on-site patrol officers and teachers at Springdale Schools do not go unnoticed or unappreciated!! And, on-campus patrol officers are also in neighboring cities, not just Springdale. As for all of those that say "I have no choice but to send my kids to Springdale Schools", you actually do have a choice to transfer out of district if you choose to complain instead of help. With the No Child Left Behind Act, you can talk to the district about moving to another city's school district. "

" Thank you momzos. I am a Springdale employee and I feel that we work very hard to create exciting and engaging lessons for all students, ELL and English speaking. No, we cannot control all of the negative behavior that takes place between students but we strive to promote positive relationships. School employees can only do so much when teaching a child about values and respect. Positive behavior and consequences for negative behavior should be taught and modeled by parents, as well. I would hope that the comments that have been made about the influx of other races would not be a value that students acquire. That would definitely not be a positive behavior to demonstrate in the classroom.

Also, to the comment about the "poor" education......I can tell you that I arrive at school by 7:30 each morning and stay after school for tutoring , meetings, or some other form of planning everyday. Then, after my own children are in bed at night, I usually plan or grade until about 1:30 A.M. at least three nights a week. Plus, the weekends involve at least 5 hours of planning. That is around 75 to 80 hours per week. Wow, I can't imagine how many hours a teacher would have to work in a week to be in a district that does not provide a "poor" education.

We all play a role in the education of a child!!! "

" ENOUGH!! I get so frustrated reading all these negative remarks from people who know nothing about what happens in a school on a daily basis. All you know is what your child comes home and tells you. By the end of the school day, the rumors are so far from the truth of the matter it is not even funny. Momzos, thank you for your post. No one has room to complain about any school district. If you whiners want to make things better, spend your lunch time in your child's school, go to your child's after school activities. It is awful that after things like band or choir performances, kids have to call their parents for a ride home because parents don't think it is important enough to support their own children's interests. If you want to make the schools a better place, thank teachers like JoJo instead of cutting them down for the number of hours they put into grading and planning their classes. Did any of you stop to think that teachers rarely get to use their "plan time" at school for planning? I have witnessed several teachers at my childrens schools using their "plan time" to make phone calls to parents who can't get their children to do homework at home! They work with kids who might be having a difficult time understanding their class because the "No Child Left Behind" act is flawed. Now, Grow Up!!! "

" MOMZOS,
I would ask you where your children attend school in Sdale. Not all schools are created or treated the same in Sdale. You are right there are excellent teachers and schools in Springdale. But, what happens in one school, where the children come from more affluent homes can be vastly different from what happens at other schools with high poverty levels and little parental engagement.

And Spungold, JOJO is right. Springdale teachers are some of the best. You have no idea what you are saying when you ask if she is not an efficient teacher. Teaching requires a lot of planning and a lot of outside work and people should be thankful that there are people like this willing to do so.

However, the fact of the matter still remains that the adminstration has been way to slow to respond to "gang" issues in the district. It almost like they were thinking if they ignored it, it would go away. Wrong! "