The Seattle Times reported yesterday that eleven students at Garfield High School have been “banned” from school grounds while the recent hazing incident is under investigation.
Here’s more from the Times:
The Seattle school district has “banned” 11 Garfield High School students suspected of participating in a recent off-campus hazing incident until officials decide whether further discipline is warranted.
The students were told Friday not to return to class on Monday. Such “emergency expulsions” generally don’t last longer than two weeks, said Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Wippel.
“It’s not an official disciplinary action. It just removes students from the school environment while the investigation is being conducted,” she said. “They are banned from coming on campus, and they also can’t participate in any sports or extracurricular activities while they’re emergency expelled. So they’re not supposed to have any contact with Garfield at all.”
Generally, Wippel said, “Ten days is the most that we would keep anybody out. And during that time, we do encourage the students to do their classwork at home and to keep on top of their work by corresponding with their teachers.”
Eight of the 11 students also have been identified by Seattle police as suspects in the incident, Wippel said.
Garfield Principal Ted Howard and a group of police officers broke up a large student gathering after school on Sept. 27 at the Washington Park Arboretum. They discovered underclassmen were being paddled, wearing diapers, having eggs thrown at them and shoe polish put on them.
Howard recognized some of the students’ faces, though others ran before he could identify them, and some were wearing disguises, Wippel said.
It’s not clear how many students were subjected to the hazing, but students and school officials have made clear that these types of incidents, known as “froshing,” are nothing new at the school. Wippel characterized it as a “tradition” at Garfield.
Student Body President Kellen Bryan confirmed that: It happens twice a year, he said — on Fridays before the homecoming and “purple and white” weekends. The student government doesn’t condone it. In fact, it provides alternatives, such as free barbecues, specifically to discourage students from taking part, Bryan said.
Another senior said it’s so pervasive in the school culture that some feel as though the only way to join clubs and meet upperclassmen is by first going through the “froshing.”
Wippel said Howard and other school officials are investigating each of the 11 students on a case-by-case basis to decide if further discipline is warranted.
There isn’t actually much “more from the Times”. As best I can tell without reading word for word, you reposted the entire article on the CD news site (or pretty darned close).
I did indeed post most of the original article, but left out a few sections that were repeats of past information. Much of the article offers new information that I thought would be interesting to our readers.
It is interesting information and is best simple relayed as has been done. No need to try to put a unique spin on basic information. I support your method.
But it IS more– more than she had already reported. She didn’t claim it was more than the Times reported.
What of kids from other schools? That particular spot in the arboretum is a party spot for kids from Prep, RHS, SAAS and GHS. There were 100+ kids at a known party spot which pulls in kids from multiple schools from spring to fall and not a single one was from another school, just GHS? I don’t buy that. Especially not with social media advertising every event second by second.