Principal Resigns after shaming student

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/11/18/principal.shaming.ap/index.html

ELIZABETH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- An elementary school principal resigned after parents denounced her for parading an 8-year-old girl from class to class after a classmate falsely accused her of stealing $5.

Marlene Whitby, principal at William Penn Elementary School in the Pittsburgh suburb of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, submitted her resignation Wednesday, and the district's school board accepted it unanimously.

Whitby and the school's administration came under fire this month when the parents of third-grader Katie White protested that Whitby had not been punished for the September incident.

After the classmate accused the girl of stealing the $5, Whitby took her from room to room, calling her a liar and thief. The other child later recanted the story.

I don't know what the point of parading the kid around was supposed to accomplish; I do think that kids do need to take responsibility for their actions, but that doesn't seem like hte right way to do it.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

You see the best way for a little child to learn from a mistake(whether he/she actually did it or not) is to have an adult walk the child all around and make sure as much of the school as possible has the opportunity to chastize the kid. :sarcasm:

That (former) principal is a piece of shit.

Even if the student did take the measley $5, the principal could have thought of a better punishment. And it's amazing how they took the word of the other student and had no proof.

I am glad the principal was fired. I'll bet she'll never forget what she did.

in hell for this woman.

for the entire story and punishes the other girl in this way.

Evil, and really really stupid. You gotta wonder why she decided to convict without examining any of the facts.

Besides, the girl making the accusations was prettier so therefore more believable.

Website (one page) here...bet she ain't smiling now...

http://www.efsd.net/willpenn.html

I sent this off when I first heard about this story on DU. I doubt the words of an outsider from California had any impact, but I'm happy with the end result:

Elizabeth Forward School District
401 Rock Run Road
Elizabeth, PA 15037

Re: Katie White, of Forward Township

To the Board Members:

Although I do not live anywhere near your school district, I was horrified to read about the way William Penn School principal Marlene Whitby recently handled an alleged theft by third grade student Katie White. Apparently Katie was accused of taking $5 from another student while on the school bus on the way to school. Ms. Whitby, without bothering to check the school bus video tape or speak to the school bus driver, appointed herself judge and jury, found Katie guilty as charged, and pronounced sentence. Her punishment: Ms. Whitby took her from classroom to classroom, and announced Katie was a thief and a liar.

Then the accuser recanted the accusation.

So it turns out that Katie was neither a thief nor a liar. However, she still has the misfortune to be a student at a school with a principal who is a complete block head, and just plain mean to boot.

Ms. Whitby has shown that she is severely lacking in qualities necessary to do her job: Good judgment, compassion for children, courage to admit when she has made a mistake.

Apparently, Ms. Whitby was willing to publicly parade Katie when she thought she was guilty, but not willing to publicly acknowledge her innocence. That shows that Ms. Whitby is lacking in character. A person with a strong moral character would not have 1) subjected a third-grader to such humiliation; 2) would have attempted to verify the accusation before pronouncing punishment; 3) would have willingly and without hesitation, apologized for her mistake. Ms. Whitby did none of those things, and does not belong on the taxpayer payroll, nor in a position of authority over children.

The School Board should ask for Ms. Whitby’s resignation immediately.

:thumbsup:

That's why we have lairs now as leaders*.

Blame the innocent, promote the guilty. We now live in biarro world.