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Four students at Charlotte Wood Middle School were removed from school in late February after an investigation by administrators and police regarding drugs on campus.
Danville Police Lt. Mark Williams said officers were called to the school Feb. 20 after a member of the school’s administrative staff found a student in possession of marijuana.
Williams said that the interview with the female student led to interviews of other students and resulted in a total of four students being cited by police for possession of marijuana. On testimony of one of the students, another of the four was cited for sales of marijuana as well.
Principal Sandy Budde acted to inform parents of the situation through an e-mail. In the message, Budde expressed disappointment that the issue of drug use has come to Charlotte Wood.
“We realize, unfortunately, most schools across America have issues such as these, but they have been very rare, indeed, at Charlotte Wood Middle School,” she wrote.
Budde said that while she regrets the incident occurred she is proud of the manner in which it was handled
“I am very proud that so many of our Charlotte Wood students came forward to assist administrators and teachers with this investigation. Key information was provided due to the astute observations of literally dozens of your children,” she explained.
Charlotte Wood disciplinary policy states that possession of unlawful drugs is punishable by a range of penalties from a three- to five-day suspension to expulsion from the facility.
Students were suspended from school for several days and the case was turned over to Danville Police Juvenile Officer Jeff Phelps.
Williams said that Phelps will meet with the students and their parents to discuss the juvenile diversion program. In the program, Phelps will recommend a course of action such as community service or counseling. If the parents agree, the student will complete the course of action and the citation is expunged. If the parent does not choose to agree, the case is passed on to the juvenile courts for disposition.
In addition, Budde has said she wants to have teachers address the issue of drugs in the school.
“I don’t want to do this as a one-time all-school assembly because I don’t think that gives the students the option to ask questions, to talk about how they feel,” she said.
Instead she is working on having small classroom-sized discussions to give students the opportunity for some back and forth and to get information out on a more personal basis.
Get real! Danville is not immune from this type of activity! It happens everyday in other schools, but in Danville it is “news”!
I think it is news! Wow, how jaded if we are not concerned that there are drugs in middle school. These kids are 11,12,13 years old, they should be protected from this “everyday” activity. Believe me, in high school it is everywhere and unavoidable.
This is why events like the San Ramon Valley Youth to Youth conference, this year being held on March 14…..IS SO IMPORTANT to the kids in this Valley!!! The conference is for Middle School aged kids, and info has been at every Middle School office for weeks! If parents think this type of thing along with big drinking problems go on…..you better think again. No, one school does not have more drinking and drugs than the other…it is EVERYWHERE! In many cases, it does begin in Middle School…and if your child is sleeping over at any age past 10, it needs to change. Kids will tell you…it’s the biggest game in town!! Yes. there are great kids in this Valley, but a many have made it a problem….WAKE UP PARENTS….GREET YOUR KIDS WHEN THEY COME HOME LATE< AND NO SLEEPOVERS!!!
A few kids busted for pot? Are you surprised? My kids are very open with me and this has been an ongoing problem at C.W. The school acts like its a surprise but they are only doing damage control. Talk with your kids, you will be surprised what goes on if they are honest. I find the kids that have older siblings you have to watch harder. One boy texed my daughter that he was going to bend her over in class and do her porn style. I call the kids mother and she denies that her son would ever do that and one of his friends must have sent that. Be prepared people and open your eyes. These kids do things much sooner than we did in our youth.
No sleepovers? Gee, I let my kid have sleep overs but its supervised and same sex and they are 12. I believe in ground rules and I even tell the other kids what the rules are and so far no problems. I believe in control but lets not go over board. I would much rather have kids at my house under my watchful eye than them running the streets.
Nothing “has come” to Charlotte Wood in any recent stretch of time. When we were going through Charlotte Wood 9 years ago, kids got busted for pot every year. Dozens more did not, but could have. Most of those kids are finishing up at 4-year universities and getting ready to start normal lives.
Get over it. If you haven’t figured it out yet, Danville is not some microclimate run by Walt Disney. Your kids are exactly the same as kids in wealthy white suburban towns everywhere.
What I find hilarious is that parents are so appalled at kids who are drinking or doing drugs in Danville. Face it, the booze is easily accessible from the PARENTS.
It makes me laugh to see the concern for this type of issue when you see “GOT WINE?” signs out in front of elementary schools to collect booze for auction events. What type of mixed messages are we sending our kids when we do things like that?
So don’t be shocked when Junior starts partaking in the same things you, yourself are doing each and every day at home. Little eyes see everything.
“Careful the things you say,
Children will listen.
Careful the things you do,
Children will see.
And learn.”
…lyrics from Children Will Listen – Into The Woods
Danville parents need to wake up. Children are not perfect! Stop defending your children for everything and start disciplining. If you ever hear a parent say “that’s just kids being kids” or “he is just being a boy” or “all of the girls do that”, then you know to have your children stay away from that family. Talk to your kids, use local news as a teaching tool.
Ron you did the right thing to tell that mother about the text message, hopefully she will wake up and start to help her child.
Annoni made a great point, parents need to be better role models. I see parents breaking the rules at school or on the sports fields all of the time or making bad choices in front of children. There is no perfect parent, only ones that try and keep an open mind and eye on everyone and everything around their family.
The middle schools are the front line in the non-existent battle against drugs. Now that we have legalized dope being sold as “medical” marijuana, courtesy of our new Atty Gen, the kid dope business is going to get even bigger. Any 18yo kid can get a card for a hundred bucks, and sell as much dope as he wants to his buddies and middle schoolers. The middle schoolers now have access to rocket-fuel hybrid dope that they stay high on for days, or as long as they can afford it. They see their parents using dope at home and and their peers and they figure “Why not me too?” Dope in middle schools is not a new problem, but with stronger dope and easier access it is a bigger problem. Just wait till Coke, Crank and Horse come back into vogue…and it will.
You have to be on your toes with not only your kids, but their friends. Trust me, things can go south real quick if you are not alert. I am forever reading them stories about what happend to kids that drank too much, did drugs or took moms car or even the recent one about sexting. That was a poor girl that made a mistake and before she could do anything, her boyfriend sent the photo to all his friends and it snowballed. She was teased and made fun of till she killed herself. This was not drug related but has to do with parents keeping in touch with their teen to reconize when there is a problem. If you spend time with them, you will catch issues before they become big problems. If anybody wants that sexting story, its at WLWT.COM.
The statement made by Principal Sandy Budde would make me laugh, if the results of her ignorance/denial weren’t so sad. The article states:
Principal Sandy Budde acted to inform parents of the situation through an e-mail. In the message, Budde expressed disappointment that the issue of drug use has come to Charlotte Wood.
“We realize, unfortunately, most schools across America have issues such as these, but they have been very rare, indeed, at Charlotte Wood Middle School,” she wrote.
My kids attended C.W.several years ago and drugs were rampant then. (From what I understand, and this story substantiates what I’ve heard, they still are.)
This statement by Principal Sandy Budde is part of the problem. My first-hand experience with many school administrators in the SRV District is that if they can’t see it, it’s not happening. The kids know this and drug use in school (not to mention other undesirable behaviors) continues. It won’t stop until the the administrators acknowledge that the problem(s) exist and REALLY do something, like administer meaninful deterrents. Suspensions, and expulsions for repeat offendors work well, for starters. But it appears it’s easier to look the other way and make meaningless statements like the one mady by Sandy Budde.
Ok, I am a little confused. The kids in this case were suspended. The one who was dealing will probably be expelled. How are they not enforcing the rules and putting in these deterrents that you spoke of?
I don’t claim to know if drugs are or are not rampant in middle schools. But this seems like sort of an extreme statement. That sort of implies that every child in middle school is doing drugs.
We do need to do more, and we as parents need to model behaviors. And punish our kids when they do things that are wrong. And follow through on the punishments.
Rob, while these kids who are the subject of this article were suspended, many kids are not. As a parent in this district, I have seen many instances of drug use (including selling)in school and many, if not most, do not result in suspension. As for the word “rampant”, I went to middle and high school from around 1970 to 1976 in the Bay Area (including the affluent town of Lafayette) and drugs were rampant when I was there. My kids who were open with me, told me about many instances of drug and alcohol use at our local schools through the years. I personally know of many kids, like the ones in the story, who used and sold drugs in school, and who were caught. They are the tip of the iceberg. Another poster mentioned that many of these dids are now in college and leading productive lives, which is great. But, my comment was that school administrators often are now aware of what’s going on (consciously or subconciously, intentionally or not) as evidenced by the Charlotte Wood principal’s comments re the discovery of kids at Charlotte Wood selling and using drugs.
I have a son that attends CH. He knows of some kids that “do pot”. He also knows that these kids grades suffer. The kids know what is going on more than the parents because the kids trust other kids.
We have had a generation of parents that wanted to be friends with their kids. The kids need parents not another friend.
I say, sppy on your kids. Check out their room, check their weblogs, check their phone records, check out their friends. This is your job, not the schools.
LMFAO!! I went to charlotte wood 4 years ago, and there were so many damn drugs. u guys are dumb to think its rare drugs are brought to charlotte wood. we may not be in the ghetto, but realize all these lil rich kids are runnin around with all this money that mommy and daddy give them, bored with nothin to do. what do you think is gunna happen? there isnt anything for these kids to do out here. lmfao i transfered from a school in east oakland to and came out here and the kids here do more drugs than out there because they got so much money. OPEN YOUR EYES! its everywhere trust me. and when u get into highschool here every other kid smokes pot lmao