Hall’s Halls

I began this article the way any writer would; I had a bias. I thought I was going to “expose” Hall for falling in line with other schools that have been in the news. You hear of students being suspended for petty things, like haircuts, clothing, or in Anthony Ruelas’s case, getting suspended for carrying a classmate to the nurse while they were having an asthma attack. Stories like that are crazy, and it makes you wonder if this is happening close to home or not. That’s what I wanted to find out.

In doing research for this article, I was surprised to learn that Hall High is not like the school in Killeen, Texas, where Anthony goes. Hall High does just as one of its clubs does; it leads by example.

According to a survey that was sent to the students of Hall, 145 responded, and 80.6 percent say they believe school suspensions are not effective. I was in this camp as well when I began doing research last week, but I have become more neutral in this debate.

Many students said they did not support suspensions because they believed you were not allowed to make up your school work, however, this is not the case. Mr. Coleman is in charge of in-school suspensions at Hall. One of his tasks is to “coordinate with the faculty when a student has an in-school suspension so they can send work here. Typically, students have an easier time when staying in here because pretty much that is all they can do when they are here.” Students, rather than not getting any work done, tend to get more work done, he says. He continued by stating, “I have found over the years, that some students actually look for an in-school suspension to get caught up on work.” This shows how successful the suspension system in place is at Hall – so much so that students seek one out if they have a lot of work.

Many other schools in the country suspend students for any behavior that is against the rule book. Picking up a student and carrying them is against the rules, but the intention is unquestionably good. So why did Anthony get suspended for saving a student’s life? Because the way in which he did it was “against the rules”. This is bullshit.

Hall, on the other hand, is very good when it comes to handling suspensions. The school does not give them out for breaking the rules necessarily. “[Out of school suspensions] aren’t really intended to be consequence for behavior rather it is intended to remove a student from the school environment because they pose a threat,” says Mr. Coleman. While other schools suspend students for behavioral issues, Hall only seeks to remove a student if they pose a threat to others. If it is just a behavioral problem, the student will receive an in-school suspension.

Yet another safeguard that Hall has in place to prevent too many suspensions from occurring is the fact that “Only an administer can give an in-school or out-of-school suspension.” This allows someone in a neutral position to make the decisions, and it gives the school time to assess the situation properly.

During my time of researching and writing this article, I have found Hall to be a better school than many people think. It might not be the best for the occasional bad story that comes from it; I mean, who can forget the basketball fight a few years ago? Other than that, Hall isn’t really in the spotlight for bad things. The school just got all gender bathrooms during a time when it is a very highly debated issue, even among students in the school.

Hall has more going for it than one might realize. It is a progressive school that is always trying to find ways to improve the learning environment for its students. When it comes to suspensions, I believe they keep the halls at Hall safe.