Schools must take hard look at Meade principal's actions
by THE CAPITAL EDITORIAL BOARD
Any school with 1,800 students in it is bound to have its share of problems. Moving that many teenagers -- as high school administrators do daily -- from class to class without some sort of skirmish is virtually impossible.
But a January fracas at Meade High School in which a white student was allegedly assaulted by a group of African-American teens was no skirmish. It was, according to prosecutors, an outright beating, and its aftermath has left school Superintendent Eric J. Smith in a precarious position.
As we reported Friday on our front page, a Circuit Court master hearing the case of the lone person charged in the fight lashed out at Meade Principal Joan Valentine and her administration last week for botching the investigation into the fight. In a stinging rebuke as she acquitted the teen, Master Erica J. Wolfe called the school probe "utterly appalling" and said Ms. Valentine and her colleagues failed the victim "in not protecting him from the fight in the first place and fails him again in not pursuing it properly."
Ms. Valentine, according to prosecutors, notified the school resource officer -- a full-time police officer -- about the fight, but the school administration conducted most of the investigation. Witness statements were taken, but two key ones that fingered the perpetrators were allowed to go unsigned. When prosecutors asked for the names of those who had given the statements, Ms. Valentine incredibly refused, saying she wanted to keep them anonymous. She didn't provide those names until forced to do so by Master Wolfe at trial.
As a principal, Ms. Valentine is charged with ensuring that students in her school receive a quality education, and do so in a safe environment.
It's too much to ask that any principal run a school in which there isn't a single fight. It's certainly reasonable, however, that a principal be expected to deal with those involved in a fight appropriately. That apparently didn't happen here. We're sure we have plenty of company in asking why on earth Ms. Valentine -- who has yet to comment on the matter -- would refuse to divulge information to prosecutors.
Dr. Smith has said publicly that he holds Ms. Valentine in high regard and feels "she runs a good school." He has promised a school system investigation of the incident, and we're confident that will happen.
Should Dr. Smith find, as Master Wolfe said, that Ms. Valentine and her administration failed Meade's students in this case, he must mete out tough punishment. Students' safety and accountability must come first in any county school.
Published June 23, 2005, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
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