The Greene County Democrat

Tag: students

  • Taylor’s Law begins Aug. 1. Here’s how it affects Alabama teen drivers

    Taylor’s Law begins Aug. 1. Here’s how it affects Alabama teen drivers

    By Jennifer Lindahl, Montgomery Advertiser

    As Alabama students head back to school, there’s a new reason to stay out of the principal’s office.

    Beginning Aug. 1, school discipline won’t just affect report cards or extracurricular activities. Under Taylor’s Law, certain disciplinary actions can also delay when some teens are eligible to get a learner’s permit or driver’s license.

    Here’s what families should know before the new school year begins.

    What is Taylor’s Law?

    Taylor’s Law establishes a discipline point system for students enrolled in Alabama public and private secondary schools. The law applies to disciplinary infractions committed on school property.

    Beginning with the school year, including summer school, in which a student turns 13, discipline points are tracked and accumulated until the student becomes eligible to apply for a learner’s permit or driver’s license.

    Each point earned pushes back eligibility by one week.

    When does Taylor’s Law take effect?

    Taylor’s Law takes effect Aug. 1, meaning the discipline point systems will be in place as Alabama students return to school for the new academic year.

    For teenagers approaching driving age, school discipline may now have consequences that extend beyond the classroom, affecting when they can legally get behind the wheel.

    Which students are affected by Taylor’s Law?

    The law applies to students who are 13 years and older and enrolled in a public or private secondary school in Alabama.

    Although Alabama allows teens to obtain a learner’s permit at age 15 and a driver’s license at age 16 if they meet licensing requirements, discipline points begin accumulating years earlier, starting with the school year in which the student turns 13.

    How many points does each disciplinary action carry?

    Taylor’s Law assigns points based on the type of school discipline:

    • In-school suspension (ISS): 1 point for each day.

    • Out-of-school suspension (OSS): 2 points for each day.

    • Alternative school placement: 6 points.

    • Expulsion: 20 points.

    Every point adds one week to the age at which a student may receive a learner’s permit, driver’s license or other covered license.

    For example, a student who accumulates six points would have to wait an additional six weeks before becoming eligible.

    Students don’t automatically receive points for every suspension

    The law includes exceptions designed to allow students to improve their behavior.

    For in-school suspension:

    • The first three days of ISS in a school year do not generate points.

    • If a student reaches a fourth day of ISS, then all ISS days from that school year, including the first three, count toward the total.

    For out-of-school suspension:

    • An initial OSS of two days or fewer does not generate points.

    • If the student receives another OSS later that school year, the days from the first suspension are added to the point total.

    If the initial OSS exceeds two days, all of those days count.

    Can students erase discipline points?

    Yes. Taylor’s Law includes provisions that allow students to reduce or eliminate accumulated points through improved behavior.

    If a student completes one full school year without receiving additional discipline points, previously accumulated points are reduced by half.

    If the student completes two consecutive school years without receiving additional points, all accumulated points are removed from the student’s school record.

    Is there a limit to how long a license can be delayed?

    Yes.

    Even if a student accumulates enough points to create a longer delay, Alabama law says eligibility cannot be extended by more than one year beyond the date the student would otherwise first qualify to apply for a learner’s permit or driver’s license.

    Jennifer Lindahl is a Breaking and Trending Reporter in Alabama for USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect Team. Connect with her on X @jenn_lindahl and email atjlindahl@usatodayco.com.

    To read the original article on The Montgomery Adviser, click here

  • BBCF Greene County Community Associates collect and ship water donations to Jackson

    Shown Darlene Robinson, BBCF Board President, Community Assoicates Mollie Rowe, Miriam Leftwich, Geraldine Walton and John Zippert.
    Volunteers load truck with water
    L to R: Employee of Stay N On the Move Trucking Co. Amos Dewayne Cameron, his Dad Daniel Gill UHaul Driver and Rev. Wendell H. Paris of Jackson, MS, upon arrival in Jackson.


    Submitted by Miriam Leftwich

    Cities across the county had been collecting water donations since the beginning of September, after the clean water crisis broke out in Jackson, MS. The Greene County Community Associates, of the Black Belt Community Foundation, took the lead in Eutaw, Alabama to help our neighbors in Jackson get bottled water. We knew that we needed to help out however we could.
    Special thanks to our Mayor Latasha Johnson, who allowed the trailer to be parked on the premises of the Robert H. Young Community Center which was also the collection site.
    Stay N On the Move Trucking, LLC allowed use of a trailer and transported the collected bottled water to Jackson, Mississippi. Donations poured in from the beginning of the Water Drive up until minutes prior to departure.
    I am so grateful to this community, to all of the Pastors and the church families who took part in this drive, and to the Pastors and Deacons that helped to load and unload water from various destinations, to all of the Greek Letter organizations, Volunteer Fire Departments, Masonic and Eastern Star Lodges, Greene County High School Principal, students, and staff, Flowers Bakery, Tishabee Senior Citizens, Eutaw Housing Authority, Greene County Retired Educators Association, McInnis Mortuary, Greene County Ushers Alliance, Commissioner Allen Turner, Jr., Black Belt Law. All of the support that you showed was absolutely great.
    There were approximately 38 organizations and 45 families that represented by showing up and donating numerous cases of water. Donations poured in from as far as California. We even had donations shipped via FED EX. Hale, Sumter, Choctaw, and Tuscaloosa counties also contributed. All of the love that your residents showed us will never be forgotten.
    Approximately 325,000 bottles of water were collected. We are forever thankful to each and every one of you. We collected enough water to fill the trailer and had to get a second vehicle for the excess water. To our Sheriff and his staff, we tip our hats to you for such a wonderful sendoff. The Sheriff escorted the trucks from the Community Center to the Boligee exit.
    The drivers had a safe trip; water was delivered and those on the receiving end were grateful to have it and expressed their appreciation for a job well done.

  • GAO report: Segregation increasing at some U. S. schools

    By Lauren Victoria Burke (NNPA News Wire
    Contributor)

    A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the segregation of African American and Hispanic students nationwide is getting worse.
    In particular, a notable increase in segregation among K-12 public schools was pointed out in the study. The study also found that charter schools may often take students from public schools and enroll them into less diverse schools. The study also found that Hispanic students were “triple segregated” by economics, race and language barriers. The report was released on the 62nd anniversary of the landmark decision in the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
    On May 16, a judge in Cleveland, Miss., found that schools in the town were just as segregated as they were a half-century ago. “The delay in desegregation has deprived generations of students of the constitutionally guaranteed right of an integrated education,” U.S. District Judge Debra Brown wrote.
    At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), House Education and Workforce ranking Democrat Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and House Judiciary ranking member Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) along with Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) spoke on the issue.
    Reps. Conyers, Butterfield and Scott will author a bill that would require schools to “designate at least one employee” to work on complying with diversity requirements. “The percentage of schools where 75 percent of students are both low-income and Hispanic or African-American has increased from 9 percent in 2001 to 16 percent in 2014,” Rep. Conyers said.
    The report also found that schools that were segregated offered fewer courses in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related fields and college preparatory classes. “Segregation in public K-12 schools isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse, and getting worse quickly,” Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia said.
    Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted that, “There are 6,727 highly-segregated schools in our nation, where one percent or less of the school population is white. #BrownVBoard.”
    In a statement about the report, National Urban League President Marc Morial said that the findings in GAO report confirm “that the promise of Brown remains a promise that has gone largely unfulfilled.” Morial continued: “In too many communities, students of color are now more segregated with less access to equitable educational opportunities than in decades prior.”
    NAACP Legal Defense Fund Director Sherrilyn Ifill said that the report shines a light on worsening education inequities that that cannot be divorced from our nation’s legacy of racial discrimination that has perpetuated racial and socioeconomic isolation. Ifill said: “It is our imperative on the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education to ask, ‘How will we act to address current disparities like resource inequities and discriminatory discipline practices?’”
    Lauren Victoria Burke is a political analyst who speaks on politics and African American leadership. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.