Below is an account, in her own words, of events that led up to Bush High School senior Amy Deschenes’ temporary expulsion after a November incident involving Fort Bend ISD police (see related story).
11/12/2008 5:08 PM
I was in class, and someone called Ms. Behrens on the wall phone and told her to send me to A-106. I had to ask where it was because I didn’t know. It was Ms. Parson’s office. I was then told to go to the front office. When I got to the front, Ms. Parson was standing there with a police officer. I asked, “What happened?” and Ms. Parson replied, “We’ll see.” I followed them out to the parking lot where the car I share with my brother was parked. There were two police officers standing by my car. A police car and a police SUV were also there. One of them pointed at a costume sword that could be seen through my hatchback window and asked if I knew where it came from and if it was mine. I told him that it belongs to my brother and that he got it at the Renaissance Festival. I told them that my brother had put it there on the weekend. Ms. Parson confirmed that I knew it was there. Ms. Parson asked if my brother goes to Bush and when I told her he doesn’t, she asked why I do. I told her that My Mom lives here and my Dad lives in Clements District and that my ranking is better at Bush. Ms. Parson asked one of them if they were going to arrest me, and said, “I know you didn’t interrupt my lunch if no one’s getting arrested”. He shook his head no and then told me that it is a third degree felony, but that he was just going to take the sword. They asked me if I had my keys and I didn’t, so I went back into the school through the back door of the Orchestra room and got my keys from my backpack.
When I was in the school, everyone was asking me what was going on. When they asked if I was in trouble, I told them No and that the police officers just needed to confiscate something from my trunk. When I went back outside and was walking toward the parking lot, Ms. Parson said, “Hurry up girl, it’s hot!” and so I ran the rest of the way to my car. I opened the trunk and they pulled out the sword and were talking amongst themselves about the sword. They were talking about felonies and I was freaking out. I was starting to cry and Ms. Parson’s said, “Girl don’t start that, I know how women use crying to manipulate people and I don’t do tears.” She told me to go to the front of the car so that she could talk to the officers. I walked to the front of the car, but could still hear what they were saying. She was telling them that somebody had to do something, that somebody had to get in trouble for this. She said that they needed to show that they’re serious. She was talking to them about what happened last year when some student stole some computers and that my class ranking and record (the lack of it) were totally irrelevant and did not exclude me from having consequences. At this point, 6th period ended and a friend came to check on me. He was asking me how I was. Ms. Parson saw him and told him to go away. She called me back and said that I should not be interacting with students because that isn’t allowed. She asked the police officer again in front of me if he was arresting me. He said that he didn’t know and that he would have to call the DA’s office and see if they would accept the charges.
The police officer asked me if I had belongings in the school and he told me to go and get them and meet him by the gym. Ms. Parson told me to go straight to the Orchestra room and get my things and sit on the bench outside they gym. She told me not to talk to anyone. I walked away and the trunk was still open but I had my keys. I couldn’t stop crying. I went into the orchestra room to get my things and everyone was asking me what was wrong and I just told them that I couldn’t talk about it. I grabbed my things (except for my purse which I forgot because I was upset) and then went to sit on the bench.
The cheerleaders and tennis players come out of the door by the bench and I know a lot of them and I was visibly upset and they were all asking me what was wrong. I was trying to just tell them to leave me alone and that I couldn’t talk about it. The police officer pulled up and gathered up the things that he confiscated from me and other people and one of the cheerleaders asked “Where’d you get a sword from?” The officer walked up to me and told me to come inside and I picked up my stuff and followed him into the police office. I sat down and they went into a back room and were taking pictures of things and talking about the things that they confiscated. I waited there. Ms. Parson came in at one point and sat behind the desk and was talking with the officers about whether or not they were going to arrest me and whether or not I was going to get expelled. I started crying and hyperventilating and she was talking to me and I was telling her that I couldn’t breathe so she called the nurse. When the nurse came in, she helped me to slow my breathing. Ms. Parson told me that I needed to not be so emotional because it comes off as theatrics and that I didn’t start having panic attacks until she mentioned M.R. Woods.
There were lots of phone calls going on – to the DA and to others to try to find out what to do because no one knew. Ms. Parsons left to get a Student Conduct Code and a write-up form. She made me sign it and was explaining it to me and I told her that I had never been written up before and started crying uncontrollably. Ms. Rose came in and asked what was going on. Ms. Rose asked me if I was at the Academic Excellence ceremony yesterday and I told her that I was. Ms. Parson told her and Ms. Rose went back to the other room and looked at things in there before she left the office. Ms. Parson called Sandra Scott Bonner and spoke to her on the speaker phone. Sandra told her to wait until the police officers called the DA’s office and then to call her back. Ms. Parson had marked the sheet incorrectly and Ms. Bonner told her that it was 414 and not what she had originally marked. The police officers were in the other room and Ms. Parson and I were the only ones in that room. We could hear the officers calling the DA and looking up the offense and talking about it.
The officers told Ms. Parson through the door where I couldn’t hear what the DA had said, and Ms. Parson said that she was going to tell me what they had decided (where they could hear) and then she mouthed to me (where they couldn’t hear) “Start crying, They can’t arrest you if you’re crying.” I was already crying and just started hyperventilating again. Ms. Parson called the nurse and the nurse came in and it took her a much longer time to help me breathe normally again. The nurse commented on the lack of oxygen in my body and talked and talked and helped me to catch my breath. Ms. Parson told the officers that she didn’t want them to arrest me because they couldn’t take someone that’s not physically fit and she wanted to call the EMS to come and get me. The officers found something in the code that said that the parking lot did not constitute school grounds and therefore it was not a criminal offense. Ms. Parson started trying to contact my parents.
They weren’t able to reach my Mom or Dad. They called my step-mom and got another number for my Dad. When she reached him, Dad said something about screwing up my life which really offended Ms. Parson and the police officer. They started yelling at me and telling me how hard they had both worked to not have me arrested and I started hyperventilating again and Ms. Merritt (the nurse) told them to leave me alone and started helping me to calm down and breathe again. The police officers went back to the back room and Ms. Merritt was filling out a referral form. Ms. Parson called Ms. Bonner back and told her that it wasn’t a criminal offense and Ms. Bonner said that it was still a mandatory expulsion. Ms. Merritt left and went to open the door for Dad. They got off of the phone and another woman came in to the office and was talking to Ms. Parson about something else and Ms. Parson told me that since I wasn’t being arrested and wasn’t being given a citation that we would go to her office.
On the way to Ms. Parson’s office, she stopped to talk to another teacher and Ms. Merritt saw us and the three of us went into Ms. Parson’s office. Ms. Parson asked Ms. Merritt to stay there with me while she went to do something. I stayed in Ms. Parson’s office and Ms. Merritt stood right outside the door so that she could watch for my Dad. She and Dad came into the office. Dad was trying to comfort me. Ms. Parson came back and we went into her internal office.
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The world becomes very dangerous when it becomes so——– obvious that there is a shortage of individuals with “common sense”. And to think, our children have individuals who administer over their daily school lives and, thus, are empowered to make daily decisions about our children’s lives. Indeed, if those who are empowered do not possess common sense and common logic they can do what this child’s dad stated. What a pity.
Moreover, I do recall stating previously that when we tolerate bad leadership and bad administering, it eventually spills over to spill upon our most precious commodity, our children—-and, usually, that gets everybody’s attention, even, if the bus barn or the warehouse incident, or the excellent teacher who was harassed and fired just because individuals with small egos love to ego trip and flex power, abusively.
Oh, by the way, due to the genius of technology, a gloating and bragging voice of one on high can be heard which references how easy it is to take a name or names to the BOT for recommended firing and/or nonrenewable of contracts and receive an unanimous vote because the BOT never questions the cow dung that it brought to them by those who connive to get contract nonrenewed based upon bogus reasons and bogus documentations. The BOT never uses, even, “common sense and logic”. Let along astute intellect, to question anything; they just blindly sign off without question to end someone’s career and livihood. The never think to question, just how is it that all of a sudden someone can have a great record of achievement and work ethics and, then, suddenly become not good and unfit?
Yes, I’m certain this precious child is being truthful; it fits the FBISD profile of how they do—this time, it has been heaped upon a child. Unforgivable!!!!