Hooray for "zero tolerance!" Evil girl suspended for bringing evil Jello to school

[The Laughing Man]

News: [url=http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2659211

Jello treat gets Jefferson Parish 4th-grader suspended[/url]]

GRETNA, La. A Jefferson Parish fourth grader has been suspended for taking what's being described as a look-alike drug to school.

Eight-year-old Kelli Billingsley brought homemade Jell-O cups to school at Boudreaux Elementary. Her mom says the school tested the Jell-O and determined it didn't have any alcohol in it. But the school suspended the girl for having a look alike drug.

The girl's mom says her daughter was just trying to make a treat for her friends.

The superintendent of Jefferson Parish schools says she will investigate the case.

© source where applicable

News: [url=http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1102521325127520.xml

Gelatin gets 8-year-old suspended[/url]]

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office took samples Tuesday of Jell-O snacks that were brought to school by an 8-year-old Terrytown girl to determine if the concoction contained alcohol.

The youngster was suspended Nov. 29 from Geraldine Boudreaux Elementary School after school officials said the snacks given to her by her mother in small, clear plastic containers resembled an alcoholic mixture commonly known as "Jell-O shots," said Jefferson Parish public schools spokesman Jeff Nowakowski.


The girl was suspended for nine days for two violations of the system's drug policy: having a "look-alike" drug on school grounds and intending to distribute it, Nowakowski said.

The incident was reported by a teacher who noticed liquid dripping from the girl's book bag while the child was waiting outside school for her afternoon bus, Nowakowski said. After inspecting the bag, teachers discovered about 30 containers of gelatin, he said.

The girl told officials that her mother, Adrian Noble, who works in a French Quarter bar, had told her to bring the containers to school and sell them three-for-$1 to raise money for Christmas gifts, Nowakowski said.

In televised reports, Noble denied there was alcohol in the Jell-O and complained about the system's punishment of her daughter. Under the drug policy, the girl can return to school Friday if she completes an assessment program, undergoes counseling and submits to a hair test to make sure she is drug-free, Nowakowski said.

© source where applicable

Well, thank God for that these school officials are on the ball and removing the plague that is Jello from our schools and making sure that its dealers are severely punished!

[ih8censorship]

yeah thats rediculous... what kid thats ever gone to school hasent brought a treat at one point or another? zero tolerence was meant for like AFTER a kid gets proven to have crack at school.... id hate to have seen what would have happened if she bought a bag of powderd sugar or something....... GET ON THE GROUND PIGTAILS! what the funny thing is , i bet the school has jello on their cafeteria menu...but ya thats rediculous suspending her... ive never even heard of "jello shots"...... well i guess that shows whos running schools

hmm a jello dealer.....

**edit**
hmm an after thought. is this teaching children to bring drugs or drug look alikes to school if they feel stressed and need some time off?

[C. D. Ward]

Words fail me....

[Dee Dee Warren]

Does she have to submit to an ankle bracelet now too?

[Nicholas]

convoluted logic making head hurt...

[guacamole]

As much as I'm willing to jump on the bad wagon and agree that the school officials are morons, I think there may be more to this story. It's not often that school officials are this retarded without reason. Sometimes, something that can look unimportant to outsiders has a serious significance in a larger context. If the girl as had other run-ins with school officials over controlled substances, even something as seemingly slight as cigarettes, then the incident takes a whole new color.

On the other hand if the school officials weren't vigilant and fourth graders ended up eating jellow shots, then we'd be out for blood.

[Beanieboy]

As much as I'm willing to jump on the bad wagon and agree that the school officials are morons, I think there may be more to this story. It's not often that school officials are this retarded without reason. Sometimes, something that can look unimportant to outsiders has a serious significance in a larger context. If the girl as had other run-ins with school officials over controlled substances, even something as seemingly slight as cigarettes, then the incident takes a whole new color.

On the other hand if the school officials weren't vigilant and fourth graders ended up eating jellow shots, then we'd be out for blood.

I have to agree.
I think we are getting half the story.
But if the school just thought, oh, how sweet, and there was vodka in them, someone would start a nasty thread about the evils of public school with that story.

They are damned either way.

But HELLO - jello in shot size cups? Jigglers I can understand, but - gee, let's make small alcohol free jello shots? Has here mom never heard of jello shots? Has ANYONE here ever had another student bring jello shots to class? I had cupcakes, cookies, jigglers, but never jello shots.

it's like serving apple juice out of dark brown bottles.

[ih8censorship]

if they contained alchohol, blame the mother not the little girl.

It's not often that school officials are this retarded without reason.

havent spent much time in school have we? or at least not a private
school....

the part about other "run ins" with school officials would make sense if the girl was older... but 8 years old? whats that 2nd grade? how much trouble can you get in by 2nd grade anyway?

....well i do remember being in the principles office after school once in 1st grade... i called a fat girl fat.... i was really scared too, because he was telling about how i couldent go to school there anymore (i was there till the end of 7th grade though so he must have just been making me scared). kind of retarded isnt it?

But HELLO - jello in shot size cups? Jigglers I can understand, but - gee, let's make small alcohol free jello shots? Has here mom never heard of jello shots? Has ANYONE here ever had another student bring jello shots to class? I had cupcakes, cookies, jigglers, but never jello shots.

it's like serving apple juice out of dark brown bottles.

jigglers are harder to transport, and require more time to make (pouring the jello, then cutting them out vs just pouring the jello). unless im misteaken Dixie cups are shot size... you know those little paper cups with the colorfull outside. i can see how her mom never heard of jello shots ive never heard of such a thing like i said if you have heard of it its probly a sign on your charachter. and since she was selling them to get her christmas money-not giving them away, shed probly sell them on the bus or at recess and jigglers would get all over the place and a little convinent cup is much much cleaner than a jiggler.

heh.. the part about apple juice out of dark brown bottles reminds me of when we were on a trip for school and stopped at a gas station i picked up some cream soda in one of those brown bottles and the teacher goes "... that better be root beer" and then i say "well it isnt" and quickly i said it was cream soda. then they belived me, after all i couldent have bought a beer anyway.

[The Laughing Man]

It's not often that school officials are this retarded without reason.

It's called "zero tolerance policies," guac. Mindlessly following them can make even the smartest person a drooling nitwit.

[BeHereNow]

In televised reports, Noble denied there was alcohol in the Jell-O and complained about the system's punishment of her daughter. Under the drug policy, the girl can return to school Friday if she completes an assessment program, undergoes counseling and submits to a hair test to make sure she is drug-free, Nowakowski said.

WOAH!! Counseling and assessment? For an EIGHT year old bringing Jell-O?

Words fail me, but laughter doesn't!

[anthrogirl]

Jello shots were a big hit back when I was in high school. The article says that her mother works in a bar in the French Quarter--so she would likely know what Jello shots are (for some reason, jello shots are big in the F.Q.)

Also, I've never heard of a school allowing students to sell homemade food to other students. It's a health violation. Her mother, working in the food service industry ought to know better.

At any rate, it seems at the very least, bad decorum to slang fake Jello Shots--3 for a buck, at an elementary school. What kind of nutjob adult thinks this type of behavior is a GOOD IDEA???

The poor girl probably had no ill intent, but her mother should've known better.

Clearly, both articles fail to tell the whole story--because they only peripherally mention the school officials. It appears that they didn't even interview them, rather pulling their info from other media sources.

ag

[Pilgrim]

Do you think the school folks knew that the mother was a bartendar and that that may have influenced their choices at all?

[anthrogirl]

Do you think the school folks knew that the mother was a bartendar and that that may have influenced their choices at all?

I don't know--the articles posted are not very informative. Your question is a no-brainer, Pilgrim (and a good one)--and I don't understand why even the most sophmoric reporter would not include such insight in their article...

...Maybe it's time to look for better sources...?

peace,
ag

[anthrogirl]

The (more complete) story according to the local ABC news:

http://abc26.trb.com/news/wgno-jello120704,0,1410206.story?coll=wgno-news-1

4th Grader suspended in JP for Jell-O possession

School Administrators says Jell-O cups looked like bar shots

Paul Murphy ABC26 News

December 7, 2004, 6:24 PM CST

GRETNA, LA -- A Gretna fourth grader is serving out a nine-day suspension. Jefferson School District administrators say eight-year-old Kelli Billingsley brought plastic Jell-O cups to Bourdreaux Elementary that resembled bar shots.

"I can't do my work," said Kelli. "I miss my friends. I'm missing my homework and it's lowering my grades."

The girl's mother Adrienne Noble works at a French Quarter bar. She told ABC26 News, she makes Jell-O shots for her customers and her kids wanted to make "non-alcohol" versions to share with their friends.

Jefferson School Board member Mark Morgan says the girl broke two zero tolerance rules when she brought the Jell-O treats to school.

"It's not just that this is a potentially alcoholic substance brought to school, but it also was an ingestible substance of any kind which we don't allow to be freely distributed in the schools," said Morgan. "It's just against our policy because it's a student safety issue."

The Jefferson Sheriff's Office is checking the Jell-O cups for alcohol. The test should be completed in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, Kelli's mother says her daughter is being suspended simply because the Jell-O was in small, plastic cups.

"They tested the Jell-O, and it was negative for alcohol or any type of drug," said Adrienne Noble. "It was just Jell-O."

Mark Morgan says depending on the investigators' findings, the school district may opt to reduce the 4th grader's punishment.

Along with a nine-day suspension, the girl faces drug testing, counseling, and a home inspection.

"At the point in time when it is determined of whether it does or doesn't have alcohol in it, the suspension will be re-evaluated at that time by the school administration," said Morgan.

Kelli's mother says her daughter was supposed to share the Jell-O cups with her friends at the bus stop and not bring them to school.

A spokesman for the school district tells a different version of the story. He says the girl told her principal her mother made the Jell-O-cups and instructed the fourth grader to bring them to school to make money.

The school district spokesman says so far, the girl's mother has not requested a formal meeting with school administrators.
Copyright © 2004, WGNO

© source where applicable

This is what they looked like (fyi, just like the jello shots served in bars all over New Orleans):

[kiwimac]

Ah I just love US schools!

Kiwimac