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Albany High dismissed early to curb unruliness

By SCOTT WALDMAN, Staff writer
Last updated: 2:56 p.m., Thursday, June 12, 2008

ALBANY -- Albany High School students were released at noon today after at least two false fire alarms were pulled and students grew increasingly rowdy.

     
About 10 police cars were parked in front of the school shortly after the dismissal as large groups of teenagers walked home.

Albany schools spokesman Ron Lesko said school officials decided to end school early to prevent further incident.

At the end of the last school year, Albany high was put on lock down after students started a large food fight in the cafeteria and threw water balloons. Nine students were arrested and two police officers injured in a large fight outside the school in September.

But staff and students said the security situation inside the school has improved in recent months since principal Maxine Fantroy-Ford required all students to wear identification in the hallways and increased monitoring.

Rumors spread throughout the school of mice being released and water balloons full of urine being tossed in the hallways. That all appeared to be rampant schoolhouse speculation as students walked home, visibly excited about the end of school, but showing restraint. Today was the last day of regular classes. Only students with final exams have classes Friday and Regents exams are next week.

Many students were angry that their classmates were trying to create havoc.

``People thought of this way before,'' 16-year-old sophomore Dijon Young said. ``People don't know how to act.''

http://timesunion.com/AspStori.....p;newsdate=6/12/2008


Get unruly and we'll send you home??  Seems like pretty poor "punishment" to me - especially on a bright sunshiney day like today. The trouble makers get what they want, everyone else suffers.

The more I think about this, the more pissed off at the administration I'm getting.

It would be advantageous if the PARENTS continued the discipline at home, but that doesn't happen most of the time either. The schools can just do so much.

Oh, now they've REALLY solved the problem ... School is closed TOMORROW too!

wow. this is bad policy, IMHO.

Not only has our infrastructure of sewers, public transportation, roads, bridges etc been deteriorating--our schools and the foundation used to keep them afloat as respected institutions has a giant black hole in it and they are sinking, sinking, sinking...........

I'm not affiliated with the school systems since my kids are all grown now. But, sounding like your usual "old fashioned" person, do I dare say, "back when I was a kid"? The schools need to take back their control. They need to get back to the basics of teaching reading, writing and arithmetic and respect!! And leave the sex education out of schools and give that responsibility solely back to the parents. The schools need to be able to discipline these badly behaved kids.

Today it is water balloons, false alarms and chaos. Next it will be guns. It is time for the educators to take a stand to regain the control needed to preserve the education of the next generation. Just like "back when I was a kid".

Bus prank closes South Colonie schools

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
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Last updated: 9:46 a.m., Friday, June 13, 2008

COLONIE -- South Colonie schools are closed today after vandals discharged fire extinguishers on 38 buses last night, forcing the cancellation of the senior picnic and Forest Park Elementary School's field day.

     
Initially, district officials had only delayed school for two hours, but the extent of the clean-up forced an outright closure, said Superintendent Michael Marcelle.

``They apparently jumped the fence, and, whoever it is, unleashed the fire extinguishers in the buses, and there's powder all over the place,'' district spokesman John Noetzel said.

Police and district officials are investigating whether the vandalism was an end-of-the-year prank.

``This is way over the top,'' said Colonie Police Detective Lt. John Van Alstyne. ``They may have thought it was a prank. We're not treating it as a prank. There will be criminal charges.''

Van Alstyne said the vandalism was discovered around 6 a.m. when the district's transportation crews showed up at the garage off Winston Place in the village of Colonie.

The bus parking area, next to the Colonie Community Center, is surrounded by garage bays and chain-link fences of varying heights. Officials believe the vandals jumped the fences and snuck into the buses through unlocked rear emergency exits, using the on-board fire extinguishers to make the mess.

Marcelle said it's not immediately clear how much the vandalism will cost the district.

Casey Tarbay, a 6-year-old kindergarten student, knows exactly how much it cost him: the fun of his school's field day celebration.

With a heavy lower lip, Tarbay watched as police and school officials combed over the buses this morning.

``Bad kids hit the buses and shooted all the fire extinguishers,'' Tarbay said, his voice wavering. ``I wanted to go to field day.''

He said he planned to go indoor mini-golfing instead.

Asked what he thought should happen to the vandals, Tarbay didn't hesitate.

``My dad's going to arrest you because he's a Colonie cop,'' he confidently pronounced.

Marcelle echoed the youth's sentiments.

``We had a lot of events planned for kids to enjoy today. It's a shame,'' Marcelle said, adding that South Colonie was grateful for the immediate offers of help it received from numerous surrounding districts, including North Colonie, which dispatched several mechanics and a shop vac to aid its neighbor district.

Ellen Fitzgerald, a friend of the Tarbay family who lives near the garage, was angry.

``Whoever did it was only thinking of themselves,'' Fitzgerald said.

Albany High School already canceled classes today out of concern for end-of-the-year misbehavior. School was let out at noon Thursday after two false fire alarms and other rowdiness.

Anyone with information on the Colonie vandalism is asked to contact police at 783-2744.

These kids aren't stupid. They just got a nice day off from school!