Northville Schools Completes Bus Incident Investigation

The district also held additional training Friday for all bus drivers and bus aides.

Durham Student Services, Northville Public Schools' contracted transportation provider, applied appropriate disciplinary measures on the bus driver involved, according to an email from the district. The bus driver was immediately put on administrative leave after dropping off students at an undesignated stop in April. The driver pulled off the road on Six Mile Road and allowed Meads Mill Middle School students to get off the bus at a non-designated stop.   The district also mandated additional training, which took place Friday, for all bus drivers and bus aides, Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher said in the email. Training included positive student intervention and support, verbal de-escalation strategies and district transportation …

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Committee to Review Complaint Against Anne Frank's Diary

The committee is accepting community input on the use of the definitive edition of “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” in Northville schools.

The Northville schools board of education has assembled a material review committee to discuss the complaint against the district's use of the unedited version of Anne Frank's diary. Gail Horalek, mother of a seventh grade student at Meads Mill Middle School, filed the formal complaint last month after finding a passage in the definitive edition of “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” that describes the female body.  Robert Behnke, assistant superintendent for Instructional Services, said the committee will meet Friday. The committee -- comprised of administrators, district parents and community members -- will review the complaint in a closed meeting, according to Northville schools. If any district parents or community members want to…

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Aysha Jamali

6:11 pm on Friday, May 3, 2013

What do you think the school board should do?   more ›

Single Copy of Anne Frank's Diary Left at Northville Library

The unedited version of Anne Frank's diary has been in high demand since the article about Northville schools' use of the book was posted on Patch.

After hearing the debate and controversy over Northville schools' use of the unedited version of Anne Frank's diary, the Northville District Library checked to see which versions it carried. The library has several editions, including an e-book, but all are the unedited copies and include the graphic passage describing the female body that was brought to the school district's attention by Northville mother Gail Horalek. Since the article about Horalek's concerns was posted on Northville Patch, the book has been in high demand, said Anne Mannisto, assistant director of the Northville District Library. As of Wednesday afternoon, she said only one copy is still available. The unedited version being used by Northville schools is officially …

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Northville Mom Has the Right to Challenge the Unedited Diary of Anne Frank

Patch blogger Tony Lollio takes a look a how the nation has responded to a Northville mother who has taken issue with the school district for using an unedited version of 'Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl.'

Students Need Parents' Permission Before Reading Unedited 'Diary of Anne Frank,' Northville Mother Says

Gail Horalek says her daughter, in seventh grade at Meads Mill Middle School, didn't want to read this version of the book because of its graphic passages describing the female body.

Gail Horalek, the mother of a seventh grade student at Meads Mill Middle School in Northville, said the school should have asked for parents' permission before assigning the book to students. "That’s the issue. The problem is the school is giving the seventh graders inappropriate material and not explaining it to the parents," she said. Horalek said she wants the unedited version of "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl," which became part of the curriculum this year, removed from the school. The school should have at least sent a letter home to parents, she said, similarly to how it's done for other sensitive material. "If they watch any kind of movie with a swear word in it, I have to sign a permission slip," she said. Horalek said …

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rubberband

7:32 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2013

WOOT! WIN! Way to go NSD, and remember folks, access to what your kid is reading/course work is happily avail. at their school...at the beginning of the year. Rachael, I nominate you High Priestess of Reason and Rational thinking. Flowers and candy and cool stuff should be headed your way ASAP.   more ›

Northville Mother Upset About Seventh Graders Reading Unedited 'Diary of Anne Frank'

The mother says a passage in the book is too graphic for middle school students.

A Northville mother is upset about the unedited version of "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" that her seventh grade student is reading in school. >>Read what the mother has to say here. According to an article on myfoxdetroit.com, parent Gail Horalek filed a formal complaint with the Northville school district about a passage in the book that she thinks is too graphic for students that age. In the passage, Anne Frank discusses the discovery of her genitalia. >>Read one of the passages here. According to the Fox article, Horalek wants the district to go back to the edited version of the book. Horalek received a response from the school district, stating that she should first talk to the school principal and teacher about the matter. …

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Janet

1:38 am on Thursday, May 2, 2013

Yep - another parent who did not read the book. What a sad cliche! At the end of his life Malcom X traveled to Mecca where he worships and prays with people of all colors. He came back to America to preach a message of tolerance and love amongst all people, even though he knew it may cost him his life. He is a great example of someone who was changed by faith and wasn't afraid to say he was wrong…   more ›

Schools Superintendent Says Northville Students Excel

Northville public schools Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher presented updates on the district's schools at Northville's State of the Community Luncheon.

The district's schools attract businesses to the city and township, said Northville schools Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher at Northville's State of the Community Luncheon on Wednesday. Students' ACT, SAT and Advanced Placement test stores are higher than other schools in the area, she said at the luncheon at Meadowbrook Country Club. Northville High School has also been awarded the honor of being placed on the AP District Honor Roll, Gallagher said. Also, there are 29 National Merit Scholarship competitors this year alone, she said. Gallagher said students are learning to think creatively and will apply new ways of thinking throughout their lives. "They'll use these skills," she said, "when they've long forgotten what grade they've …

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Students Found With Knives, Marijuana at Hillside Middle School

The students are being disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct.

Two students at Hillside Middle School were discovered to have brought marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and knives to school on Monday, according to a listserv email from Principal Jim Cracraft to parents. Cracraft said he was first told that a student brought a knife to school and was showing it to peeers. This lead to an investigation, in which the administration found that two students had brought marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and knives. The administration also found that four students had smoked marijuana before school that day. The administration also conducted a locker search and found marijuana in one student's backpack. Northville Police then intervened in the case and took all of the items. The students are being disciplined …

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Northville School Bus Driver Put on Leave After Dropping Kids Off on Side of Road

The school district says it is investigating the incident.

A Northville Public Schools substitute bus driver has been put on administrative leave after dropping off students at an undesignated stop, according to an email from the school district. In the listserv email from Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher to parents, Gallagher says the driver of Bus L was transporting students home from Meads Mill Middle School on Friday when the driver pulled off on Six Mile Road and an unspecified number of students got off the bus. The bus stopped on the road between Bradner and Northville Road after 3:15 p.m. According to an article by WXYZ-Channel 7, some of the middle school students then had to walk more than a mile to get home. Students told WXYZ that the driver pulled over twice before dropping them off…

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