About That Phone Call, Kansas School Superintendent

Mischell Miller, what was your phone call really all about? You have never met me, or to my knowledge, any of my children. You are brand new at your post as superintendent at Vermilion Schools, USD 380, and it is quite clear to me that while you have met your employees, you do not know them very well. I spoke out about an incident that took place on March 3 of this year, in which a gun was taken to school by an eighteen year old senior, named Casey Farrant. Young Mr. Farrant was already on probation for a drunk driving incident that seriously injured four people, including himself. He was also out on bond for another crime. Yet he continued to be embraced by the school administration, no matter how much of a danger he posed to the other children, and to the staff. So why, when he took a weapon into the building, was he not expelled, according to the Gun Free School Zones Act?

A newer version of that law, first enacted in 1990, gives a state school board, which we don't really have here in Kansas, (unified school districts make that impossible) the authority to override the severity and not expel a student. But was Casey Farrant the student who would deserve such mercy and favor? Not only was he an adult at the time; he had a criminal record, to boot! Drugs were also found in his car. Was this the time for Principal Dean Dalinghaus to establish that guns are okay in Frankfort High School, and that there are no actual consequences when a student who isn't supposed to possess a gun in the first place decides to bring one to school and make threats? Keep in mind, Dean Dalingahus once tried to expel a disabled student because he was a VICTIM of several Frankfort bullies. Go ahead, Mischell, read it. You can shake it up and sprinkle it out any way you please; your principal will still be wrong. Very wrong. And don't even start with pretending you know how he would react, and that his actions must certainly have been correct, because he is a building administrator: I already spoke with witnesses and with the victim, as did my daughter. We know what happened, and we informed Deanie-Boy of the law. Why did we have to? Why didn't he obey the law in the first place and discipline the students who were actually in the wrong? Only Jesus knows! But feel free to call me. I can give you more information about the incident, and let you know what the victim's healthcare provider and what his ad litem had to say about it. That's the day I truly started to hate Dean Dalinghaus and his trashy little school. No kidding.

I mentioned the practice of speaking with witnesses and victims. Yes, that is helpful, when "conducting an investigation" (did you really do that, about the Casey Farrant thing?) or just finding out what happened in a school where all the employees prevaricate and sweep unlawful behaviors under the rug. You mentioned to me that you "investigated" the problems encountered by Frankfort High School, prior to taking your new position as superintendent. Then you expressed surprise that three students were arrested there during the school year of 2014-2015, not just one. I agree, in a school that only has about one hundred and fifty students from kindergarten to twelfth grade, Deanie-boy really should have been in better control of all of them. But then, the student with the loaded gun was actually in charge, wasn't he? If that isn't disturbing enough, you should be unhappily surprised about not having been told the whole story by those you supervise. I am not surprised at all, but as I stated earlier, you apparently don't know them very well. I do have a question for you at this juncture, though; how does one conduct an "investigation", especially a thorough one, without talking to any of the witnesses? The answer is simple: you don't. You didn't really investigate anything. And that should bother you a lot more than it bothers me. After all, you are the one in daily contact with people who allow guns taken into their places of employment by people who have been convicted of crimes and are out on bond, awaiting trial for even more crime. The fact that the guns are most likely obtained from parents who also do not care about the safety of anyone for whom you are responsible should bother you, too.

My guess, after your call, was that your contact was somehow all about damage control. I do not believe you have any concerns about my preferences, my past experience with life, or my children. I am not altogether sure that you care about federal law, either. I also don't think you have the guts to stand up to the adult bullies in this berg and let them know you make your own decisions about what you do with your time, and with whom you spend it. I do not see that you are individuated that much, as a person. In my experience, those who are usually listen, rather than defend what they do not understand. And you are defending a tragedy waiting to happen. Isn't it ironic that a tragedy involving a shooting happened at a school in Roseburg, Oregon the very day after you called? "Oh....that won't happen here," you might say. Well guess what; Casey Farrant actually did take the gun to school here in Frankfort! Rather than allowing Dean Dalinghaus and Company to put the safety of all of our children and our Second Amendment rights at risk, why not simply insist upon compliance with federal law about all things that go on in both of your schools?