KANSAS CITY, Mo. (FOX4/by Sarah Clark) — About 50 students who showed up at African-Centered College Prep Academy Monday morning were sent home and told they were no longer welcome to attend school there.
This, after a series of false fire alarms and two fights that prompted evacuation of the school on Friday. Those fights prompted security personnel to use pepper spray. At least three students were taken to the hospital because of that.
On Monday, Kansas City School District Superintendent Stephen Green and his staff visited the school, making sure students understood that disruptive behavior is not accepted.
Following Friday’s melee, Green said the school, formerly known as the Afrikan-Centered Education Collegium, is now under a zero-tolerance policy — and the students involved are no longer welcome on campus. Green added that anyone who doesn’t dress or behave consistent with the school’s code will be sent home.
“Several parents received phone calls based on the history we’ve seen with them either at this school or at other schools in our district that suggest they are not interested in a college prep environment,” he said. “So, therefore, we demitted them. We released them from being here. They will not be in this school. They are not here today.”
Green said the 50 students demitted will receive other opportunities for edcuation, in either the district’s alternative school, adult education program or virtual school, where students learn on their own from home. Some ACE parents are applauding the tough response, but at least one took action on his own to move his two boys out of the district.
“That school was fine until they started bringing in all these other kids from different schools and stuff like that,” said Ronnie Hunt, parent. “They were just very disrespectful, disruptive.”
With about 690 students enrolled in the 7th through 12th grade building, enrollment is much more than last year. Green said he and his staff will remain at ACE every day for as long as it takes until he’s convinced students understand that the standards of what’s expected from them have been raised.
