Can a college retract merit scholarship?

Paying for College
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<p>So what you did was even worse…they thought you were accounted for. Safe & sound. Which is worse than your original post of “breaking curfew”. I’m sure you all have made things much tougher for subsequent senior classes. </p>

<p>Your screen name implies that you smoke pot, were you guys smoking pot on that night? Drinking? </p>

<p>You said that you were just “watching TV”, now I’m not so sure. You left out an important detail in your original post. Now that I think of it, 15 kids in a hotel room watching TV after sneaking out and being dishonest about there whereabouts? Hmmm…there’s more to this story, my spidey senses are tingling now. </p>

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<p>420 stands for a type of sailboat, ive never smoked in my life. I was at an engineering competition and everybody was watching television. We’re all good kids. My question was whether or not a retraction of a LOR can affect admissions or financial aid, not whether or not I was in the wrong or not. Yes, I already know that what I did was wrong. But, as someone else has mentioned, the punishment should match the offense, and the teachers even said that we were just hanging out innocently. </p>

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<p>Chaperones are supposed to know where the kids are. It didn’t occur to them that teens might sneak out after curfew? I’ve chaperoned trips for various youth groups. It takes work, but it’s not that hard. The chaperones in our group took turns sleeping, although the kids didn’t know it, so when a bunch of girls took off after curfew to go meet a group of boys from another school you can bet we knew. We rounded them up in short order and called parents. Because it was a youth group and not a school sponsored trip we were able to decide the consequences. If the kids who broke curfew wanted to attend future trips, they had to bring a parent. We were only a couple hours from home so a few of the moms drove to where we were. Two of the girls were packed up and taken home immediately. The mom of a third spent the last day and a half with us personally chaperoning her daughter. Most of them spent the next year traveling with us, which actually turned out to be good bonding time for the moms and daughters.</p>

<p>Kids make mistakes. Our job, as teachers, is to help them learn so they can succeed. Jeopardizing a child’s future for an error in judgment that harmed no one and can’t be undone is unfair; doing so on purpose when there’s no regulation to back them up could be a violation of their contracts. In our district, personnel who want their contracts renewed don’t play games with our kids’ futures.</p>

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<p>@austinmshauri‌ </p>

<p>I agree.</p>

<p>That’s why when I chaperoned, we sat in the hallways…there was going to be no funny business on our watch! Or worse…there was no way I was going back home to tell a paren that something god awful had happened to their child because I was too naive to trust a teenager. Nope. Wasn’t going to happen!</p>

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<p><<<
Agreeing to follow the rules isn’t the same as agreeing to abide by whatever punishment a group of administrators from different districts decide to mete out after the fact. </p>

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<p>exactly. what if these nuts had decided, after the fact, to change all senior grades to F? Seriously, these admins are going too far. These were high school grads who didnt follow a rule, but didnt do anything seriously wrong (didnt leave the hotel, werent drinking/smoking, etc). The punishment should have been something like being sent home immediately…even if the middle of the night (that is what my kids school does…parents sign that they will provide transportation home immediately if a child misbehaves).</p>

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<p>@knit420: I can appreciate that your district administrators want students to follow rules. They would do well to set a good example by following their own state regulations which do, indeed, cover these types of situations.</p>

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<p>Encourage your parents to read your district’s code of conduct. Is breaking curfew on senior class trips even mentioned? I would argue that endangering students’ college acceptances and financial aid doesn’t meet the standard of being “reasonably necessary.” I would also argue that breaking curfew didn’t “materially (or) substantially” interfere with discipline. And I’d bet that your school board’s code of conduct does not condone attempts to get children’s college acceptances rescinded.</p>

<p>I’m not a lawyer, but I think your district is violating your rights and I wouldn’t sit still for it. I would gather all the parents and send a formal letter, along with a copy of this regulation, to your districts (by certified mail) explaining that any attempts to interfere with your college acceptances is a violation of NJ state education regulations and any action toward those ends will be taken very seriously.</p>

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<p>Well…obviously it DID occur to the chaperones that the kids might sneak out after curfew. That is how this group was CAUGHT.</p>

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<p>True, but they should have been caught as they were leaving their rooms…LOLOL not after they had been watching TV for god knows how long…</p>

<p>Let’s just say that the kids left the hotel & something went terribly wrong? Could the administrators been able to say “the teens should have followed the rules” or would they have to take responsibility as adults for allowing the kids to get out of their rooms? Wouldn’t the chaperones be held accountable for not knowing where their charges were at all times? Who would the parents sue? The other teens or the school system? </p>

<p>That’s all I’m saying. When chaperoning, one must be craftier than the kids. </p>

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<p>I can bet that after this year’s mistake in punishment judgment, the schools will figure out some reasonable form of consequence for bad behavior (sending home, lose participation in the next day’s activities, etc. </p>

<p>as for chaperones…</p>

<p>One year my younger son went on a church retreat and the following things happened:</p>

<p>kids snuck out at night and drank
during the DAY, kids got into some canoes with holes and no life vests. </p>

<p>The chaperones caught you-know-what for treating the weekend as a vaca for themselves.</p>

<p>there should have been chaperones in the halls during the night. One school tapes the doors shut so they know who escaped at night…lol.</p>

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<p>I think it is interesting that there was a school sponsored activity after graduation. That doesn’t occur here. The school administrators are definitely overreacting. And to answer the OP’s original question - I doubt highly that this kind of infraction and LOR’s being pulled (which I have never heard possible to do) will make the college pull your scholarship. </p>

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<p>^^</p>

<p>I’m not sure that a college would accept a phone call from some teacher calling. How would the school know it is legit? </p>

<p>and what moron teacher wants to call a school and say, “I wrote a wonderful LOR for Susie. However, a week ago we went on an after-graduation trip, and she and some other students broke curfew by gathering in one room and watching TV. Therefore, I withdraw my LOR.” If I got a call like that I would then say that I was going to call the state’s dept of education office to ask that this educator’s credential get pulled until she finds some more IQ points (likely some of those likely-smarter TV-watching kids can spare a few.)</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids‌ imagine if one of the kids had drowned? Who takes responsibility? It sure as hell isn’t the other teens who signed agreements! </p>

<p>@ahsmuoh‌,
Yes, but the chaperones need to be more vigilant in my opinion…I went on these trips post Natalie Holloway and always worried that something would happen to someone’s child on my watch. Always took my role very seriously. Some parents thought I was a bit too over zealous, and called me the prison warden. Lol but when I asked if they would trust me with their kids -vs- someone who would allow kids to be kids…they admitted that yes, they would trust me. </p>

<p>I’m glad those days are over. Chaperoning is a pain in the ass! It’s exhausting to say the least…I always said never again, but the principal would always ask me to chaperone. </p>

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<p>@austinmshauri‌ I wonder what rights a student has to a recommendation? I don’t recall that in the Bill of Rights. I do agree the parents should be talking to the school administration about a more appropriate consequence, but let’s not go off the deep end here. There is a pretty good chance the colleges will just say “so they were acting like kids…”</p>

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<p>Wow, your children aren’t able to follow rules and have to be watched 24/7? Do you sit outside their rooms at night making sure they don’t seek out, stay up watching TV or talking on the phone against your rules? My daughter has been on 10 day trips; are the chaperones never to sleep? The hotels don’t always assign adjoining rooms, or even rooms on the same floor. If I didn’t trust my kids, they wouldn’t have cell phones or computers in their rooms and they wouldn’t go on school trips. </p>

<p>Thousands of kids go on school sponsored trips every year and don’t break the rules. Why should the school not enforce its stated rules, just because ‘others’ do it, or because these students are going to Ivy colleges? Sometimes the punishment for minor ‘pranks’ is harsh, like not getting to participate in graduation, or being suspended. Those options aren’t available to this group of already graduated seniors. Sometimes punishments are harsh to prevent the next group from doing the same thing. If the schools do nothing meaningful, why would the next group of kids not take the chance of having fun, breaking curfew? They know nothing will happen and they might not get caught.</p>

<p>I don’t think it will have much weight, but I can see a teacher contacting the college and saying “I wrote a LOR but have now discovered the student isn’t as mature and honorable as I had thought. On a trip, the student broke the honor code.” The teacher originally wrote the LOR at the request of the student. The student had no control over what went into it. The teacher signed her name to it and is responsible for the content. This may be the only control she has over her reputation.</p>

<p>I do not think it will matter at all, but I do think the teacher has the right to amend her LOR.</p>

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<p>I didn’t read your whole post, I don’t want to argue… but when I am responsible for someone else’s child, I take it very seriously. Sorry for being a serious, responsible ADULT chaperone who wanted to make sure everyone got home safely…sorry if that offends anyone. </p>

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<p>Are you suggesting the chaperones should spend the night lying on the floor in the hotel hallways waiting for kids to leave their rooms? </p>

<p>I chaperoned a trip. We checked EACH room just after the curfew time which was midnight…and again at 1:00 a.m. We did NOT stay up all night. We actually had to have our wits about us during the DAY as well, and had to sleep.</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>actually that is what some do, taking 1-2 hr shifts…</p>

<p><<<</p>

<p>Wow, your children aren’t able to follow rules and have to be watched 24/7? Do you sit outside their rooms at night making sure they don’t seek out, stay up watching TV or talking on the phone against your rules?
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<p>Of course not. but at home there isnt the attractive nuisance of a bunch of pals around. We are all tempted to stay up later than we normally do when we are amongst friends. I am in Calif right now, and my friends and fam are all staying up later than we normally do.</p>

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<p>On the trip I was on, the HOTEL had a security guard on duty on EACH floor from 1:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. I’m guessing that cost was included in our hotel costs. This particular place often housed large high school groups.</p>

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<p>I’ve chaperoned a lot. I tell them the rules, they know I mean it. My daughter’s boyfriend is not allowed to stay with us any more (lives OOS) because he’s unwilling to follow my rules and I am unwilling to watch him 24/7 (and believe me, he thinks the punishment is WAY unfair and that I’m unreasonable and ruining his life). My kids obey the rules or THEY pay the consequences, even if they think they are unfair, even if I think they are unfair. Sometimes there are ridiculous rules about clothes they can’t wear or taking cell phones or chap stick (not kidding) but we agree to those rules before they go, and they have no standing to complain if they are caught breaking the rules.</p>

<p>I just don’t understand why it’s okay to view the chaperones as the only ones with any responsibility. NewHavenmom says it’s an important job, and then when the chaperones DO their job and supervise and enforce the rules, everyone says they are too harsh, that 17 and 18 year olds can’t be trusted to follow the rules and not break curfew because it’s too tempting to break the rules, that someone needs to sleep in the hallways policing. Really? If these teens are so incapable of following the rules, they should be left home (and supervised by their parents). It is a privilege to go on such a trip, but a responsibility too. They agreed to the rules, to respect the chaperones, and they didn’t. It’s no wonder hotel owners don’t want school groups staying in their hotels!</p>

<p>There are temptations everywhere. Temptations to goof off at the mall, to steal, to sneak into the movies, to trash the food court or run in the hallways. We teach our children not to do these things, we don’t send them to the mall and expect the mall police or store owners to prevent the sneaking and stealing BEFORE it happens, to stand at the door and say ‘no no no, put that back’ (or ‘get back in your rooms, you naught naughty students!’ at a hotel) and take the ‘boys will be boys’ attitude when they get caught, that it’s no big deal, that no one got hurt. The OP knew she was breaking curfew. They have curfews because the student need sleep, because the chaperones need to get to bed, not be dealing with children at 1 am! It’s not a hard concept, so all these Ivy league bound kids knew it was wrong, they just didn’t care. And now the chaperones didn’t do their jobs because they ‘allowed’ the students to break the rules by not having enough checks, not watching them 24/7? Sorry, these students were wrong, not the chaperones.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids, are you breaking a curfew you agreed to when staying up late? Of course not. Are you accusing your chaperones/hosts of doing a bad job for not making sure you go to bed, and stay in bed, on your agreed to schedule? Of course not. I understand the student WANTING to stay up and watch a movie with their friends, but they agreed NOT to do that when they requested to go on the trip.</p>

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<p>There is a reason why chaperones is plural. Even with a small group there should always be at least 2 chaperones awake and able to handle emergencies. Just like standing guard, you cover it in shifts.</p>

<p>Thousands of kids go on trips and break this rule. When a normal chaperone catches kids doing something ‘wrong’ but harmless, they break it up, send them to their own rooms and move on. </p>