News Story 2

The first peer mediation court will meet Tuesday to review student tickets received on campus. The district formed this panel in reaction to the overuse of the city court system.

“We have been getting a lot of complaints from parents about Officer Collado being ‘ticket happy.’’

Many people know that the Officer has been handing out tickets a lot, but many also think he has been very strict on student but when really he is only doing his job. Through Barbara Collado’s 6 years of patrolling the school the number of tickets have increased every year, therefore the number of students out of class have increased also.

“We’ve seen where peer mediation in other schools has been quite successful,” local lawyer, Lauren Davis said. “We think it will alleviate some pressure of the court system here, and let the students feel like they really have a chance here.”

If a student receives a ticket or other punishment, they are not required to appeal to the court. They may pay their ticket, serve their detention or accept the punishment they have been given. The peer mediation court is for those who disagree with their punishment.

Students who do this will not have their infraction recorded in school or city files, but must abide by the decision of the panel.

“When this opportunity came up i knew i wanted to sit on the panel. I can help others who have felt that they have noone to turn to” junior and member of the judging panel said. “Im not that patient to those who blatantly break the rules.