October 1, 2009
Union Leader
BOW – Eleven Bow High School students are being punished after they were involved in an “incident” Saturday night at the school district superintendent’s home in Bristol.
Superintendent Dean Cascadden said the students, including his son Ian, violated the athletic department’s code of conduct that banned drinking, drugs and smoking or being at a party where minors are drinking or using drugs.
I heard this from my son. He heard that some kids were already restricted from the school team. Thanks BCC for posting this. I don’t get the Union Leader because I thought it didn’t cover Bow but the Concord Monitor Didn’t cover this. I wonder why?
I hope others comment because i would like to know if this is going to be handled properly.
I suspect this article would draw some comments. The link to the UL website are getting a lot of comments from Bow residents here is an example of one: We recommend you go to the UL website.
When I saw this article online, I wasn’t a bit surprised by the allegations, but by the fact that this was published in the newspaper. The young adults that attend Bow High School of Bow aren’t used to being held accountable for their actions. As someone who graduated from BHS and witnessed the ridiculous nepotism and disregard for the rules typical of the administration, it’s good to see that people are taking notice. This is not the first time events like this, when high profile Bow kids are involved in illegal activity, have occurred, they’re actually quite frequent. This is one of the first times I have seen such events published in the paper. Understandably, the Union Leader recognizes this is a particularly juicy story, as the Superintendent’s son and home are involved. I am still glad it was taken to the press and BHS’s athletic handbook was a used to enforce the rules, a rarity. Perhaps this will usher in a new change in enforcement at BHS. Highly doubtful, though scandal is a great accelerant.
- BHS Grad, Away at College
Are you serious? The CM is not a newspaper, it’s a mouthpiece for the Democrat Party.
You won’t get any ‘real’ news from them, to be sure.
You think they are going to criticize a school employee? Shyah right!
Thanks Paul for the e-mail update. I haven’t been on this website in a while and I haven’t kept up on Bow issues lately. I am interested in seeing what other people have to say on this.
This incident was aired on WMUR TV at 6PM Oct 1st. I’m sure that a lot of people were enlightened. Frankly I’m surprised that Dr. Dean agreed to be interviewed on TV. It will indeed be very interesting to see just how the penalties are “awarded” the individuals involved. It is high time to enforce
the “student rule book.” Anything less that that stipulated in writing would be a sham. Let’s see where this “falls.”
Paul-thanks for the e-mail alert
I spoke to Dr. Cascadden yesterday afternoon and he looked stressed and worn out. He had undergone interviews from several news agencies and he was perparing for a School Board meeting that had the potential to be a circus.
Dr. Cascadden was concerned about his son’s exposure in the newspaper a sign of a good parent. I hope his son has learned what his dad is going through this week.
I am concerned about some Bow residents who are telling people to shut up about this incident. Sweeping this under the rug is the worst possible path to take.
Bow, lets make this a teachable moment. If we were were Obama we would all be sitting around ahving a beer right now. OOOOOOOOh wait a minute that isn’t such a good idea.
Hang in there Dean, the community of Bow will rally around you if this is handled properly.
Van
Sent to Paul Revere:
The punishments were not to harsh nor to lenient for the school. They
are consistent with the school policy. Should we make this a teachable
moment? I dare say that I hope you make every moment a teachable
moment, but if you are suggesting that some additional outside
interference in the school disciplinary process would be fair or
reasonable I would suggest not. The school is not responsible to act
as “the police agent”. They found out about unacceptable conduct and
they applied the policy. The police were not involved at the time of
the incident, perhaps they need a “learning moment” on how to do their
jobs. This would be Bristol Police by the way.
Finally, the real learning moment here is for parents. When you leave
16,17,18 year old kids at home unsupervised they WILL behave like
16,17,18 year old kids. The parents of all of these students erred in
their judgment. I wouldn’t leave my children home alone. I wouldn’t
let my children go to a home without parental supervision. I would
speak to the parents before my kids went over. I would have my kids
call from the destination as soon as they arrived. The fact that this
is the superintendent is not relevant. If you want to make a
difference in peoples you do it by giving them the tools, not
interfering.
I just learned of all this going the other day. I originally had mixed feelings but after talking with a few neighbors, but after reading the replies on the Union Leader link above, I realized how many immature students that wrote in with their disregard for the laws, the naive parents that wrote in with their total disregard for the law, and all the rest who just made excuses for the 11 kids involved that broke the law. Incredible!!
Maybe Bow should reconsider this incident when they negotiate future employment contracts with School District employees (Superintendents & Principals) when they allow non-resident students into our schools that are not Town residents and taxpayers.
Here we have a Bristol resident who is a contarct negotiated student at BHS hosting a drinking party for BHS students at his home in Bristol NH. We could spare ourselves future publicity like this in the future if we stop doing this. How many other non-resident students do we have in Bow school system?
Just a thought.
RLB:
Right on!!! Any negotiations with future superintendents should NOT include the “privilege” of having his or her offspring attend any of Bow’s schools. If the potential candidate wishes to secure this position, then this above mentioned perk should be a non-issue. If having one’s child attend Bow’s
schools is that important, why not move to town? Seems like a simple enough solution to me. If any school board member is taking the time to read this, please consider the ramifications of what transpired as a result of the drinking party in Bristol. End this perk with the next superintendent
application. I’m sure there are more than enough potential candidates now
in the unemployment lines!!