Talk:Shelton High School (Connecticut)

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Merge suggestion[edit]

Another editor has placed a merge template on this page but didn't bother to discuss their proposal here. They suggested merging the article with an article on the school's locality (such as Shelton, Connecticut). --Dachannien^Talk_Contrib 16:26, 25 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. High schools have generally been afforded a presumption of notability, and this article at least attempts to assert claims of notability even though it lacks citations. Merging the article into an article about its locality would be inappropriate. --Dachannien^Talk_Contrib 16:26, 25 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. Merging would complicate categorization as well Tedickey (talk) 16:43, 25 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Beth Smith[edit]

Anyone got bio info on here? Stuff online is spotty. She became headmaster in 2008, previously taught at the school from 1986-2002, then went to two other schools.--Milowent • ^talkblp-r 19:35, 11 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't looked on social networking websites, although they could be okay sources depending on the material. Looking at google hits prior to recent events, the common theme is "Shelton High School Headmaster Beth Smith was unavailable for comment." But I think adding that she is often unavailable for comment would be too close to violating wp:synth. μηδείς (talk) 20:26, 11 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I found news sources which say she became a Shelton teacher in 1986 (special education) and chair of Spec. Ed. department in 1993. She graduated from Saint Joseph College in West Hartford in 1986. She became Asst Principal at Wethersfield high in 2002, and later AP at Newington HS. She was appointed headmaster at Shelton in 2008.--Milowent • ^talkblp-r 13:10, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

lead[edit]

Please do not remove relevant summarization of material from the lead. It is neither redundant nor inappropriate. Read wp:lead. The purpose of the lead is to summarize the content and to grab reader interest. μηδείς (talk) 16:00, 12 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Prom banning[edit]

While some of the sources make an attempt to present balanced coverage, the section in this topic makes no such attempt, presenting only one side. TEDickey (talk) 08:25, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure what you see as not balanced:

FACT:Shelton High School Headmaster Beth Smith has come under fire for the decision to ban senior James Tate (an honors student with no prior disciplinary record) and two friends from attending the senior prom. They had taped above the school's entrance a message of 12-inch high cardboard letters inviting Tate's classmate, Sonali Rodrigues, to go to the dance with him.[10]

FACT: In addition to giving the students in-school suspensions for what she described as a safety issue, Smith also banned them from the June 4th event. Tom Murphy, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Department of Education, said that students have to learn that, "attending the prom is a privilege." (This is misleading, school policy was that if a student received an in school or out of school suspension past a certain date they would be banned from prom and other end of year senior activities. The in school and banning were one act, not two.)

FACT: In addition to becoming the subject of protests on Facebook, such as the page Online Petition for James Tate and Let James Tate Go to the Prom, the incident has gained not only national[11][12] but also international[13] attention. Tate and Rodrigues appeared on the Today Show to discuss the incident. [14]

FACT:Given Headmistress Smith's intransigence, state lawmakers Jason Perillo, (R-Shelton), and Sean Williams, (R-Waterbury), have introduced an amendment that would prevent schools banning students from school related activities as means of punishment.[15]

If you want to see some balanced coverage please give a suggestion rather than just say it make no attempt to being "balanced coverage" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.198.134.87 (talk) 13:39, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The news coverage has been pretty consistent, there's really one only side of the story to report. The school's PR efforts have been abysmal, to the extent they even have a side.--Milowent • ^talkblp-r 13:48, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What, exactly, is not being reported that would add "balance"? That there is controversy over what happened is a fact. The comments are quite well sourced from major outlets, all of which agree on the basics. Indeed, the verbatim words of one of the supporters of Smith's decision are in the article, but no verbatim of any critics of the decision. I am removing the tag. No specific claim has been challenged and no edit attempting "balance" has either been reverted or even attempted. μηδείς (talk) 15:08, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not really - bear in mind that it's not up to you to remove a maintenance tag based on your unilateral decision. I'll restore it until I can see in your comments that you're inclined to make it WP:NPOV TEDickey (talk) 20:47, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I am sorry, but you seem not to have read the comments of Milowent, 167.198.134.87, or myself, nor have you bothered to identify what you see an violating POV. There is no requirement for editors to sign an NPOV pledge - you have to assume good faith - and you can look at the anti-Smith vandalism that has been reversed on the article if you actually care for evidence. You are not entitled to do a driveby tagging of an article to establish the appearance of bias with a tag when you will not even bother to demonstrate what it is you feel specifically violates any policy or what edits were reverted on a POV basis. And no, reporting that there is a controversy and reporting people's attributed positions does not count as a violation of NPOV. μηδείς (talk) 20:57, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

However, selective commentary (and introducing terms such as "criminal" where the source says "trespass") is POV. I don't see any attempt in the edits to relate the punishment to a policy, but it is aimed at an individual. Reading through the sources, which differ from your edits, there's an attempt to put the episode into perspective, pointing out that things like this are not really unique. Likewise, your comments are phrased, as if you are WP:Owner of the topic. TEDickey (talk) 21:46, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Further, that "international attention" exists according to your source - but does it exist outside the English-speaking media? If not, that could be toned down. TEDickey (talk) 21:48, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

By the way - it seems that the UK link is based on this topic. Something to consider as you edit. TEDickey (talk) 21:51, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The word criminal is not used in the article.

The UK source, the third edit by me May 11, was added 15 minutes after the section was created, and could hardly be based on this article, although it shows that it has been updated since then, which is their fault, not ours.

Note that I have refrained from quoting the Mayor of Shelton and Shelton alumnus Dan Orlovsky as piling on, but am leaving the Governor's comment stand, given his veto power and the pending legislation.

The story has been covered in The US, UK, Canada and Australia. That does count as international coverage. μηδείς (talk) 00:37, 14 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

fair use image[edit]

Please do not delete the fair use image without providing a specific criterion which the image fails. Simply asserting it fails begs the question. It meets all the criteria listed. There is no free equivalent. It does not impair the commercial value of the original. Its use is minimal, cropped, and low resolution. It was previously published. It illustrates a very well sourced and notable article. It is used in no more than one article. It depicts the principal actor publicly putting the controversy to end. It is not used in a gallery or other restricted location, and it meets all description page requirements. μηδείς (talk) 00:09, 15 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The image is not just any old picture of Beth Smith per se. It is a picture of the historical event of the headmistress of Shelton High reversing an internationally criticized decision at a public press conference. μηδείς (talk) 03:20, 15 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Blacklisted Links Found on Shelton High School (Connecticut)[edit]

Cyberbot II has detected links on Shelton High School (Connecticut) which have been added to the blacklist, either globally or locally. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed or are highly inappropriate for Wikipedia. The addition will be logged at one of these locations: local or global If you believe the specific link should be exempt from the blacklist, you may request that it is white-listed. Alternatively, you may request that the link is removed from or altered on the blacklist locally or globally. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. Please do not remove the tag until the issue is resolved. You may set the invisible parameter to "true" whilst requests to white-list are being processed. Should you require any help with this process, please ask at the help desk.

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http://www.change.org/petitions/let-tate-and-his-friends-go-to-prom
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Blacklisted Links Found on Shelton High School (Connecticut)[edit]

Cyberbot II has detected links on Shelton High School (Connecticut) which have been added to the blacklist, either globally or locally. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed or are highly inappropriate for Wikipedia. The addition will be logged at one of these locations: local or global If you believe the specific link should be exempt from the blacklist, you may request that it is white-listed. Alternatively, you may request that the link is removed from or altered on the blacklist locally or globally. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. Please do not remove the tag until the issue is resolved. You may set the invisible parameter to "true" whilst requests to white-list are being processed. Should you require any help with this process, please ask at the help desk.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:

http://www.change.org/petitions/let-tate-and-his-friends-go-to-prom
Triggered by \bchange\.org\b on the local blacklist

If you would like me to provide more information on the talk page, contact User:Cyberpower678 and ask him to program me with more info.

From your friendly hard working bot.—^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 00:30, 14 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Blacklisted Links Found on Shelton High School (Connecticut)[edit]

Cyberbot II has detected links on Shelton High School (Connecticut) which have been added to the blacklist, either globally or locally. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed or are highly inappropriate for Wikipedia. The addition will be logged at one of these locations: local or global If you believe the specific link should be exempt from the blacklist, you may request that it is white-listed. Alternatively, you may request that the link is removed from or altered on the blacklist locally or globally. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. Please do not remove the tag until the issue is resolved. You may set the invisible parameter to "true" whilst requests to white-list are being processed. Should you require any help with this process, please ask at the help desk.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:

http://www.change.org/petitions/let-tate-and-his-friends-go-to-prom
Triggered by \bchange\.org\b on the local blacklist

If you would like me to provide more information on the talk page, contact User:Cyberpower678 and ask him to program me with more info.

From your friendly hard working bot.—^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 14:37, 18 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]