Saturday, December 29, 2007

Students React to the upscale Indiana [No] DUI principal

He blew twice the legal limit after police stopped him for swerving his car and hitting curbs at 1 a.m. But instead of being arrested, police play taxi. Now comes word that after drinking at his superintendent's home, Scott Syverson made another stop.

So the board of education decided it needed an investigation. So who do they call upon? Why, the superintendent he had been drinking with, of course.

This from the Indianapolis Star: Video screenshot from Fisher Police video shows Syverson with his BFF Officer Kevin Kobli.

Charges may yet be filed in the case of Fishers High School Principal Scott Syverson, who a week ago was stopped and then driven home by a Fishers police officer, even though police said Syverson failed roadside sobriety tests.

Hamilton County [Indiana] Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp [told the Indianapolis Star] Friday that she could complete her investigation by the end of next week. The prosecutor and the Hamilton Southeastern School Board and superintendent initiated investigations after Fishers police revealed Thursday, following inquiries from news media, that the principal was considered to be drunk when a police officer stopped his weaving car just after 1 a.m. Dec. 22 and then drove him safely home. There was no arrest and no police report of the incident.

Board President Jeff Sturgis said the board's investigation shows Syverson had left a party hosted by Superintendent Concetta Raimondi two hours before his traffic stop and continued drinking elsewhere....

...Superintendent Raimondi, who is leading the district's investigation into Syverson's conduct that night, was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment.

Sturgis, the School Board president, said members recognized the potential conflict involved with the superintendent's investigation into drinking that may have occurred at her home.

Sturgis said he and the board members also are gathering information, however, including the details that show Syverson had been drinking elsewhere, too.
Hamilton County high school students share their thoughts about the incident involving Fishers High School Principal Scott Syverson:

• "It sends a message that is against what they tell us we can and can't do. I'm shocked that the police let him go. I'm wondering what was up with that. . . . It seems that something should happen to him, even if he wasn't arrested. . . . I talk to him a lot, and he is one of the administrators I like the most. But everyone is going to give him a hard time after this."Kevin Schlatter, 16, Fishers High

• "Just by him getting away with it shows that he tried to use his power. If he tries to send that message to us, I don't know if anyone can take it serious anymore," especially considering how alcohol and drug warnings are frequently given to students. "They have us attend these convocations about drinking and drug use before the prom, so it's kind of ironic that this would happen."Craig Murray, 17, Fishers High

• "I've heard a bunch of students from HSE (neighboring Hamilton Southeastern High School) making jokes about it."Josh Heltsley, 17, Fishers High

• "I think it is unfair that he got off because anyone else would have gotten a DUI, and yet they let him go because of who he was."Chris Rogers, 16, Hamilton Southeastern High, Fishers

• The lesson was that "if you know certain people, you will get off. . . . Now, maybe kids who are better off will think they can get away with things, too."Daniel Porter, 16, Carmel High School---
For many Hamilton County high school students, Friday's lesson was hypocrisy -- with an introduction to irony.
Daniel Porter, 16, who attends Carmel High School, said his classmates had heard
about it, too. The lesson, he said, was that "if you know certain people, you will get off." "Now, maybe kids who are better off will think they can get away with things, too."

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