When students get in “big” trouble, the majority of times it leads to detention, or a parent taking away a phone. Yet other times, depending on the severity of the situation, a police officer might issue a citation.
While getting a citation as a teenager may not seem like a big deal to some, most don’t understand the consequences citations have inside and out of high school.
According to Molly Wilson, Big Sky Class of 2027 counselor, there is a concrete system across Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) that includes school administration and staff, courts, and police personnel, and is designed to help students grow past their citations.
“Most of the juvenile citations we (Missoula Police) issue go to a separate court than they would for an adult,” said Christian Cameron, Big Sky’s presiding school resource officer.
Youth court, as it’s labeled, deals with every crime committed by someone under the age of 18, unless there’s a “highly egregious offense,” Cameron said, such as murder or assault with a deadly weapon. Cameron described youth court as, “a little less formal,” because it is designed to be more about, “working with a kiddo to get them to change behaviors through the learning process,” rather than punishing them.
Officer Cameron continuously keeps the parties in the loop throughout the process. If a student commits a crime at school, he is the primary officer that will issue a citation and inform administrators, counselors, and students.
If a student gets a citation outside of school, ranging from theft upwards, the school will generally get looped in via Officer Cameron.
“He represents our Big Sky Students, so he’ll typically handle those,” assistant principal Christine Hiller-Claridge, known as HC, said of Officer Cameron and out of school citations. “We (school administrators) don’t necessarily take part in that. We might to the extent if it happened during the school day,” HC said.
However, if a student is charged with more serious offenses and the court requires strict protocols or house arrest, HC said school administration and staff will be more involved. This could include a strict attendance policy, lunchtime supervisions, and spaces for students to meet with their parole officers (POs).
According to HC, “POs ask for reports from us, so we have to track the attendance and behavior very clearly.” If a student breaks those requirements, then they are reported to their POs. The PO oftentimes responds with legal action, like, “extending their parole, house arrest, or depending on the severity, they could just haul them and put them in juvie,” HC said, but clarified that it doesn’t happen very often.
Oftentimes, the school will also implement support team members, like counselors or social workers, who work as “advocates” for the students. Their job in relation to citations can consist of mediating a conversation with a parent, trying to dive into what support the student needs, and de-escalating students, explained Big Sky counselor Molly Wilson.
Due to changes in school funding, Wilson said MCPS had to let go of their project success counselor. According to Wilson, this counselor was a licensed addiction counselor, and they would help with substance abuse classes or meet with students in the building.
Regardless of completing all of the court and school requirements that come with a juvenile citation, Wilson said these behavior records will be a part of a student’s cumulative file. “Once it’s on there, it’s on there,” Wilson said. However, she also said a student can get a sentence deferred when they turn eighteen by completing their probation.
In full, MCPS works with the court and the police department to allow students to learn from their mistakes and set them up for their futures.
According to HC, “usually it’s a good partnership with the city to ensure that we’re trying to set kids up for success, trying to get them in education, and understand that there’s probably a variety of circumstances that have informed their poor decisions.”
