Stratford High School (Goose Creek, South Carolina)

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Stratford High School is a high school located in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

Stratford, serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Berkeley County School District. Stratford has about 2,700 students. The "Knight" is the mascot of Stratford. The current principal is James Spencer, who has been principal since May 2004.

1 School Song
2 Clubs and Organizations
3 Drug Raid At Stratford High School
4 ACLU Lawsuit
5 References
6 Surveillance Video of the Raid
7 External link

[edit] School Song

All Hail Thee, Mighty Stratford!
Together We Shall Stand.
We'll Show Our Pride And Spirit
To All Throughout The Land.
With Hopes To Last Forever
As Many Years Go By,
We'll Be Forever Faithful,
All Hail Thee, Stratford High!

and whoever was moronic to talk about a school, yet neglect anything, but the raid upon the school. Dissociating its distinct pride, its teachers, fantastic they are, as I am well aware of their abilities. Though, some are quite moronic, I will not go into those who are, but will main discreet about such a topic as that. The school is great, fantastic indeed. I've never grown more of an appreciation for a teacher within college, than I have for some of the teachers contained in that school.

[edit] Clubs and Organizations

Academic Team

Art Club

Honors Society

Athletic Trainers

Band

Baseball

Basketball

BETA Club

Broadcast

Cheerleading

Cross Country

Crusaders

DECA

Drama Club

Drill Team

Excalibur Yearbook

FBLA

FCA

FCCLA

Football

French Club

Freshman Board

Gama Phi Knights

Golf

HOSA

Imagine Magazine

Japanese Club

Jazz Band

JROTC

Junior Classical League

Junior Board

Knight Edition

Math Club

Media Club

Model United Nations

NHS

Peer Mediation

Powder Puff Football

Quest

Rifle Team

Senior Board

Sentinel Newspaper

SHS Singers

Silent Knights

Skills USA

Soccer

Softball

Sophomore Board

Spanish Club

Speech and Debate

Student Council

Swim Team

Teacher Cadets

Tennis

Track

VICA

Volleyball

Wrestling

Youth Court

[edit] Drug Raid At Stratford High School

The November 5, 2003 police raid of Stratford High School was recorded by both the school’s surveillance cameras and a police camera. The tapes show students as young as 14 forced to the ground in handcuffs as officers in SWAT team uniforms and bulletproof vests lead a drug dog to search their book bags. The ACLU represents 20 of the nearly 120 students caught up in the raid.

The raid was initiated by the school’s principal at the time, George McCrackin, who resigned shortly after the tapes surfaced on national television. The raid was authorized based on the principal’s suspicion that several students were dealing marijuana. No drugs or weapons were found during the raid and no charges were filed.

As 16-year-old Joshua Ody, one of the students caught up in the raid, put it, “I felt like I had less rights than other people that day.”

On July 10, 2006, a settlement was reached that awarded $1.6 million to the students in the law suit, of which $1.2 million was divided among the students, and the remaining $400,000 to be used in legal fees.^[1]

[edit] ACLU Lawsuit

Following the raid, the ACLU brought a lawsuit on behalf of students’ families charging police and school officials with violating the students’ right to be free from unlawful search and seizure and use of excessive force. The lawsuit demanded a court order declaring the raid unconstitutional and blocking the future use of such tactics, as well as damages on behalf of the students.

In addition to recognizing students’ rights to be free from unconstitutional search and seizure and restricting police tactics, the settlement establishes a $1.6 million dollar fund to compensate the students and help cover medical and counseling costs from the incident.

The cost of the settlement will be paid by the city of Goose Creek, the Goose Creek Police Department, and the Berkeley County School District where the school is located, with assistance from their respective insurance companies.

It is not yet known exactly how many of the nearly 120 students will accept the settlement. The offer came in response to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 53 students, of which the ACLU’s lawsuit is a part. While both sides have agreed to the terms of the settlement, it will be technically final in July 2006, when it is expected to receive judicial approval.

The ACLU’s clients are: 15-year-old Carl Alexander, Jr.; 15-year-old Rodney Goodwin; 17-year-old Samuel Ody III; 17-year-old Micah Bryant; 15-year-old Marcus Blakeney; 14-year-old Danyielle Ashley Cills; 15-year-old Cedric Penn, Jr.; 14-year-old Elijah Le'Quan Simpson; 14-year-old Jeremy Bolger; 14-year-old Tristan Cills; 14-year-old Arielle Pena; 17-year-old Jalania McCullough; 17-year-old Cedric Simmons; 14-year-old Nathaniel Smalls; 15-year-old Timothy Rice; 15-year-old Shnikqua Simmons; 16-year-old Joshua Ody; 16-year-old De'Nea Dykes; 15-year-old Chernitua Bryant; and 18-year-old Rodricus Perry.

The essential terms of the settlement may be viewed at: http://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/youth/24952lgl20060407.html

Final Settlement documents may be found at: http://stratfordsettlement.com

Profiles of the students as well as the initial complaint filed by the ACLU may be viewed at: http://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/gen/10672prs20031215.html