Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 23, 2005 BE THANKFUL!

And you thought that we had problems!

Without having first-hand knowledge and knowing that newspaper folks get to pick and choose their quotes, I will give Marilyn Perez, the regional superintendent in charge of reforming the school, the benefit of the doubt. However, remarks attributed to her were, let's say, "unfortunate":

• "We are not talking about creating penalties for kids. We're not talking about pointing fingers at our students."
• Perez denied that there had been 20 "fights" on Nov. 17. She said that there had been "12 altercations" and that no gangs had been involved.
• "Kids were being kids," she said. " It's not that we're accepting their behavior, but often at high-school age they challenge. So, did we have some altercations? Yes, there were some altercations, but not 20."

With Olney violence 'out of control,' district removing bad kids

By MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News

WITH VIOLENCE spiraling out of control at Olney High School - constant fighting, kids afraid to use the cafeterias, discipline out the window - district officials are resorting to drastic action:

At least 150 overaged and under-achieving students, considered the source of much of the disruption, will soon be history.

They'll be gone by January, transferred to alternative schools.

They follow 75 other overaged students who were removed in August and September.

These actions, resulting in possibly the largest transfer of students from a school in district history, come in the wake of a scathing letter from a state-appointed official detailing the dismal record of a troubled school. The letter was sent Nov. 18 to schoolc district CEO Paul Vallas.

Harvey Rice, the safe-schools advocate, wrote that his office had received a large number of disturbing reports from Olney employees and parents about the school's violent atmosphere.

Among the complaints he cited were that officials at Olney, which has been divided into two schools, were failing to take proper disciplinary action against student perpetrators.

Rice also stated that:

• On Nov. 17, there were more than 20 fights at Olney West, otherwise known as Olney 704.

• Violence in cafeterias is so bad that students are afraid to go into those rooms.

• Security around the doors separating the two schools is reported to be lax or nonexistent; students pass between the two schools through the doors and air vents.

• Teachers reported that there is no discipline office on the west side, and thus no place to send disruptive students.

"Staff have also stated that they do not want to come forward about these incidents because they 'fear retaliation' from the administrations at both schools and from the school district," Rice wrote.

Rice also said the state was concerned that the school was not reporting all incidents of violence.

School officials emphasized that the 225 students who are or will be leaving the school are not being booted into the street.

"It's not about kicking them out," said Marilyn Perez, the regional superintendent in charge of reforming the school. "It's about, 'We know that you need something different.' "

"We have 19-year-olds in this school. We have to provide them with a choice for alternative education that's going to lead to success," she said.

"We are not talking about creating penalties for kids. We're not talking about pointing fingers at our students."

Many of the overaged students will be sent to three schools the district created last year to offer accelerated diploma programs for 17-year-olds in ninth grade, Vallas said.

In addition, he said, a fourth school for overaged students is being prepared.

Officials tried a drastic remedy for the rampant violence at Olney last summer, when they announced the 2,100-student campus at Front Street and Duncannon Avenue would open this fall as two schools: Olney East and Olney West. West is now known as Olney 704, and East as Olney 705.

Students, however, said dividing the school has failed to conquer the violence problems.

"It's been worse," said Nysheema Epps, 15. "Ever since they divided it, it's sides against sides. They're having riots against each other.

Said Shykeirra McQueen, 15: "It's still the same to me. You got the same amount of kids - ain't no different, ain't no better."

"I like this school a lot; it's just that there are too many fights," William Respes, 14, said yesterday during the dedication ceremony for a new after-school program that drew Vallas and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.

Perez denied that there had been 20 "fights" on Nov. 17. She said that there had been "12 altercations" and that no gangs had been involved.

"Kids were being kids," she said. " It's not that we're accepting their behavior, but often at high-school age they challenge. So, did we have some altercations? Yes, there were some altercations, but not 20."

Said Vallas: "We've been focusing on Olney since the beginning of the year. Olney seems to be a headache, but they are making progress."

He noted that 28 students had been expelled to disciplinary schools so far this year and that the number of reported violent incidents was down 16 percent from this time last year. There have been 64 incidents of serious crimes reported this year compared to 76 at this time last year.

But one of the concerns Rice cited in his letter was that all serious incidents aren't being reported.

A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said that it backs the district's removal of overaged students from Olney.

"Where there is no effective way of dealing with disciplinary issues in the school, the PFT has long supported transferring students to alternative educational settings," said union spokeswoman Barbara Goodman.

Albert Bichner, district deputy chief academic officer, said that before Rice's letter, he had outlined other changes needed to improve conditions at Olney.

These include installing additional surveillance cameras and hiring two additional school-climate managers by Dec. 1, contracting with two community groups to monitor hallways and lunchrooms, shortening lunch periods from 50 minutes to 30 minutes and sending veteran Principal Ozzie Wright to Olney for two weeks to mentor the school's two principals.

Wendell Harris, whose daughter is a 12th-grader at Olney, said he is troubled that she and many other students still don't have identification cards. As for the changes that are coming, he's hoping they are not fleeting.

"I think those initiatives sound very good. I just want to know how long they're going to do them," Harris said, "and if they want some of us parents to go there and do what we can to help."