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Within the next week, parents of students attending two local learning institutions will receive a letter from the School District of Philadelphia and what it says may surprise them.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, South Philadelphia High School, 2102 S. Broad St., and Edwin Vare Middle School, 2100 S. 24th St., are among 20 facilities in the city deemed persistently dangerous for the 2008-09 school year based on the number of incidents on campus in ’07-08.
The message will inform parents of the state’s criteria for this classification and the right they have to transfer their child to a nearby, safer public school.
District officials say, while parents should always be concerned for their children’s safety, a persistently dangerous school is not as bad as it sounds.
"Although South Philadelphia High School does have its challenges, we certainly have turned the corner and are moving forward in a non-violent, educationally positive environment," Principal Alice Heller, who is in her second year helming the institution, said. "We want everyone to know it’s a very, very small percentage of students that create issues. The vast majority are wonderful, positive, terrific young people."
In the ’07-08 school year, there were 168 dangerous incidents at Southern as defined by the state. From that, at least 75 arrests were made, James Golden, chief safety executive for the district, said.
At Vare, there were 61 incidents and 22 arrests.
Calls to the middle school were not returned by press time.
Both schools previously made the list — Vare in ’03-04 and ’04-05 and Southern in ’03-04.
The persistently dangerous school list stems from the Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO), part of the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the state’s Department of Education Web site, the USCO "requires each state that receives federal funds establish and implement a statewide policy requiring that a student who attends a ‘persistently dangerous’ public school be allowed to attend a safe public school."
The USCO defines a dangerous incident as: a weapons possession resulting in arrest, including the involvement of guns, knives or other weapons, or a violent incident resulting in arrest, such as a homicide, kidnapping, robbery, sexual offense or assault, as reported on the Violence and Weapons Possession Report, which districts file each year.
Golden said the district is taking action, ensuring non-instructional staff responsible for safety, such as school police, are fully staffed; each school safety team, which is comprised of parents, community groups and interested parties, meets regularly; and more efforts are being made to get parents involved in the classroom and at home. Heller said the latter is a major key in keeping violence at a minimum.
"The first thing parents can do to help us to reinforce positive behavior is be an example of good citizenship to their children," she said. "Kids are very clever, they always do ‘good cop bad cop.’ If Mom says, ‘no,’ they go to Dad. If kids know every adult they go to [is] on the same page, they will do what we expect them to. If they know they have an edge and can get away with things, they will do it. They’re teenagers — that’s their job."
Over recent years, the number of schools in the district that made the list has fluctuated, Golden said.
"About five years ago, there were 27 schools [on the list], then it went to 14, then 10, then 12, and now 20," he said. "You have to look at the entire district. Twelve schools out of roughly 280 is less than 5 percent, 20 is about 8 percent. Yes, we’re concerned and we’re doing things to mitigate the challenge at those 20 schools, but you have to view it in its full context.
"Of the 20 schools on the current list, nine of them last year had a reduction in violent incidents. Last year, we focused on 40 schools, 12 of which were on the list, 28 others we wanted to give some specific attention to. Of those 40 schools, 22 had reductions in violence from ’06-07 to ’07-08, and of the 20 on the list this year, nine of those had reductions."
The education department defines persistently dangerous as any public elementary, secondary or charter school that meets any of the following criteria in the most recent academic year and in one year out of two years prior: For a school whose enrollment is 250 or less, at least five incidents; for a school whose enrollment is 251 to 1,000, the incidents must represent at least 2 percent of enrollment; and for a school with more than 1,000 students, 20 or more dangerous incidents.
Last year, Southern ended the school year with about 1,200 students and the numbers are the same as the new year gets under way. Vare — with grades five through eight — ended last year with about 400 pupils and, as of last Friday, had 379 enrolled.
Golden emphasized the importance of a strong school safety team, a small group every district institution already is required to have, consisting of parents, neighborhood task forces and organizations. For those on the persistently dangerous list, the team is to meet every other week. Other schools meet at least once a month.
"We’ve given [the teams] guidelines on how to organize and how to engage the community in the problem-solving process," he said, adding members for schools on the list will receive professional development and training.
The Philadelphia Police Department also is committed to support efforts in and around the 20 schools on the list. School safety teams are usually 10 to 15 members, including the principal, and are just one way parents can get involved aside from encouraging after-school activities and clubs for their children and participating in the events their charges take part in.
"We encourage parents to come in and do whatever they’d like," Heller said. "I’ve had a few parents come in with concerns. I’m very transparent; I tell everybody the truth, there’s no reason not to. But we cannot do this by ourselves, we need parents."
