NOTE: When the school principle sends out 50 LETTERS to parents, threatening their child will be ARRESTED if he/she steps foot on school property...Talk about a school, staff, parents, and students who desperately need help....
Posted at: 01/06/2009 01:37:44 AM
By: Catherine Varnum
http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S730375.shtml?cat=565
A gun being found at East High was just the tip of iceberg. Teachers are protesting, saying they're abused in the classroom. Monday night they fired off questions to the superintendent and teacher's union president.
“They do the bullying, they do the running of the schools,” said concerned parent Belinda Frazier.
Frazier was one of almost 75 parents grilling the superintendent and teacher's union president tonight.
“We need to stop skating around the issues and make our children more accountable,” she said.
They talked about everything from teacher abuse, to engaging kids, to suspending them to a single classroom.
Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard has been criticized for his new in school suspension policy or I.S.S. It basically means instead of sending kids home or out on the streets, they go to a classroom for the day.
Some parents say the system still needs the kinks worked out.
“Make sure that students aren't just being, just sitting in a classroom,” said Demond Weeks. “That they're given counseling and getting to the bottom of the issues that's really going on with the child. That way they can re-engage the students and get them back in the classroom.”
“It depends on the school, sometimes you have it with administrations that work very well with students,” added Frazier.
The district has had its share of top headlines recently.
In November, a loaded gun was found in the school. Two kids were arrested. Hours later, hundreds of teachers protested a board meeting, bombarding Brizard with stories of the abuse they deal with every day in the classroom.
And just last month East High Principal Dr. Beverly Pringle sent this letter home with 50 kids, telling them not to come back or they'd be arrested for trespassing. She said it's because they caused to much trouble in school.
She was there tonight, as Brizard told parents, East High is in crisis.
“We're not going to let 13/14-year-olds run the halls, do what they're want, cause we're the adults,” said Brizard.
“If we keep skating around the issues nothing's going to get done,” said Frazier.
There were some parents there tonight who argue the teachers don't care enough about the students in the classroom. They think they don't try to understand why they cause trouble.
The teacher's union president told me, that's not the case. He says these teachers are caring way beyond the call of duty and the parents need to step up to the plate.
After Monday night’s meeting Superintendent Brizard says he has a better handle on what the big issues are. He says they really need to fine-tune this in-school suspension policy.
Right now each school does its own thing when it comes to disciplining the kids. He's seen some just sit in the classroom.
All Brizard really wants is every kid to still be learning, even if they've been kicked out of class.
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