School Board Notes 10.10.06

By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

• School Violence On the Rise
• Burton Teachers, Programs Dropped Due to Poor Enrollment
• Special Program Will Serve Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students
• Board Supports Proposition 1D

School Violence On the Rise

School Resource Officers (police officers assigned to schools) have been busy this year, responding to a rash of assaults and robberies, according to Lt. Colleen Fatooh, SRO liaison with the district.

There has been a wave of incidents in which students attack and beat up a student while another student associated with the attacker records the incident on a cell phone camera, presumably for bragging rights. "We've had five or six this week alone," Fatooh said. But, she added, "At least these kids are getting caught so the victims aren't afraid to come to school." She also said there have been numerous iPod robberies and an increase in fights, especially among young women.

Providing the Board with a breakdown of last year's arrests, Fatooh reported 219 school-related arrests -- involving incidents involving students that occurred either on school grounds or between students traveling to and from school – last year, mostly for robbery, battery, vandalism and aggravated assault. There have also been weapons possession incidents. Forty-four percent of those arrested were African-American, 8 percent were Latino, 6 percent were Asian, 9 percent were Caucasian and 13 percent were Pacific Islander.

The incidents occur not just at school but also largely at bus stops and on MUNI lines. Certain lines are particularly problematic, Fatooh said. These include: the San Bruno Avenue corridor, the stop at 16th Street and Utah headed to Potrero Hill, the 47 line and Van Ness corridor; the 22 Fillmore bus and the 16th Street stop specifically, and the J Church line.

Commissioner Dan Kelly said he was concerned about the disconnect between the number of students arrested at school and the much lower number that came before the board for expulsion. Is the staff failing to take administrative action, or is the easy presence of officers raising the level of response to schoolyard fights, he asked. Fatooh said officers had neither the time nor desire to arrest kids for schoolyard fights. "These are not little incidents. We've had a couple of kids go away in ambulances," she said. "When there's a clear aggressor and someone has to go to the hospital or is beaten up pretty bad, that's when an arrest is made."

Board member Mark Sanchez asked that the district look at how Community-Based Organizations such as conflict resolution programs could work with the administrators and SROs to address some of the less-serious problems and reduce the reliance on police.

Burton Teachers, Programs Dropped Due to Poor Enrollment

Several teachers and programs were cut at Burton High School virtually overnight seven weeks into the school year, several Burton families reported. Students received notices today that their schedules had been revised, some of their teachers moved to other schools and some of their programs cut entirely, said Burton student Filmer Yu. Students arrived in class to find instructors they'd never seen before. Among the programs cut entirely was an orchestra that grown to include some 150 kids, who would show up at 7 a.m., an hour before school began, to participate, Yu said. The instructor, who had shared time between Burton and Visitacion Valley Middle School, is now exclusively at Visitacion Valley.

Burton is one of 15 schools with enrollment well below what was projected in the spring. It is 254 students short of what it was expected. District staff said making the projections was often difficult and was unclear on the reasons for the shortfall, other than that parents had chosen to go to different schools or to leave the district entirely.

Special Program Will Serve Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

The District is in the process of implementing several programs for deaf and hard of hearing students, according to a report presented by program administrator Pam Macy. Among the goals are to developing a continuum of services (toddler through 12th grade) for deaf and hard-of-hearing students that will include magnet programs for these students. Magnet programs were launched this year at Cesar Chavez elementary, Claire Lilienthal elementary, Lafayette elementary, Aptos middle school, Lilienthal middle school, and John O'Connell High School.

The department is also implementing a new toddler program for 18 to 36 month olds, which opens October 2007 at Tule Elk Child Development Center. It is also looking to implement pre-K programs by next August, but the locations have not been identified.

Other goals include streamlining enrollment so students can access the magnet programs and recruiting staff trained in serving this population. The Special Education department will continue to hold quarterly meetings to gather input from parents. The next meetings are December 12, March 6, 2007 and June 5, 2007.

Board Supports Proposition 1D

The Board approved a resolution in support of Proposition 1D, a state measure to appear on the November ballot that would grant over $7 billion for K-12 educational facilities. The Proposition could provide almost $20 million of support for projects in SFUSD's 2003 Bond Program, as well as $30 million for the proposed 2006 Bond Program. Proposition 1D allocates funds for such purposes as earthquake retrofits, playground safety, asbestos removal, and updating old structures.

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