Harry Minium
The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
City Council members and the mayor asked Superintendent Stephen C. Jones on Tuesday to explain reports of massive discipline problems at the city's main alternative school.
A 185-page booklet produced by "concerned teachers, staff and students" described violence and unrest at the Madison Career Center, including the throwing of tables and chairs at faculty members. Administrators have not done enough to ensure the safety of teachers and students, they said.
The booklet was distributed to several City Council and School Board members. The board was already scheduled to hear a report about Madison at its meeting at 5 p.m. today at the School Administration Building.
Madison, at 37th Street and Hampton Boulevard, is nearly 100 years old. It serves middle and high school students who have serious behavior problems, including many with long-term suspensions.
Some students pursuing GEDs in a special program also attend.
City Manager Regina V.K. Williams said Jones called her Tuesday after news of the booklet emerged in The Virginian-Pilot. He volunteered to meet with the council at its meeting June 2.
Mayor Paul Fraim, who asked Williams to provide him with a copy of the report, said that if the allegations are true, they are "totally unacceptable."
"My observation, after not having read the report but driving by that school several times a week, is that the building is old and tired," Fraim said. "But that's not an excuse for not exercising discipline."
Council members Paul R. Riddick and Daun S. Hester also expressed concern.
"If we have problems, we need to correct them and stop making excuses," Riddick said. He added that "Madison is one of the most dismal school settings in our district."
Hester said Madison "is not an appropriate setting. We need to figure out a way for the children to go somewhere else before September."
Madison has experienced problems for a while, School Board Chairman Barry Bishop said, and administrators have been working to improve the school. However, he questioned what motivated the authors to distribute the report.
"If teachers have concerns, one would assume they would have that conversation with the principal," he said. "There are times when motives are not entirely pure."
The booklet, which includes 30 signatures, alleges that concerns of faculty members have not been adequately addressed.
"Day after day we come to work in a constant state of fear," the authors wrote.
Some School Board members said Tuesday they hadn't received copies of the booklet. Billy Cook said he requested a copy from school administrators, but he expected some of the information won't be new for him.
"The bottom line is we've got some work to do," he said.
Cook said Jones shouldn't be judged only by his hiring decisions at Madison, where he has appointed two principals in the past two years.
Cook also was reluctant to blame the alternative school's problems on the current principal, John Hatcher.
"Obviously, we hold him responsible," Cook said, "but I'm just as responsible as he is."
Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com
Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com
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School Board Chair statement irresponsible
Board chirman Bishop should be ashamed of himself. I personally sent him an email back in november describing the problems festering at Madison. I know these teachers well and i know their concern is for the students and their families first and foremost. Unfortunately, it seems there is too often a voice from on-high trying to cover up the highest levels of cynicism and cuplability and to escape responsibility for taking corrective action. This time the voice seems to belong to Barry Bishop.
it isn't the building....
it's the kids.
Shameful
Shameful. That is the only way to describe the series of events that have transpired leading up to the publication of this article. The problems faced by the teachers and students at Madison,as well as teachers throughout the district, while not wholly avoidable, certainly could have been lessened by the presence of competent and accountable leadership from our elected city officials and those they chose to appoint to oversee the school board and district.
While the teachers should be applauded for taking the initiative and caring enough about the safety of their classrooms to risk public scrutiny, the indictment of their skill set and possible retaliation by aforementioned officials, the situation will not improve until capable leadership, of the type that can be enforced and quantified, flows from the top down.
School board Chairman Bishop questioning the motives of these teachers is despicable and should be noted for future reference. As Chairman he should have been well aware of these problems and taken the necessary steps to correct said problems before they escalated to the point where teachers had to cry out for help.
There is no doubt in my mind current Site Coor
Madison/NPS
Ridiculous that this comes out mid May, and schools are out next month!! I can tell you first hand that students do run the schools. Discipline policies are followed, and then some arent. A key problem is the lack of consistancy. And thats the "higher ups" fault. The NPS admin folks downtown have NO CLUE!! They dont have a CLUE as to what goes on inside. Folks havent taught in a class with the generation of kids we have now. The folks that work inside the schools are the ones dealing with the problems. Not the folks behind their desks that work DOWNTOWN. Ask me how I know.......I work in a certain high school in Norfolk!!!
"lost souls"
When I read of students who are trouble-makers or difficult to school for various reasons I wonder how it all came about. I see us humans as a composite of four ingredients: physical,mental, emotional, and spiritual- then stir the ingredients with a big "spoon". What you get is a well balanced ,productive human being capable of growing, learning, and loving. It doesn't always work that way and it is very difficult for a "do-over". I don't have the answers but it does sadden me that some of the youth today can't cope.Their futures do not look bright and productive.
Don't blame the students....blame the building!
I don't care if the building is "100 years old"...if it's "dismal"...if it's "old and tired"...or if it's "not an appropriate setting". Those are blame-deflecting comments by people who should know better. By their reasoning, perhaps we should transfer all the college students out of Harvard, Yale and, closer to home, the University of Virginia. All of these prestigious institutions have many buildings a LOT older than Madison, but they still manage to produce scholars year after year. One solution that was given?..."We need to figure out a way for the children to go somewhere else before September." And that will improve things...HOW? It's just shifting the problem to another neighborhood.
One possible solution? Require every member of the city council, the Madison school administrators, the mayor and the superintendent to sit through the movie "Lean on Me", the story of Principal Joe Clark, who cleaned up Eastside High in Jersey. Then, act accordingly. They'll know what to do, if they're honest with themselves.