Persistently Dangerous Schools II

A new school year (SY 2010-2011) is upon us. Returning to school is a time of excitement for kids as well as parents. Yet, many parents have received notices that their children will attend a school identified as "Persistently Dangerous" by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Rather than joy and excitement these parents and students sometimes have feelings of dread and trepidation. The following Philadelphia Public Schools have been identified as "Persistently Dangerous."

Fitzsimons HS

Roxborough HS

Strawberry Mansion HS

Vaux HS

Roberto Clemente MS

SA Douglas HS

Edison HS

Fels HS

Gratz HS

Overbrook HS

Sayre HS

Shaw HS

Frankford HS Lincoln HS

Olney East HS

Olney West HS

Furness HS

South Phila HS

E Vare MS

It is important to repeat the criteria used to identify a school as persistently dangerous. The definition includes and involves the frequency of specific violent criminal offenses. A “Violent Criminal Offense" is defined as any of the following offenses that are set forth in Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes:

· Kidnapping
· Robbery
· Aggravated Assault (on the student)
· Rape
· Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse
· Sexual Assault
· Aggravated Indecent Assault
· Indecent Assault
· Attempt to commit any of the following:  homicide, murder or voluntary manslaughter.”

Visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) website below and type in "persistently dangerous schools" for a more detailed description.

www.pde.state.pa.us/

The persistently dangerous school designation is a clarion call for parents to get involved with the school and community. Schools are reflections of the communities in which they are located. Therefore, it is incumbent upon parents to insure the safety of students traveling to and from school as well as inside the building. To accomplish this task, parents and community members can start with their local Block Captains and Town Watch organization. Town Watch Integrated Services (TWIS) can assist community members by providing Safe Corridor training. School administrators and staff can actively involved parents in the development of School Safety Plans. Parents can volunteer in the school and become members of the non-instructional team that addresses issues related to positive climate and discipline. Indeed, they should seek to become members of the school safety team. If a school does not have a School Based Safety Team they should consult with the principal to start a safety team. This team is an excellent vehicle for resolving and solving problems related to safety. All students have a right to receive an education in a safe and orderly building that is conducive to learning. Schools have many programs designed to insure safety but parental support is needed. Parents are encouraged to contact the schools and take advantage of the many safety activities and programs by getting involved. It is a team effort that needs the involvement of parents and community members to achieve success.

Leadership, Education and City Revitalization

    Despite a perceived myriad number of socio-behavioral and economic ills, urban cities remain as the lifeblood and core of the most populous SMSA  – Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in America. Suburban and rural areas are inextricably tied to this core and could not exist without it. Thus, there is a need for more organizations dedicated to enhancing the vitality of cities and its families. Further, these organizations must develop an integrated network of services and supports that provide a continuum of services.  Indeed, there is need for more formal alignment and collaboration between existing organizations to mitigate the socio-behavioral and economic ills of cities. This begins with basic community leadership and organizing.

    Community based organizations cannot rely solely on politicians and the corporate community but must internally promote the development of safe and supportive school, community, and home environments for children and families through leadership and resource organizing. These organizations should collaborate to provide assistance with identifying and implementing, opportunities, initiatives, programs and strategies that augment healthy school and community environments that allow its denizens to thrive and maximize potential.  A broad array of service providers and supports exist in all communities and schools. Each should be part of a clearly articulated network and integrated delivery system that addresses individual, familial and community risk and protective factors. Utilizing effective community network development strategies (Best Practices) with fidelity will provide methodologies that assist communities and schools identify common values, beliefs, and unified practices to address the areas of social organization, academics, behavior, climate and safety.

    The staff of September Apples Diversified Services (SA), LLC has extensive experience and systems knowledge of the socio-behavioral/mental health, socio-political, and organizational systems that impact school districts; communities based organizations, individuals and families. It has developed and implemented training for administrative/school-based staff and community based organizations. It has also provided instructional supports and secondary education to adult learners and community groups on various human service domains. SA has lead and managed behavioral health initiatives, counseling services, psychological services, housing, homeless initiatives, drug and alcohol programs, attendance/truancy initiatives, classroom management and discipline initiatives and safety/violence prevention programs.

    Successful organizations require both transformational leadership and transactional leadership. The former begins with aligning and structuring organizational activities and processes with the vision of the current Board and Executive Director. The latter involves analyzing, strengthening and expanding the existing infrastructure and systems. There is a clear distinction between an organizational leader and organizational managers. An organizational leader formulates the vision and then inspires staff to work as a unit/team to achieve the vision. The organizational manager assigns tasks to staff within the infrastructure to achieve organizational goals and objectives. They are responsible for collaborating with the leader to accurately convey objectives, strategies and processes that advance the organization’s mission. Strengthening and expanding an organization involves aggressive marketing and networking. A strong organization usually has a strong leader and relies on collaboration and partnering with community-based organizations, colleges/universities, schools (public, inclusive of Charter, private, and parochial), foundations, community leaders/families and political leaders (local, state and national).

    Leadership and management styles vary but transactional leadership provides clarity of roles, expectations and responsibilities to staff through goals, objectives and benchmarking within a time frame.  It also provides training and professional development to ensure staff have or can develop the skills sets necessary for successful performance. All staff should have formal and informal performance meetings to monitor progress as well as delineating strengths and weaknesses. These skills and standards can be taught as well as multitasking. Instruction that clarifies standards, roles and functions within a team concept and organizational structure will individuals to achieve not only personal goals but also organizational end goals. September Apples Diversified Services, LLC can provide effective instruction and training on leadership that leads individuals and organizations to achieve goals. Coalesced, the proper leadership and education can provide the foundation for basic city revitalization.

Health Impact Assessment - HIA

Topic from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):  Health Impact Assessment (HIA)
Community and school leaders should explore the efficacy of Health impact assessment. HIA is commonly defined as “a combination of procedures, methods, and tools by which a policy, program, or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population”

HIA is used to evaluate objectively the potential health effects of a project or policy before it is built or implemented. HIA can provide recommendations to increase positive health outcomes and minimize adverse health outcomes. The HIA framework is used to bring potential public health impacts and considerations to the decision-making process for plans, projects, and policies that fall outside of traditional public health arenas, such as transportation and land use.
The major steps in conducting an HIA include
•    Screening (identify projects or policies for which an HIA would be useful),
•    Scoping (identify which health effects to consider),
•    Assessing risks and benefits (identify which people may be affected and how they may be affected),
•    Developing recommendations (suggest changes to proposals to promote positive or mitigate adverse health effects),
•    Reporting (present the results to decision-makers), and
•    Evaluating (determine the affect of the HIA on the decision).
HIA is similar in some ways to environmental impact assessment (EIA). The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impact of their proposed actions on social, cultural, economic, and natural resources prior to implementation. Proposed actions may include projects, programs, policies, or plans. HIA, unlike EIA can be a voluntary or a regulatory process that focuses on health outcomes such as obesity, physical inactivity, asthma, injuries, and social equity. HIA has been used within EIA processes to assess potential impacts to the human environment.

Abstract: Health impact assessment (HIA), a systematic assessment of potential health impacts of proposed public polices, programs, and projects, offers a means to advance population health by bringing public health research to bear on questions of public policy. The United States has been slow to adopt HIA, but considerable strides have been made in many other countries, and under the auspices of the World Health Organization and World Bank. Varied applications in these diverse milieus have given rise to diverse approaches to HIA—quantitative/analytic, participatory, and procedural—each with distinct disciplinary foundations, goals, and methodologies. Suitability of these approaches for different applications and their challenges are highlighted, along with areas in which methodological work is most needed and most likely to advance the field from theory and infrequent application to more routine practice in the United States.

For more information on NEPA, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site at http://www.epa.gov/oecaerth/basics/nepa.htmlExternal Web Site Icon.
 (1999 Gothenburg consensus statement, http://www.euro.who.int/document/PAE/Gothenburgpaper.pdf Adobe PDF file [PDF - 138 KB] External Web Site Icon)

School Board versus Teacher Negotiation

Negotiation is a complex decision making process that is utilized to resolve disputes, delineate behavioral standards, determine collective bargaining standards, or to craft outcomes to the benefit of involved participants. The negotiation process has multiple forms. See below.
# Win/Win, or there is no deal
# Win/Win
# Win/it does not matter what happens to the other party
# Win/Lose
# Lose/Lose
# Lose/Win

Often time, negotiations between school boards and teachers unions are quite adversarial and vitriolic. The core issues frequently revolve around compensation/salary, benefits (health insurance, pension, vacation time, sick time, personal time, etc.), length of workday, time on task and general working conditions.  All of the above noted issues can be viewed as disputes but is it necessary for the proceedings to take on an adversarial posture as one opponent going against the other?  Many ascribe to the cliché that the “Children are our future” until it comes time to compensate those individuals entrusted to provide children with an education in order for them to become productive members of society. Remember school systems exist to educate children. That is an unchallengeable basic assumption.

Teacher unions seek monetary compensation and benefits for its members. The administrative/management team assumes the role of steward of the taxpayer’s money. Thus, it frequently assumes the posture of fiscal conservative while striking a balance to provide meaningful compensation and benefits to the teaching staff. The desires of children and families/parents seemingly are not prominent in the negotiation process. Yet, both sides profess to be bargaining in “good faith.”

    Good faith bargaining is a primary methodology or tool. Good faith bargaining requires objective criteria for fairness. Applying that to compensation, teachers should expect to receive remuneration at a level commensurate with their level of professionalism and educational status. This can be acquired by sampling teacher pay in the standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA) of the community. This will provide a numerical average or median for local salaries. However, many school districts are confronted with variables such as community deterioration, drugs, violence and other social ills that negatively impact providing an education in a safe and orderly environment. Should these non-instructional variables influence the negotiations? The short answer is yes. If the aforementioned variables impeded or interfere with instruction they must be addressed. All staff and students need safe an orderly work and learning environments. Not having safe and orderly work environments is a recipe for failure if not discussed and addressed through the negotiation process that culminates in an agreement or contract.

The discussion must be an exchange of concepts, involving ideas, information, offers, and counter-offers. In school board versus teacher union negotiations both sides should consider the needs of families and students. The benefits to families/parents and students should be a common ground starting point. Common ground or mutually agreed upon domains should readily be removed from the process. Failure to do so prolongs the process with unnecessary verbal exchanges and dialogue. Agreeing to concepts during the initial stages of negotiation also suggests a degree of cooperation and a willingness to participate in “good faith bargaining.”

As the bargaining process evolves the parties should identify other primary topics for debate. It is imperative to remember that that negotiation is not static but a dynamic process that constantly evolves. In many negotiations the primary topics are labeled issues that presupposes the existence of a dilemma or problem. Efficient negotiators conduct themselves in a professional manner and do not involve ego and personality. This can prolong the negotiation process by getting muddled in concerns/issues that are only tangentially related to the primary topics.

During the various stages of negotiation, the goal is to find within each primary topic, domains of common ground. This assumes each party is willing to make concessions. Usually, concessions are made slowly and incrementally. But, by so doing the parties are more apt to resolve differences by identifying and applying objective criterion based on equity and fairness. Open communication is needed and a two-way commitment to achieve an end goal. Finally, exhibiting varying degrees of a mutuality and reciprocity of respect enhances the probability of mutual gain in the decisions and final outcome. How are parents/students represented and involved?

Successful negotiation is the art of reaching an equitable agreement or contract. It must be fair and equitable not only for the negotiating parties but fair and equitable to parties not directly involved but impacted by the decisions reached. Rigid and hardball negotiations may place the parties in positions that make future negotiations more difficult. It also slows the evolvement of the process. Thus, it should conclude with a codified agreement and timeline for implementation. The consequences for failing to adhere to timelines and agreed upon tenets of the agreement should be clearly articulated and codified. How are parents/students represented and involved?

The end of a successful negotiation is the beginning of a journey and relationship between the parties. Thus, at the end of a successful negotiation, it behooves the parties to view themselves as a “team.” As noted, successful negotiation is the art of reaching an equitable agreement or contract. That agreement or contract is the commencement of a relationship that provides an infrastructure for all involved successfully interacting and working during its term. So, the final question of all school board vs. teacher negotiation is: How are parents/students represented and involved?

If the final question is not clearly articulated and codified it is doubtful that good faith, win-win negotiation took place.

Schools/Communities and the H1N1 - Virus or Swine Flu

What are the issues that impact schools and communities related to the H1N1 virus also know as Swine Flu?  The City of Philadelphia has been working with Federal, State and local partners to address the impact on schools and communities. One of the first steps should be the identification of decision-making processes and resources. School related decisions regarding school dismissals and closures generally are determined at the local level, based on information from State, Local, and Federal authorities. Parents and community members must demand that school districts make this information public and readily available.

The Federal Government offers information at the following web site:
http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/pandemic/index.html
http://www.free.ed.gov/
http://www.ed.gov/news/av/video/2009/flu.html

The Federal Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFRS) provides:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/programs.html

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) proffers the following web site:
http://www.pdenewsroom.state.pa.us/newsroom/cwp/view.asp?Q=149964&A=3

In the City of Philadelphia, the Office of Emergency Management offers this web site:
http://oem.readyphiladelphia.org/RelId/606683/ISvars/default/Home.htm

What has your school district offered?  Has your school district recognized the month of September as National Preparedness Month? Does your school district have a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) that includes a continuity of education component? All schools are mandated to have Safety Plans also know as Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) plans. Call and demand information!

Considerations/Suggestions:

•    Provide the telephone number of local public health partners
•    Develop a continuity of education plan for school closures
•    Make routine Public Service Announcements (PSA)
•    Provide education packets for students out of school
•    Explore using the internet and various web sites for instructional purposes
•    Provide a 24 hours informational assess telephone number

We hope that this missive provides you with some informative information and suggestions for consideration of your role in the planning process, as well as local resources to assist you in your efforts.