What's next for South Philly High?
by Helen Gym on May 17 2010
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s almost impossible to believe that a story that first comes to public light with 30 kids getting beaten up in school can get worse over time, but in fact, that’s exactly what’s happened with the on-going fiasco at South Philadelphia High School.
Last week, South Philly High Principal LaGreta Brown abruptly resigned hours before a teacher vote of no-confidence and amid the finding that her Pennsylvania principal certification was inactive. The latter technicality capped a disastrous tenure for Brown.
Under her leadership, a violent and troubled school spun completely out of control. Prior to the violence on Dec. 3, 2009, when 30 Asian immigrant students were beaten inside and outside of school throughout the day, Asian community advocates – who had been tracking anti-Asian/anti-immigrant violence at the school for over a year – had raised alarms bells about Brown’s stewardship. Among them:
- Brown’s refusal to meet with community members about the school’s history,
- complaints from individual students and families regarding Brown’s failure to respond to violent incidents against them, and
- Brown’s alleged use of inflammatory language to describe services for