Plaudits and fears at Phila. school
Pollock Elementary in the Northeast got a national honor, but some parents and staff say it isn't safe.
The federal government has honored Pollock Elementary, a public school in the Northeast, with a prestigious Blue Ribbon education award.
The Philadelphia School District recently named it to a short list of schools so successful that beginning this fall, it will have freedom in budgeting, curriculum, and testing.
But some parents and employees say that Pollock is no longer safe - fights are common; staff are attacked. Disruptions are underreported and students are rarely disciplined, they say.
A group of 12 parents wrote a letter to Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, School Reform Commission Chair Robert L. Archie Jr., and other top officials demanding action.
"Many of us have had children at Pollock for years," the July 1 letter read. "It has become extremely unsafe for them, in school and outside . . . We have had students swing at us, curse us out, threaten us that they will get our kids during school when we are breaking up fights in the morning and after school."
District officials have spoken with the letter writers and are scheduling a meeting for this week with senior staff from the superintendent's office, a spokesman said.
The parents sent a copy of the letter to The Inquirer, but they could not be reached for comment. The Inquirer has
Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100719_Plaudits_and_fears_at_Phila__school.html#ixzz0uDtRiewzThe Philadelphia School District recently named it to a short list of schools so successful that beginning this fall, it will have freedom in budgeting, curriculum, and testing.
But some parents and employees say that Pollock is no longer safe - fights are common; staff are attacked. Disruptions are underreported and students are rarely disciplined, they say.
A group of 12 parents wrote a letter to Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, School Reform Commission Chair Robert L. Archie Jr., and other top officials demanding action.
"Many of us have had children at Pollock for years," the July 1 letter read. "It has become extremely unsafe for them, in school and outside . . . We have had students swing at us, curse us out, threaten us that they will get our kids during school when we are breaking up fights in the morning and after school."
District officials have spoken with the letter writers and are scheduling a meeting for this week with senior staff from the superintendent's office, a spokesman said.
The parents sent a copy of the letter to The Inquirer, but they could not be reached for comment. The Inquirer has
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