Letter to teacher’s union regarding wage concessions

You may have read in the papers about a letter sent by the School Committee to the teacher’s union regarding wage concessions for next year. A copy of the letter is reproduced below to provide better context for understanding the stories and issues involved.

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Case tests how far schools can go with drug searches

A case involving the search of a 13-year-old will require the Supreme Court to consider how far school officials can go to enforce zero-tolerance drug policies. The New York Times reported on the case as follows:

Savana Redding still remembers the clothes she had on — black stretch pants with butterfly patches and a pink T-shirt — the day school officials here forced her to strip six years ago. She was 13 and in eighth grade.

Savana Redding, 19, was strip searched six years ago when teachers suspected she had brought prescription pills to school.

An assistant principal, enforcing the school’s antidrug policies, suspected her of having brought prescription-strength ibuprofen pills to school. One of the pills is as strong as two Advils.

The search by two female school employees was methodical and humiliating, Ms. Redding said. After she had stripped to her underwear, “they asked me to pull out my bra and move it from side to side,” she said. “They made me open my legs and pull out my underwear.”

Ms. Redding, an honors student, had no pills. But she had a furious mother and a lawyer, and now her case has reached the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on April 21.

Ms. Redding was successful in her pursuit of this case in the lower courts, but her case got off to a rocky start. In 2007, a divided three judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a motion for summary judgment on behalf of school officials in Redding v. Safford Unified School District #1, while noting that the student did not freely agree to this search. She was “embarrassed and scared, but felt [she] would be in more trouble if [she] did not do what they asked.” In her affidavit, Savana described the experience as the most humiliating experience’ of her short life, and felt “violated by the strip search.”

The student and her mother requested the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear their case. In a 6-5 en banc decision, the full Court reversed the earlier panel and found:

On the basis of an uncorroborated tip from the culpable eighth grader, public middle school officials searched futilely for prescription-strength ibuprofen by strip-searching thirteen year-old honor student Savana Redding. We conclude that the school officials violated Savana’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The strip search of Savana was neither ‘justified at its inception,’ New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 341 (1985), nor, as a grossly intrusive search of a middle school girl to locate pills with the potency of two over-the-counter Advil capsules, ‘reasonably related in scope to the circumstances’ giving rise to its initiation. Id.

The opinion writer Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw went on to say: “It does not require a constitutional scholar to conclude that a nude search of a 13-year-old child is an invasion of constitutional rights. More than that, it is a violation of any known principle of human dignity.”

Safford United School District appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Ninth Circuit created a new rule that requires public school officials to have more evidence of illegal possession of drugs or weapons at school than an unproven tip from another student.

The questions presented in the case are:

1. Whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits public school officials from conducting a search of a student suspected of possessing and distributing a prescription drug on campus in violation of school policy; and

2. Whether the Ninth Circuit departed from established principles of qualified immunity in holding that a public school administrator may be liable in a damages lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for conducting a search of a student suspected of possessing and distributing a prescription drug on campus.

This will be an interesting case to watch and should provide guidance to school districts in setting policy. Fighting drug abuse is a laudable goal, but we must be careful not to infringe upon the constitutional rights of individuals in the process. This case demonstrates how humiliating it can be when a school district crosses the line.

To view the petition filed with the United States Supreme Court, click here. To view the brief filed by the National School Boards Association, click here. To view the brief filed by the Safford United School District, click here. To view the brief of the United States of America, click here.

Franklin will receive $448,381 in additional education funding

As part of his Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor Deval Patrick today announced he will commit $168 million in federal education recovery funds to ensure every district in the Commonwealth reaches so-called foundation spending levels next school year. For Franklin, that means that an additional $448,381 in the school budget. This will reduce our anticipated deficit for FY10 to approximately $2.5 million.

The Governor’s investment will give 166 districts the ability to preserve programs and avoid teacher layoffs at a time when the global economic crisis is forcing communities to increase class sizes, cut positions and make other difficult budget decisions that threaten the quality of education in Massachusetts. The state’s historic education reform law established so-called foundation budgets for communities, setting a minimum funding threshold districts must meet so that students receive a “fair and adequate” education.

“Second graders only get one chance at second grade. Thanks to these federal recovery funds, we can give our students the education they deserve and avoid short changing their future,” said Governor Patrick.

The Governor protected Chapter 70 education funding from cuts in his Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal, maintaining the current allocation of $3.984 billion. However, due to a historic drop-off in state revenue collections brought on by the recession, level-funding of Chapter 70 still prevented 166 districts from reaching foundation spending levels. If the Governor’s Chapter 70 proposal is approved by the Legislature, dedicating a portion of the state’s estimated $1.88 billion for education programs from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will guarantee foundation-level funding for all districts. To view the districts in line to receive education funding as part of the Governor’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, click here.

Franklin High and accreditation

I received an inquiry recently from a parent concerning Franklin High School. I thought the e-mail and my response were worth sharing:

The question: I was hoping you could direct me to a website that might inform me about the possible accreditation issues with FHS. I am hearing many different stories and would like to be informed of the true facts. I have two children at FHS and and a middle school student. My main question is: Is FHS at risk of losing their accreditation?

My response: Thank you for your note. I have attached a copy of the standards that are used in accrediting high schools (you can view the standards by clicking here).

With regard to websites, you can start with this one: http://www.neasc.org/. From there you can go to the public secondary schools site which will get you to more detailed information about high schools in particular. That site is at: http://cpss.neasc.org/. There you will find a list of the Massachusetts schools that are on probation. The list is as follows:

MASSACHUSETTS

Beverly High School, Beverly, MA — May 2003 for Curriculum, Instruction, and Community Resources for Learning

David Prouty High School, Spencer, MA — June 2008 for Assessment for Student Learning, School Resources for Learning and Community Resources for Learning

Haverhill High School, Haverhill, MA — September 1999 for Curriculum, Instruction, and Community Resources for Learning

Holbrook Junior-Senior High School, Holbrook, Ma — January 2006 for Curriculum, School Resources for Learning, and Community Resources for Learning

Maynard High School, Maynard, MA — March 2006 for Curriculum, School Resources for Learning, and Community Resources for Learning

Randolph High School, Randolph, MA — January 2008 for Mission and Expectations for Student Learning, Curriculum, Instruction, and School Resources for Learning

Rockland High School, Rockland, MA — October 2007 for Curriculum and Community Resources for Learning

Southbridge High School, Southbridge, MA — May 2005 for Curriculum and Community Resources for Learning

Uxbridge High School, Uxbridge, MA — May 2004 for Curriculum and Community Resources for Learning

You will note that Franklin High is not on that list. In fact, Franklin received a letter on October 24, 2005 continuing its accreditation. However, you have probably heard through the grapevine that Franklin was placed on warning status. That is true. On January 31, 2008, we received a letter indicating that NEASC placed FHS on warning for concerns regarding its adherence to the Commission’s Standard for Accreditation on Community Resources for Learning. That letter was prompted by facility issues which resulted in the appointment of a building committee whose purpose is to consider renovation or replacement of the building. The facility issues included lack of handicapped access, emergency showers in science labs, rusted storage shelves in lab areas, and reductions in custodial staffing. The rusted storage shelves in lab areas have been taken care of already. The School Committee has submitted a Statement of interest to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seeking financial assistance with renovations of the building. You can find more information on the FHS project by clicking here.

In a letter dated February 9, 2009, NEASC continued Franklin on warning status and “expressed its serious concern given the ongoing fiscal constraints resulting from the failed override vote in June 2008 under which the high school has been forced to operate. Specifically, the Commission cited the negative impact of the loss of sixteen teaching positions on the delivery of the school’s educational programs and services and the resultant reduction in course offerings and increased class sizes.” We have to report back to them by August 1, 2009 with the outcome of the FY 10 budget discussions. For that reason, we are aggressively taking steps to avoid any further reductions to the school budget. You may have read in the papers about salary freezes and other budget measures which are being considered at this time.

The bottom line answer is that Franklin is not at risk of losing its accreditation, but it is in a warning status. That means that if we continue to erode education spending in Franklin, we may end up being put at risk of losing accreditation. At this time, we have a great Principal in place (Peter Light), and he is taking great steps to keep us on right path. We also have a very talented staff of teachers at that facility, and our students continue to gain acceptances at some of the finest colleges in the nation. To that extent, FHS will continue to offer great opportunities to your children and mine.

I hope all of this information helps. Please let me know if you need any additional information. Also, I understand that there was some talk about doing house meetings to address FHS concerns. I will check on the status of those meetings and get back to you.