Budget cuts pose a threat to safety in Philadelphia schools

When a fight erupts at Edison High School, staff calls a "code blue," and among those who hurry to the scene to assist is Janet Bundy, a 23-year veteran in her job, known as a "nonteaching assistant."

But Bundy likely won't be at Edison - one of the Philadelphia School District's 19 "persistently dangerous" schools - to help next year. She's slated to be laid off along with 31 other assistants and hundreds of others who have a day-to-day impact on safety in the 155,000-student system.

Under a budget adopted by the district, school police, counselors, paraprofessionals, psychologists, and "climate managers" - administrators who oversee noneducational duties including safety - are on the chopping block to help close a whopping $629 million deficit. (Watch Mayor Nutter discussing the effects of budget cuts on school safety programs here.)

Even though City Council voted last week to raise property taxes and give the district an additional $53 million, district and city officials have not decided which cuts to undo. What is clear is that there will be fewer adults next year to keep order in the hallways and classrooms.

The cuts could worsen safety conditions in a district already plagued by violence. A seven-part Inquirer series published in the spring found that more than 30,000 serious incidents had taken place in the city's schools over the last five years and that on any given day, 25 students, teachers, or other staff members were beaten, robbed, sexually assaulted, or became victims of other violent crimes. (See Associate Superintendent Tomas Hanna discuss plans to keep city schools safe here.) Violence, the series found, is underreported, widespread, and stifles learning.

The series also identified out-of-school suspension as a problem that district officials had begun to address by increasing in-school suspension. The district, the series found, had excluded students from classes at a rate more than three times higher than the rest of the state.

But the new budget cuts $1.3 million, or 38 percent, of funding for in-school suspension, meaning more unruly students could be banished to the streets next year or allowed to remain in regular classes. District spokeswoman Shana Kemp said in-school suspension would remain in effect at the so-called Focus 46, particularly troublesome schools that have been targeted for help.

It also is not clear what will happen to the district's disciplinary schools, where problem students are sent when they are removed from regular schools for committing violent acts.

The initial budget proposal called for a 50 percent funding cut, but Lori Shorr, Mayor Nutter's chief education adviser, said the disciplinary schools would remain open.

"We don't want kids expelled to the street," she said.

Kemp said Friday how that would work was still under discussion, but she insisted the program would serve the same number of students.

Nutter's office is working on a plan to address violence, and a blue-ribbon task force report on school safety, commissioned by Nutter and Schools Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman, is due out soon.

But even as officials try to devise ways to improve, the specter of fewer dollars overshadows the debate. (See Nutter's comments on city and school funding here.)

"So many schools are going to be losing vital people. It's got to have a negative impact," said Shelly Yanoff, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth. "But it also could be the opportunity that pulls people together. Hopefully, people will . . . say, 'What can we do to really protect and support our kids and faculty?' "

Rob McGrogan, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, said the district may allocate resources on paper so it looks like students are being served.

"But I don't believe that we're going to have too many institutions next year that are going to be service compliant," he said.

He is particularly concerned about the layoff of 41 "climate managers," some of whom work at schools tagged "persistently dangerous" because of a history of violent incidents.

Bruce Tretheway, a father of four, has worked at Bok Technical High School for the last three years as a climate manager, helping staff focus on common safety techniques.

He said 85 percent of his duties dealt with keeping the school safer. He oversees police operations, in-school suspension, transportation, and other noninstructional areas, freeing up principals to focus on education.

Tretheway said he also tried to guide students toward positive behavior.

"Kids become part of a family," he said. "Now you're removing the parent."

In addition, with the layoffs, student-to-counselor ratios will increase to 400 to 1 in grades seven to 12.

The district also plans to eliminate 190 per diem school police officers, Kemp said. Officials with the teachers' and school police officers' unions, however, said they believed the number ultimately would drop to about 60 officers.

Michael Lodise, police union president, anticipates the district will take officers from elementary schools and move them to upper grades.

"These guys in these schools, they're from the neighborhood. They know the kids. They know the parents. When you move them out of there, I think you lose an awful lot," Lodise said.

Collectively, the loss of personnel is grim.

"The proposed layoffs will certainly make schools less safe," Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said in a blog post. "Each of these school employees plays a key role in teaching, mentoring, and problem-solving so that kids don't resort to violence."

Among his members is Bundy, who is being laid off for the fourth time in her School District career. Other times the district called her back. She hopes it happens again.

Of the 13 NTAs at Edison, two were laid off, one retired, and five were transferred, Bundy said. That would leave the 1,700-student school with only five next year.

Edison principal Marilyn Perez is using money from the NTA positions to pay for reading teachers to help students with poor skills, Kemp said. The school is improving safety conditions by pairing students with mentors and working to improve relationships between teachers and students, she said.

At Edison, where Bundy has been since November, she walks the halls to make sure students get to class. She goes into classrooms to quiet disruption, monitors doors to keep out intruders, and breaks up fights and disperses the crowds they draw.

Her colleague Sheryl Valentine, a nonteaching assistant who is retiring after 39 years, was kicked in the leg last week while breaking up a fight. Bundy and Valentine wonder how Edison, a three-story school in North Philadelphia, can function with such a cut in coverage.

But it's more than just keeping order. Bundy and Valentine said they also served as a "sounding board" for children. Sometimes, they are tipped off to pending violence and can help avert it.

"Kids do come and talk to me and say different things and I'll pass it on to an administrator or school police," Valentine said. "We try to solve it before it gets . . . out of hand."