Phila. schools to expel most violent students

In a sharp about-face, Philadelphia School District officials have vowed to expel the system's most violent students, tighten codes for others, and attempt to streamline a dysfunctional, inconsistent disciplinary system.

Though it had a policy to do so, the district has not expelled any student for four years. Instead, offenders were transferred to alternative schools or left in the classes where they committed their offenses, said Jack Stollsteimer, the state's safe-schools advocate.

In the past, Stollsteimer has blasted the district, saying it was violating state and federal law by refusing to expel students who bring weapons to school. In 2006-07, just 34 percent of the 98 students who did so were sent to alternative classrooms, he said.

The new policy, which had the backing of superintendent Arlene Ackerman, was presented to the School Reform Commission yesterday.

The changes will be made by the district at the urging of a committee of school-safety experts, which released a report yesterday.

The committee was charged with recommending changes to the disciplinary system and made up of Stollsteimer, chief safety officer James Golden, and representatives from the state, the city and advocacy groups.

New schools chief Ackerman's wholehearted support represents a new direction for the district, which had previously blasted reports by Stollsteimer and consultant Ellen Green-Ceisler calling for wholesale change in district discipline.

At that time, the state Department of Education supported the district and even issued its own report disavowing Stollsteimer's conclusions.

"We mean business," Ackerman said, adding that the district had clarified disciplinary procedures for principals and would look for uniform enforcement. She said she followed three serious disciplinary cases through the system this year and found inconsistent application of the rules.

Mayor Nutter made a visit to the meeting to lend his support to the efforts.

"We collectively - the city and the school district - are saying enough is enough," Nutter said. "How could no child have been expelled from the school system in four years is impossible for me to understand."

Ackerman also sent a letter spelling out the district's zero-tolerance policy to parents and students yesterday.

Ackerman said she expected violent incidents to spike for at least six months, then creep down when students realize that the district is serious about its policy.

Commission member James Gallagher applauded the new policy, saying that "we're never going to make any progress unless we resolve this chaos. We can't have kids beating the dickens out of each other in the hallways."

Gallagher said the commission and the administration should take equal shares of the blame for past performance, and he asked the committee to report back in December with a list of incidents and outcomes.

The school district also agreed to create a safety cabinet to meet regularly with Ackerman, to assign a dedicated staffer at every school to deal with safety and climate issues, and to revamp the cumbersome process to deal with serious student offenders.

Principals will also begin suspending students for up to 10 days, the maximum allowed by state law. Previously, no student was removed from school for more than five days.

A key component of the new policy, officials said, was widening the use of a "single-school culture" model to all district schools. It is a way of organizing a school, with clear expectations for all students and correction for poor behavior. Buildings that have implemented single-school culture have fewer offenses, Golden said.

Committee member Sheila Simmons, education director at Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, said she was upset that she had not seen the expulsion recommendation until coming to the meeting.

Simmons said the district should focus on preventing discipline problems before they occur, and expressed frustration that positive behavioral supports "will never be as sexy as throwing kids out, as locking kids away."

Sandra Dungee Glenn, commission chair, said keeping students out of the system was not the intention. Even students who are suspended with an intent to expel will be sent to alternative schools, she said.