South Philly Review

Minutes after celebrating with her first-period English class Jan. 22 for scoring higher on a standardized test than the rest of their fellow students at Audenried High School, as well as the School District of Philadelphia’s average, teacher Brynn Keller felt powerless.

“About halfway through the period, a group of about 20 students — both male and female — burst into my classroom and jumped one of my female students,” Keller said as she tried to hold back tears during her testimony at last Thursday’s Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations hearing on school violence. “After calling for security, there was nothing I could do but standby and watch the attack.”

The female student ended up on the ground with a male classmate lying on top of her to protect her from the repeated blows.

“There was no worse feeling for me as a teacher than to stand helpless and watch my students become victims of violence,” Keller added.

Though no one was seriously hurt in that incident, it is the most recent since the school at 3301 Tasker St., which currently holds ninth- and 10th-graders, opened with a new building last year.

Violence in local schools and across the city were the topics Jan. 28 when the Committee on Human Relations convened the first of 11 public hearings to address issues of discrimination that were brought to the forefront when Asian students were attacked Dec. 3 inside and outside of South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St., resulting in their eight-day walkout.

The Commission’s Executive Director Rue Landau, Chairwoman Kay Kyungsun Yu and commissioners Marshal E. Freeman and Rabbi Rebecca T. Alpert heard almost three hours of testimony at host-site Guerin Recreation Center, 2201 S. 16th St.

“It’s frankly shocking to me to hear these stories and the level of violence in existence at this school, as we speak, it seems,” Yu said about Audenried.

Jan. 22 resulted in Audenried’s third lockdown of the school year when a fight broke out later that morning on the other side of the building, Keller testified. Later that night and long after closing for the weekend, Tyree Parks, of 33rd and Wharton streets, was murdered after leaving the school, where he was attending a community basketball game.

Zorita Brown said her son, a 10th-grader at the school, was followed home Jan. 27 and beaten up the next day.

“My son was attacked and the school did not call me,” she testified before the commission. “It was a parent that called me and, when I got to the school, they waited a half-an-hour until I could see my son. The vice principal would tell me, ‘we’re going to settle this here, but don’t send your son to school tomorrow.’ I think that’s very unfair.”

Now Brown wants answers since she fears what may happen if her son ever returns to the school.

“I need help because my son is not going back to Audenried because his life is in jeopardy,” she said, holding back tears.

The school has repeatedly requested additional security, but, as of last week’s meeting, the requests were not fulfilled, Keller said.

“It is only a matter of time before there is a retaliation from the events on Friday both inside and outside of our school,” Keller said. “Why are our students not a priority for the school district?”

John Frangipani, the district’s chief of school operations, said the district was in talks with Chief Education Advisor Lori Shorr, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Everett Gillison and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to address the violence in that area, as well as throughout the district, that has escalated in recent weeks. Inside Audenried, extra police and a climate manager, oversees safety in the building, were set to be in place Feb. 1 with extra officers patrolling the neighborhood.

“A lot of this is deep-rooted in the community,” Frangipani, who began his teaching career at the old Audenried in 1979, said to the crowd. “It’s deep-rooted in gangs. It’s been around for more than 30 years … Dealing with the same issues today, we haven’t done our job as school district folks and as City leaders, so we need to come together on this and we need to put together the plans that we are working on to make change.”

The hearings will be held in each district’s region to encourage a dialogue as the commission aims to be part of the solution following last year’s attacks at Southern.