Learning the hard way

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Three local schools have been deemed persistently dangerous by the state and placed on a list that has consistently been made up of Philadelphia schools.

By Amanda Snyder

Add Comment | Comments: 1 | Posted Nov. 19, 2009

Philadelphia and school police officers gather outside South Philadelphia High, which has been deemed a Persistently Dangerous School by the state for three-straight years, to ensure students make their way home safely (Photo by Sabrina Jacot).

On any given day, there is bound to be a fight in the lunchroom at South Philadelphia High School, two 11th-graders who declined to give their names said last week as they left the building at 2101 S. Broad St. If a student is in the hall at the wrong time or even a stairwell, an outbreak of violence could occur and, this year, they said, it has gotten worse.

"Most of the stuff in this school is block violence," the Southern student said.

"Or gang violence," the other added.

Prior to this academic year, the state released its list of Persistently Dangerous Schools. All 25 on the list were in Philadelphia -- three of which are local, including Southern, Edwin H. Vare Middle School, 2100 S. 24th St., and Horace Furness High School, 1900 S. Third St.

"We have placed a tremendous emphasis on the reporting of these incidents," James Golden, School District of Philadelphia's chief safety executive, said of violent acts in district schools. "To that extent, there is a high level of integrity in our reporting process."

Tenth-graders Stacie Robinson, of 17th and Wharton streets, and Keri Brunson, of Broad and Snyder Avenue, agree there are a lot of fights at Southern, but not enough to warrant the state's title.

"In every school there are fights," Brunson said. "I don't really think [Southern] belongs on the list."

To be included in the Pennsylvania Department of Education's roundup, dangerous incidents -- weapons possessions or violent acts that result in an arrest, which must be reported on the state's Violence and Weapons Possession Report -- must reach at least five incidents in a school with an enrollment of less than 250; 2 percent of the student count when enrollment is 251 to 1,000; or at least 20 incidents with more than 1,000 students for two out of three of the last school years, including the most recent.

Southern has been on the list the past three years, while Vare has appeared five of the past seven. This is Furness' first appearance, according to data going back to the 2003-04 school year.

Southern, with 1,122 students last year, needed 20 or more to appear on the list. It had 29 -- down from 46 the previous year.

Last school year's number sounded good to Tashima Hoskins, of 22nd and Morris streets.

"It's really not dangerous," the Southern senior said. "Maybe to someone on the outside, but to somebody that goes here, it's not dangerous.

"Sometimes people act stupid, but it's regular fights people would have on the streets."

Vare reached 2 percent of its enrollment of 378 students with eight incidents -- down from 18 the previous year -- while Furness dropped from 18 two years ago to 15 and just made the 2-percent cutoff.

"In this case, they have 732 [students], so they just met the criteria of 15 incidents with confirmed arrests," Golden said of Furness. "It's a matter of just the formula and how it's applied and not that the school has inordinate violent incidents."

Furness' designation was disappointing, Principal Timothy McKenna said. This year, the school has reached out to community groups, which provided positive service and leadership opportunities, he said.

"We've really tried to bolster the leadership opportunities for our students. I really believe that is important. Also, we added some more activities for our students to get involved in," McKenna said referencing the addition of theater, a music department and a debate team.

With attendance up about 5 percent already, McKenna doesn't expect the school to repeat its appearance on the list next year.

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