20 Philadelphia Schools Top Dangerous List

By Regan ToomerSpecial to the NNPA from the Philadelphia Tribune PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) – The Pennsylvania Department of Education released its list of “persistently dangerous” schools last week and, according to the list, 20 of Philadelphia’s public schools made the lineup. The list released Aug. 27 showed an increase from the 12 district schools that made the list in the 2006-07 school year. Another startling revelation is that six middle schools were on the list, as opposed to one in the previous year. Schools that qualify as persistently dangerous must have a certain number of serious incidents – such as assaults – that result in arrest for more than one year. The calculation is based on enrollment. The schools that made the list are: Roberto Clemente Middle School; Edison High School Fareira Skills; Samuel Fels High School; Thomas Fitzsimons High School; Frankford High School; Germantown High School; Eliz D. Gillespie Middle School; Martin Luther King High School; Lincoln High School; Olney High School West; Overbrook High School; William Penn High School; Anna H. Shaw Middle School; South Philadelphia High School; John B. Stetson Middle School; Strawberry Mansion High School; John P. Turner Middle School; Edwin H. Vare Middle School; Roberts Vaux Middle School; and West Philadelphia High School. Despite the news, district officials said some district schools on the list are not as bad as they have been in the past. That is due to principals and staff reporting incidents to the district, according to Jack Stollsteimer, the district’s safe-schools advocate. However, some of the schools have persistently remained on the dangerous schools list for years. Germantown and West Philadelphia High Schools have been on the list for six years now. Jim Golden, the head of the district’s Office of Climate and Safety said beefed up security efforts and the notion of a “single-school culture” is helpful. The “single-school culture” is a way of organizing one school with a set of expectations and correction for intolerable behavior. Golden said he would look into putting more support systems in the middle schools on the list, but that school personnel are able to handle violent behavior in schools. Golden said, “We have said, ‘If a crime is committed, if violence occurs, we want that directly reported to the Philadelphia Police Department, to school police.'”