Reports blast school safety

The level of violence and disorderly conduct within the School District of Philadelphia is much too high and will require the district's new chief executive officer to immediately implement a battery of remedies, state Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak wrote in a school-safety report released yesterday.

His 18-page report came with a separate four-page rebuttal document that was issued, according to Zahorchak's office, "to set the record straight regarding some of the inaccuracies" contained in an earlier "draft" report written by Jack Stollsteimer, who was appointed by Gov. Rendell in 2006 as the district's safe-schools advocate.

Stollsteimer "used inaccurate data, false assertions and incorrect legal analysis as the basis for his findings and recommendations" in his Jan. 15 memo, according to the state department's rebuttal document.

Both, however, agree that city schools are places where violence and disruption are far too commonplace.

"The data provided by the school district makes it clear that the number and nature of student-misconduct incidents raises real concerns about whether all schools provide the kind of environment necessary to ensure safety and promote student achievement," Zahorchak said.

"I have concluded that the district's disciplinary and school-safety systems are illegal, unjust and in complete need of reform," Stollsteimer said.

Among areas where the state and Stollsteimer differ is in the reporting of serious incidents. The state report contends that Stollsteimer underreported by 25 percent the number of students transferred to alternative schools during the year in question, 2006-07. That year, 1,523 students were moved to alternative schools, while 53,633 students received out-of-school suspensions, according to the state.

On another matter, Stollsteimer contends that of the 1,008 total weapons-possession cases in 2006-07, only 34 percent of the offenders were transferred to alternative schools. In an interview yesterday, he said that those not expelled included nine students who were caught with guns.

The state, however, said that seven of the gun-toting students were transferred to alternative programs, one student withdrew from school and one student was arrested. (Eight guns have been found in schools this academic year, including a loaded .38-caliber revolver taken from a boy at Edison High School on May 7.)

Stollsteimer, whose findings were sent to the state in March and first reported in the Daily News in April, stood by his report yesterday.

"It's their data that they are calling false," he said, noting that his annual report is based on data provided by the district to the state Department of Education.

He said he was offended, but not surprised by how Zahorchak characterized his report.

"I have not spoken to Secretary Zahorchak since last August, when he called me to his office and physically got in my face and said if I ever publicly criticize the Department of Education on school safety he would become my enemy, in an effort to intimidate me," Stollsteimer said.

"I have an obligation under the law to advocate for victims of school violence in the Philadelphia public schools, and in doing so, to tell the truth," he added.

Among the key findings in his report are that just 29 percent of students in grades 5-12 who committed a serious offense in 2006-07 were transferred to alternative placements, with none being expelled per state law; and that there were 1,898 assaults on school employees, a 19 percent increase from 2005-06.

Sheila Ballen, director of communications for the state Department of Education, said that Zahorchak released his report yesterday to incoming district CEO Arlene Ackerman so that she could have an accurate picture.

When asked why Stollsteimer was still representing the Rendell administration if the administration cannot trust his report, Ballen responded: "I cannot answer that question."

Ackerman, who takes the district's helm the first week of June, said she had not seen the report but expects to make school safety a top priority.

"I've heard from parents, students and other stakeholders that safety is an issue that has to be addressed sooner rather than later," said Ackerman, who yesterday was visiting family in Albuquerque, N.M.

Among troubling findings noted by Zahorchak in his report are that the district had 12,666 incidents of misconduct in the 2006-07 school year, of which 6,214 were serious offenses; and student assaults on teachers totaled 1,797.

"Whenever one child or employee is threatened or bullied or hurt in school, that's one too many," Cecilia Cummings, a district spokeswoman said.

"As parents, we deserve the right to know that we are sending our kids to school and they're safe," said Greg Wade, president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council. "But right now we don't have that."

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said that schools could get a better handle on safety and violence issues if they had more counselors, nonteaching assistants and other staffers who could work with students outside of class time. *