Karen Heller: School hero not taking job loss quietly

In an age of few heroes, Violet Sutton-Lawson surely is one.

At South Philadelphia High School on Dec. 3, when the school dissolved in racial violence, the community-relations liaison not once, but twice, put herself in harm's way protecting Asian American students from being pummeled by rampaging mobs.

Seven students were hospitalized, though not one of the charges Sutton-Lawson so vigorously defended.

Citizens sent her thank-you cards. Elected officials offered commendations. Business leaders presented gift certificates.

The Philadelphia School District, she says, did virtually nothing.

Two weeks ago, Sutton-Lawson received the ultimate indignity. She was laid off.

"I was totally shocked. I felt like I was trying to make a difference in that school," says Sutton-Lawson, 58, who worked with students who were pregnant and new mothers. "I got nervous. I got sick inside. I got scared about losing my health insurance."

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman never formally acknowledged the liaison's bravery, Sutton-Lawson says.

"I did hug her and thank her," Ackerman says. "How many people get a hug and thank you from the school superintendent?" Sutton-Lawson says Ackerman thanked her for staying late at a student meeting in Chinatown two weeks later, and hugged the bus driver.

LaGreta Brown, South Philadelphia's embattled and, as it turns out, improperly credentialed principal, waited three months to write a letter heralding her staff member's courage. She did so only after an independent $100,000 investigation and then an Inquirer article cited Sutton-Lawson's bravery.

Sutton-Lawson is no one's idea of shy and retiring. She knows how to make some noise. Most likely, it's her personality, plus a jolt of adrenaline, that fueled her behavior Dec. 3, when she defiantly yelled, "Get away! Get out! Ain't none of you going to touch him!" and stopped angry teenagers cold in their tracks. Twice.

And she refuses to go gently into that endless summer of unemployment.

"Imagine greatness! Imagine 2014!" she says, echoing the slogan of the school district's strategic plan. "Imagine putting your life on the line and no one cares! Imagine being a hero and then being laid off!"

She put in long days at Southern, where she graduated in 1969, organizing after-school activities vital to keeping the peace. She plastered the wall of her school basement office with photos of students and their babies. She made a difference.

"Things that happened in my life recently changed with Ms. Lawson's help and inspiration," wrote one young mother, who had been raped by a relative. "She is a role model for teachers and young people. Her wisdom has changed my life."

On June 26, The Inquirer's Jeff Gammage and Kristen A. Graham reported Sutton-Lawson's dismissal. The union blamed the district. The district cited budget restraints and union rules favoring seniority.

None of this helps her land a job.

On Wednesday, I visited Sutton-Lawson at her modest rowhouse, blocks from the school, poring over her letters and citations, immaculately organized in fat binders. She was still upset. The next day, I left a message with Ackerman. Who, in turn, phoned Sutton-Lawson.

They are scheduled on Wednesday to finally discuss Sutton-Lawson's actions and her current unemployment, seven months after that horrible December day.

The seemingly small things, like a letter of commendation, count. So do the big things - like a job.

Of the formal recognition, Ackerman says, "I didn't know that this is really important to her." She should have known. And she has dozens of well-paid advisers who should have told her, too.

Ackerman acknowledges that the "I regret to notify you" form letter - sent to 61 dismissed employees, many of whom work on school safety - can be impersonal. "We need to make sure it's not so impersonal," Ackerman says, adding, "When I was a teacher, I was laid off four times."

After a decade with the district, Sutton-Lawson, a mother of three, grandmother of four, made roughly half Ackerman's $65,000 bonus this year. After taxes, union dues, and retirement withholdings, Sutton-Lawson takes home $673.43 every two weeks. Her last check will arrive soon. Then she'll go on unemployment. Sutton-Lawson had taken out a loan to work on her house, including fixing the ancient, rickety stairs. Now, all work has stopped.

Brown, the principal widely criticized for her handling of the racial upheaval, was laid off in May, after The Inquirer reported her inadequate credentials. She was retained on the payroll until last week at her annual salary of $124,000. Ackerman is open to finding Brown another position.

"I would be supportive of her becoming an assistant principal, and learning from a strong principal who could support her growth," Ackerman said last week of Brown, who had a troubled tenure as a principal in Atlantic City, resigning before a school board vote to fire her.

Dr. Ackerman, if you can find LaGreta Brown a job, for goodness' sake, you ought to be able to find a place for someone as notable as Violet Sutton-Lawson in a school district with 26,000 employees and a $3.2 billion annual budget.

Due to South Philadelphia's escalating violence, the district invested $689,000 in 126 security cameras to add to the existing 23, beefing up the public-safety staff to 15 school-police officers and a sergeant. But it's caring people like Sutton-Lawson who make the difference in keeping the peace, not remaking a school into a prison.

Ackerman says she will do the right thing.

"I'm sure there will be something that we can find," says Ackerman, who promises to take Sutton-Lawson to the personnel office after their scheduled meeting. "Given her talents and her love for children, I'm sure we will find something in the school district, maybe not at Southern, but there are plenty of schools that would be happy to have her."

Yes, there are.

And then Violet Sutton-Lawson may actually imagine 2014 with a job.