District needs ‘system-wide’ violence plan: report

Offering the Philadelphia School District a "road map" to help fix racial violence and conflicts, the city's Commission on Human Relations Tuesday released a report underscoring a system-wide problem.

"Intergroup violence and conflicts are widespread and can happen at any school, at any level," commission chair Kay Kyungsun Yu said at a news conference at City Hall.

Racial violence and conflicts routinely interferes with student learning in district schools, the report concluded.

Tomas Hanna, an associate superintendent, acknowledged the gravity of the problem.

"We need a systemic approach," Hanna said, adding that the district had begun looking at violence in a larger way this school year.

The commission held 11 hearings over the past year. Those, and the report, were spurred by racially-motivated attacks on Asian students at South Philadelphia High School in 2009.

Commissioner Marshall E. Freeman said he had personally spoken with School Reform Commission Chair Robert L. Archie Jr., who "assured me that he will do everything he possibly can . . . we expect a good result from our effort."

Yu said the district has agreed to meet quarterly with the commission to discuss its progress in tackling the problem.

She also encouraged anyone who had been a victim of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, immigration status, or gender to come forward to the commission and possibly file a complaint.

The commission's 26-page report, "Widening the Circle of Our Concern: Public Perceptions of the School District of Philadelphia's Response to Intergroup Conflicts," encompasses the testimony of 130 witnesses and the written statements of 40 others. The attacks on Asian students spurred changes that the commission said should be expanded districtwide.

It contains eight findings and nine recommendations to the district.

Among the report's findings: the district's policies to combat violence and ethnic tensions are applied inconsistently. Discipline is uneven from school to school. The structure for reporting problems is unclear, and staff members often lack proper training in dealing with racial and ethnic conflicts.

Despite a legal mandate to provide translation services for all students and parents who need them, the existing services are inadequate and not well-publicized, a problem that limits English-language learners' abilities to alert officials about problems.

Though the recommendations in the report are just suggestions, the commission does have the authority to pursue legal action if specific complaints are filed.

Complaints detailed in the hearings ranged from "petty discourtesy and isolated acts of verbal aggression to physical and emotional harassment, bullying, and physical assaults." The commission examined conflicts based on race, color, and national origin; immigration status; disability; sex; and sexual orientation.