2 NC Public Schools Could Receive Federal "Persistently Dangerous" Label...Student Assignment, Equal Education Watch

News & Observer, Charlotte Observer----

Incidents may lead to Federal label of "Persistently Dangerous" for 2 NC Schools


Assaults at two NC schools for Special-Education students, Longview in Raleigh and Metro in Charlotte, have put the schools at risk of being labeled "Persistently Dangerous."

Longview, a school with about 100 students of middle- and high-school age, reported a sexual assault in the past school year. The year before, the school had an assault resulting in serious injury and an assault involving a weapon.

Pamela Jerro, the school's principal, said the assaults involved a student touching a faculty member's breast, a student running into an adult while trying to escape a resource officer, and a student holding a drill bit to another student's face. None of the incidents resulted in criminal charges, she said.

Under Federal Law, a school can be labeled "Persistently Dangerous" if it has too many violent incidents during a two-year period. North Carolina has no schools with the designation. Under the law, students at a persistently dangerous school must be allowed to transfer.

Nearly 80 percent of Longview's students are emotionally disabled, Charlotte Hughes, an administrator with the state Department of Public Instruction, told state education board members Wednesday.

The school has security cameras, small classes, and has adults escort students to the bathroom individually, according to a written report to the board.

Jerro said the school had a good safety record.

"We do everything we can to keep staff and students safe here at Longview," she said in a telephone interview. "I think we do a pretty good job with the population we have."

Metro in Charlotte serves about 200 special-education students. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials declined to comment until the state board's official ruling.

State board member John Tate III said at a committee meeting Wednesday that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Peter Gorman was unhappy that the "persistently dangerous" label could be attached to Metro.

"He's very prideful of the work staff is doing for special populations," Tate said. "This population really needs a lot of TLC."

Department staff recommended that the state board put the schools on probation and have state administrators monitor them this year. But the board will consider exempting Longview, Metro and other small schools for special-education students from the persistently dangerous designation.

"It's unfair that they get on the list," said board Chairman William Harrison.

The states set out the criteria, and in North Carolina a school that has five serious incidents such as murder, rape, or assault per 1,000 students in two consecutive years lands it on an at-risk list. It's up to the state board to decide whether it will call that school persistently dangerous.

Because Longview and Metro are small, one or two reportable incidents can get them flagged, Harrison said. It's important to emphasize safety, Harrison said, but the board needs to find another way to consider the records of special-education schools.


Maryland names "Persistently Dangerous" Schools

Members of the Maryland State Board of Education didn't speak the words "persistently dangerous" at the most recent meeting, but they quietly voted to give the designation to seven more Baltimore City schools. Of the seven, many are being closed.

The schools to get the designation are Canton Middle, Garrison Middle, Hamilton Middle, Dunbar Middle, Samuel L. Banks High, Thurgood Marshall High, and Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Last year, the board agreed that the designation uses criteria that are more stringent than most across the country. For several years, no schools were designated as persistently in many major urban areas in America that have larger school populations that Baltimore.

So this year, the board took action to fullfill its obligation under NCLB but is clearly trying to downplay the action.

The question remains whether the board will have to change its criteria if NCLB is not reworked in the next year or two.



View Larger Map


Sources: News & Observer, Charlotte Observer, Baltimore Sun, US Dept of Ed., Google Maps