Boone Presents Action Plan Amid Calls for Police Presence at North High

Friday, February 06, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor

On Thursday evening at the Worcester School Committee meeting, Superintedent Dr. Melinda Boone presented an action plan for North High School. North has been the victim of four bomb threats and several violent incidents already this school year.

Before Dr.Boone's presentation, Leith Larson, a senior from North High School stood up and spoke on behalf of many teachers and students who petitioned for a police presence at North. Larson said, "As a senior at North High, I’ve always been proud of my school. That is until January 20th, when it became clear to me that my personal safety and the safety of others was jeopardized by students who have no regard for education or the basic rules of society. Recent events at North High School, including multiple fist fights, a dangerous food fight and total loss of control in the hallways, have made it imperative that a Worcester Police Officer be present at all times during school hours."

"Let us concentrate on getting an education rather than spending countless hours on safety. Let’s face it: some students hate the cops. It’s because they only time they interact with them is when they are causing trouble or running from them (police). Having a constant police officer present would not only help deter and lower the number of incidents, but have a police officer presence can also help change the false perception that the police are somehow a they threat to them. When, in fact, they are concerned for their welfare and safety. They can learn to build relationships with police officers and respect for authority," said Larson.

Following Larson's presentation, a parent of a North High student stood up and said, "“We need support. And the teachers need to support at North. The kids arent safe there. I as a parent don’t feel safe sending them there. The teachers are not safe there. What happened with the bomb threats and the violence going on is just getting out of hand.”

Dr. Boone Addresses Bomb Threats and 599 Absentees

"To the listening public and to that person who has found it enjoyable to offer these bomb threats, please know that we have some leads and are aggressively working with the Worcester PD to investigate and close in on these leads. We take this seriously. The interruption of the instructional day is not good for the students or fair to the teachers," said Boone.

Dr. Boone noted that in the past two years, the graduation rate has gone up 16% at North, but also pointed out that "safe schools are a critically necesseity to improving students achievement. Anything less than safe schools, it doesn’t matter what the graduation rate is, the kids aren’t in school."

Boone also said disciplinary hearings have been held with all of the students involved in the bomb threat.

As GoLocal reported, the following Friday, 599 students were absent at North High School. According to Boone, a number of threats were made about violent acts to happen at the school that Friday through social media. Following an investigation by the Worcester Police Department and Worcester Public Schools, they deemed North to be safe that day. Principal Lisa Dyer wanted to assure parents that the school was going to be safe and sent a connected phone message to the parents to inform them of what the rumored threats were on social media, to inform the parents that those threats had been investigated, and to let them know that school would be in the normal operations with presence of police.

This is Dr. Boone's explanation for the 599 students absent: "We had a larger number of students absent than we normally would. The number 599 has been circulated in a number of places. To be clear, there are numbers embedded in that 599. On an average day at North, approximately 130 students may be absent on any given day. Also in the attendance report, it reflects any students who are receiving their educational services in an alternative setting outside of the school itself in some of other programs. There were 380 students who were absent that day.”

Boone went on to blame a radio station host for irresponsible journalism "as it related to sharing what was happening in the school, enflaming what we had already investigated, and informed parents to not be true.”

North High's Action Plan

The action plan is broken down into safety and climate and culture. The safety initiatives Worcester Public Schools will take at North include: Deployment of Worcester Police Liaision, naming a ‘Lead Teacher’ for School Safety and Accountability, establishing a Safety Intervention Team, review and revise staffing availability to perform hall monitoring duties. allocate an instructional assistant position dedicated to hall and bathroom monitoring, enhance NHS electronic photo ID system, and making clear to students that threatening and/or aggressive behavior will not be tolerated.

In improving climate and culture at the school for teachers and staff, initiatives include reading and discussing ‘Teaching with Poverty’ by Eric Jenson and Dr. Boone and Chief Academic Officer will participate in NHS staff meeting to discuss recent events, the proposed action plan, and improvements to the NHS graduation and dropout rates.

For students, assemblies and forums will address issues of non-violence, the impact of social media and how to use it effectively, and personal accountability.

For parents, a 12 week program at Worcester Academy will help with parenting and school success, navigating a school system, child development and other topics. Parents will be offered bus passes, dinner, and childcare and language interpreters.

"The sad part about all of this is that the kids up there (North) are pretty good kids. Unfortunately, when you have few incidents with less than 2% of the kids who cause some issues up there, that's all you get on social media and with the press," said Mayor Joe Petty. "Unfortunately all the good stuff that the students do and that the teachers do doesn't get reported as much."

Petty said, "When it comes to safety, when you have four bomb scares, it just sends a message. It wont be tolerated. Students need to know that, parents need to know that, and teachers need to know that."

Boone's Contract Extended

Following the North High remarks, the Worcester School Committee voted and renewed Dr. Boone's contract another three years.

School Committee members Brian O'Connell and Diana Biancherria expressed that they would be open to committing to a one-year extension for Boone, but the remainder of the committee supported the three years.

O'Connell said, "Dr. Boone's performance while it had many areas of strength, and several areas of excellence, did in fact cumulatively need improvements on a number of fronts that still remain a particular concern."

The contract is good until June 30, 2018 and it will include a 2% pay increase per year, and an increased amount of vacation days from 20 to 25.

Boone said, "There are those who felt, when I came that I shouldn't have been here. There were those that stated I wouldn't stay. And now as I'm entering into a successive contract, progress has happened, it has been incremental. Mr O'Connell often talks about the things I haven't done. The biggest thing on my wish list is there will be a time when the School Committee and I are sharing the same vision not about me but what ought to happen about the students. I look forward to the next three years and to the remainder of this year."