A new task force is being formed of Leroy F. Greene Middle School staff members and District administrators to review and revise the school’s safety plan and all student discipline policies.
The first meeting of the Leroy F. Greene Middle School Safety Task Force will be held Jan.15 at the NUSD Education Center. The Task Force will be comprised of 8-10 teachers from the school, representing a cross-section of grade levels and content areas.
“Especially important are people who are committed to working through some tough discussions and willing to create, examine and support viable solutions during these tough budgetary times,” said Dr. Gretchen Hanson, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services.
The co-chairs of the Task Force will be the District’s Director of Secondary Education and the school’s new assistant principal. Ad hoc members will include Hanson, Principal Bob Evans and Heyman Matlock, Coordinator of Student Services.
In a community flyer distributed by Leroy F. Greene Middle School teachers on Dec. 10, 2008, teachers indicated that effective Dec. 15, 2008, they will no longer participate in a number of before- and after-school student activities including school clubs, tutoring, the Talent School, drama productions, field trips and the Spelling Bee.
Teachers stated that they will strictly work their contract hours, and that their workday will end at 2:06 p.m.
The flyer stated that the teaching staff wants safety issues addressed including “student misbehavior” toward adults, and said they will only work their prescribed contract hours until their issues are resolved.
As part of a comprehensive response to the teachers’ concerns about respectfulness of students toward staff members, Principal Evans has offered a character education program for students and organized school assemblies featuring positive character traits including “respect.”
District officials said that teacher complaints and concerns such as those expressed by the Leroy F. Greene Middle School teaching staff are responded to immediately.
“We look forward to having our teachers, District administration and parent community work together to make Leroy F. Greene Middle School the best school it can be,” NUSD Board of Trustees President B. Teri Burns said. “We owe that to our deserving students at Leroy F. Greene Middle School.”
Thank you for this story. As a staff member at LFG, I want you to understand that we have had past attempts at the “Task Force” idea each and every year, only to produce no actual results or progress. If we had fully implemented programs like Character Ed or relevant assemblies to promote student success at LFG with real follow-through by leadership, we would not be in the situation we are now in – at Program Improvement Year Three. We do not have these programs, please don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise. Our school requires authentic recognition for change (just as NMS needed it a few years back), and the staff, students and parents have been ready for a long time now. Let’s stop saying we’re doing something or pretending to, but instead actually really do something. It’s alarming negligence and a crime to our community. We’ll give the buzz and update next month if anything promising happens.