TUSD Dangerous Classrooms Persist, Calls For Investigation Ignored
This week the unsafe conditions of Tucson Unified School District’s classroom made the nightly news again and two Board members Dr. Mark Stegeman and Michael Hicks are reiterating their demand for change.
Hicks called for an investigation several times, but those requests were ignored. The two sitting Board members say TUSD schools should be “safe havens for every student and staff member” instead of the increasingly dangerous environment found at too many school sites.
According to Hicks and Stegeman, the 2015-16 school year witnessed one school disruption after another, all pointing to a severe contradiction between TUSD’s board-adopted policies and administrative directives. These problems had become noticeable during the 2014-15 school year.
Through media exposure two school administrators (Palo Verde Magnet School Principal and former Booth-Fickett Magnet School Principal) have publicly stated that central administration had taken discipline decisions out of their hands, resulting in decreased or no consequences for discipline violations. Principals have said that “their hands were tied.” The Booth-Fickett Principal was promptly told to leave his post, after divulging the facts to the public. It was also learned that some principals received significant pressure to “get their discipline numbers down” as well as direction not to file assault charges with the Tucson Police Department, even in cases involving obvious student physical attacks on students and school personnel. This appears to be a violation of ARS 13-1204.
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