cedricbenson
07-31-2005, 12:25 PM
By TRICIA CORTEZ
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Three Laredo schools, all in the United Independent School District, made the state's most dangerous schools list this month, but UISD officials successfully appealed the designation for two of the campuses.
Alexander and Lyndon B. Johnson high schools are no longer considered "persistently dangerous" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but United South High School is stuck with the label, at least for this year.
As a result, parents at United South have the option of transferring their children to another school, although the district is not required to provide transportation to the other school.
'Persistently dangerous'
According to rules established by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, a school is classified as "persistently dangerously" if three or more mandatory expulsions per 1,000 students takes place in each of the three most recent consecutive years, according to the Texas Education Agency's Web site.
The expulsions can be for any reason.
"All of our schools are safe," insisted UISD Superintendent Bobby Santos, noting the main reason for the designation is UISD's zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs.
Nevertheless, he said, he has called a meeting for Monday afternoon to draw up an action plan for United South High School.
"We have closed campuses at our schools," he said. "We have police officers, security guards, K-9 units, gang intervention facilitators and licensed chemical dependency counselors on our campuses. Our schools are safe."
Santos added he does not understand how a high school with roughly 2,000 students, such as United South, could meet the standard of less than three expulsions per year.
"I don't think the standards are fair," he said. "We have a zero tolerance policy on drugs, and will not tolerate anyone who has possession of drugs in our schools.
"All it takes is one Rohypnol to get expelled, and we do expel," he continued. "So it makes it very difficult for us to follow our policy and not exceed this new federal mandate."
A.J. Mayers, a 2005 graduate of United South, said he doesn't consider his former school dangerous in the usual sense of the word.
"There were pretty big gang brawls, but if you're not involved with gangs or into drugs, then you're not marked as an enemy," he said. "If you keep to yourself and stay with the right crowd, then you're not in any danger."
On Monday, Santos said, he will meet with United South Principal Roylin Wilson, Discipline Management Director Dolores Medrano and school attorney Juan Cruz, among others, to take action to shake the "persistently dangerous" label.
"We need to see how we can avoid all these additional expulsions," Santos said.
One way is to increase intervention by drug dependency counselors and gang intervention facilitators, Santos said.
Parents of students attending United South should also receive formal notification from UISD about the transfer option by the middle of next week, two weeks before the start of school on Aug. 15.
The Texas Education Agency is required by the No Child Left Behind Act to determine annually whether any of the schools under its supervision qualifies for the "persistently dangerous" category.
For the 2003-2004 school year, there were 38 schools in four states that were initially identified as "persistently dangerous," according to Education Week. Six of them were in Texas, but all were successfully appealed.
None of the schools were in Laredo.
For the 2004-2005 school year, the number of "persistently dangerous" schools had dropped to 26 in three states, according to the education magazine; none were in Texas.
(Tricia Cortez may be reached at 728-2568 or by e-mail at tricia@lmtonline.com.)
Wow, I thought LBJ would be more dangerous that United South.
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Three Laredo schools, all in the United Independent School District, made the state's most dangerous schools list this month, but UISD officials successfully appealed the designation for two of the campuses.
Alexander and Lyndon B. Johnson high schools are no longer considered "persistently dangerous" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but United South High School is stuck with the label, at least for this year.
As a result, parents at United South have the option of transferring their children to another school, although the district is not required to provide transportation to the other school.
'Persistently dangerous'
According to rules established by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, a school is classified as "persistently dangerously" if three or more mandatory expulsions per 1,000 students takes place in each of the three most recent consecutive years, according to the Texas Education Agency's Web site.
The expulsions can be for any reason.
"All of our schools are safe," insisted UISD Superintendent Bobby Santos, noting the main reason for the designation is UISD's zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs.
Nevertheless, he said, he has called a meeting for Monday afternoon to draw up an action plan for United South High School.
"We have closed campuses at our schools," he said. "We have police officers, security guards, K-9 units, gang intervention facilitators and licensed chemical dependency counselors on our campuses. Our schools are safe."
Santos added he does not understand how a high school with roughly 2,000 students, such as United South, could meet the standard of less than three expulsions per year.
"I don't think the standards are fair," he said. "We have a zero tolerance policy on drugs, and will not tolerate anyone who has possession of drugs in our schools.
"All it takes is one Rohypnol to get expelled, and we do expel," he continued. "So it makes it very difficult for us to follow our policy and not exceed this new federal mandate."
A.J. Mayers, a 2005 graduate of United South, said he doesn't consider his former school dangerous in the usual sense of the word.
"There were pretty big gang brawls, but if you're not involved with gangs or into drugs, then you're not marked as an enemy," he said. "If you keep to yourself and stay with the right crowd, then you're not in any danger."
On Monday, Santos said, he will meet with United South Principal Roylin Wilson, Discipline Management Director Dolores Medrano and school attorney Juan Cruz, among others, to take action to shake the "persistently dangerous" label.
"We need to see how we can avoid all these additional expulsions," Santos said.
One way is to increase intervention by drug dependency counselors and gang intervention facilitators, Santos said.
Parents of students attending United South should also receive formal notification from UISD about the transfer option by the middle of next week, two weeks before the start of school on Aug. 15.
The Texas Education Agency is required by the No Child Left Behind Act to determine annually whether any of the schools under its supervision qualifies for the "persistently dangerous" category.
For the 2003-2004 school year, there were 38 schools in four states that were initially identified as "persistently dangerous," according to Education Week. Six of them were in Texas, but all were successfully appealed.
None of the schools were in Laredo.
For the 2004-2005 school year, the number of "persistently dangerous" schools had dropped to 26 in three states, according to the education magazine; none were in Texas.
(Tricia Cortez may be reached at 728-2568 or by e-mail at tricia@lmtonline.com.)
Wow, I thought LBJ would be more dangerous that United South.