Summer's over, kids. Welcome back to the place where dreams are made.
"School bus no-shows strand students, perplex parents" by James Vaznis | Globe Staff August 25, 2014
Dozens of Boston school buses failed to show up at stops Monday morning or were late, leaving hundreds of students stranded as panicked parents and school officials scrambled to find alternative transportation.
School officials were bracing for the possibility of more uncovered bus routes and late buses Tuesday, and announced that the MBTA would be free for students.
“Families should prepare alternate arrangements to bring students to and from school Tuesday if necessary,’’ the school department said in a statement.
On Monday, the missing buses affected students who were heading to 15 charter schools and 11 special education programs that have already begun the new school year, in advance of the Sept. 4 opening day for most Boston public schools.
Thirteen of the approximately 120 routes were completely uncovered, leaving about 400 students without rides. Overall, 22 percent of buses were late, including 7 percent that were more than a half-hour late, according to the Boston School Department. Nearly 3,000 students were slated to ride the buses.
The disruption unfolded amid tense negotiations over a new contract for school bus drivers and raised concerns among parents and city leaders that the drivers could strike. Last fall, bus drivers staged a surprise one-day work stoppage that left thousands of students deserted at their bus stops.
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Devita McConnell, whose 12-year-old daughter attends the Brooke Charter School in Roslindale, waited nearly a half-hour for a bus in Mattapan but ultimately gave up. McConnell instead drove her daughter and three other students to school before heading to work.
Although the school system managed to get all bus routes covered for the afternoon through a combination of regular bus drivers, supervisors, and backup drivers, officials remained worried about Tuesday morning’s runs. Even more schools are scheduled to be open, requiring 175 buses, but by Monday evening school officials had only 110 drivers lined up.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh at an afternoon press conference expressed concern about a possible strike before the opening of all schools next week. Walsh said he had heard some drivers are continuing to object to the termination of four union leaders last year after the work stoppage. “But that’s no reason not to pick kids up on the corner,’’ Walsh said. “That’s no reason to have a threat of a looming strike over our head.’’
Walsh said the city has been told that drivers would give 72 hours’ notice before any strike.
Signs emerged that there might be problems getting the buses on the road last week when hundreds of drivers refused to bid on routes for the upcoming school year — an annual process that essentially enables drivers with the most seniority to get priority on the routes they want, school officials said.
Instead the drivers “occupied” the main terminal, according to a Facebook page maintained by some bus driver union officials. The posting referred to the union’s “long struggle in self defense against Boston’s privatized school bus management’s concession, austerity, and union-busting program, including the illegal termination of 4 top elected union officers.”
Those four leaders remain on the union’s negotiating committee.
With few, if any, drivers bidding on the routes, Interim Superintendent John McDonough said the School Department and Transdev, the private contractor that oversees the bus yards and employs the drivers, worked out a fallback plan with the union that would enable drivers to be assigned routes Monday morning.
But not enough drivers showed up, and many of those who did were late, school officials said.
Dumond Louis, president of the bus drivers’ union, said the union did its best to make sure all routes were covered, calling about 600 drivers to report to the bus yards.
“We expected a lot of them to show up [in the] morning, but unfortunately not enough of them showed up,” said Louis, noting that he covered some of the routes himself.
Kate Lagreca, spokeswoman for Transdev, said the company was disappointed that the lack of bus drivers caused some students to be stranded and others delayed.
“We had an agreement with the union and assurances throughout the weekend that a sufficient number of drivers would report for duty this morning,” Lagreca said in a statement.
The school bus drivers’ union has become increasingly vocal during negotiations with Transdev to replace a contract that expired in June. Transdev, based in Lombard, Ill., recently changed its name from Veolia.
The union has objected to a variety of measures, including provisions that would mandate uniforms; allow the company to hold hearings on the status of employees who have been on sick leave for 12 months; and introduce language on absenteeism and tardiness that the union denounces as an attempt “to ramp up discipline,” according to a flyer the union is circulating online.
The contract talks became more contentious in June during a rally at a Dorchester bus yard when one of the fired leaders, Steve Kirschbaum, allegedly pushed a table against a Transdev manager as Kirschbaum tried to break into an office. Kirschbaum has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering, trespassing, and destruction of property.
McDonough called the disruption in bus service unacceptable.
“Shamefully, some of our students were left deserted,” he said. “I personally feel very disappointed.”
It used to make me angry, but now I don't give a shit.
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Also see: Boston school drivers appear ready to work
And when they finally get you there the cupboard was bare:
"Enrollment dips, bringing uncertainty to Madison Park" by James Vaznis | Globe Staff August 26, 2014
Enrollment is sliding fast at the city of Boston’s only vocational high school, as the troubled Madison Park Technical Vocational High School prepares to welcome one of its smallest freshman classes in decades amid fears that it could eventually close or cut back sharply on its programs.
The enrollment plunge comes as the school also has been scrambling this month to fill about 60 teacher positions and other vacancies, including dean of discipline and director of special education posts.
Related: Boston Classrooms Closed
Also see: Rush to fill teaching jobs jeopardizes Madison Park’s turnaround
WTF?
Madison Park’s falling star stands in sharp contrast to other vocational schools across the state....
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First day of classes was Monday.
"3 administrators at Latin Academy placed on leave" by James Vaznis | Globe staff August 22, 2014
The Boston School Department has placed three administrators at Boston Latin Academy on paid administrative leave, just two weeks before the new school year begins, as the department investigates allegations of harassment, discrimination, and intimidation.
School officials did not identify the individuals, but said they were program directors, who typically oversee academic departments and evaluate teachers. Other staff members will fill the roles temporarily.
A “leadership coach” will be assigned to work with headmaster Emilia Pastor and the rest of the school team to resolve a variety of issues, according to a letter Interim Superintendent John McDonough e-mailed to staff Wednesday night. Copies are also being sent to parents.
“I view these efforts as collaborative and productive, not administrative or prescriptive,” McDonough wrote. “We share the same goal of ensuring that Boston Latin Academy continues to be a school that reflects [the Boston public schools] at our very best. We share your sense of urgency that requires us to make changes to position all students for success in a wide range of higher education opportunities.”
Latin Academy, located on Townsend Street in Dorchester, is one of the city’s exam schools, where admission hinges on passing an entrance exam. The school, which currently has an enrollment of 1,700 students, originally opened in 1878 as an all-girls college-preparatory school and is often confused with the better known Boston Latin School, which initially taught only boys. Both schools went coeducational in the 1970s.
McDonough’s actions stem from concerns raised three months ago by dozens of Latin Academy teachers, who say the school’s administration was creating a hostile work environment and was forcing teachers to lower academic standards, through tactics such as mandating they award more As and Bs to students.
If teachers refused to comply or asked too many questions, they said, school administrators often targeted them for removal, stepping up classroom observations and writing nuanced evaluations that picked apart performance and offered little constructive feedback for improvement.
Adding further anxiety, teachers said, the administration appeared to be developing a pattern, whether intentional or not, of pushing out older teachers and black teachers. Staff outlined their concerns in a seven-page letter to McDonough in May, which was later reported by the Globe.
Teachers reached for comment Thursday said they were relieved to return to school next month with certain administrators out of the building.
“We are pleased,” said one teacher, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the allegations. “There was tremendous trepidation and fear what happened last school year would continue this year. The term bloodbath was being thrown around.”
The dispute flared after the school system rolled out a revamped evaluation system over the last two years that is intended to provide more constructive feedback to teachers, administrators, and other educators with an eye toward improvement.
But teachers at some schools across the city, as with those at Latin Academy, say adminstrators are using the evaluation in punitive ways and may also be discriminating against teachers of certain demographics.
In fact, the first batch of districtwide data, released last year, showed that teachers across the system who are black, Hispanic, or older were more likely to receive a low rating, prompting school district officials to step up training.
At Latin Academy, school district officials met with dozens of staff members on the last day of school, fielding their concerns for about three hours. Representatives from the School Department’s Office of Academics, Office of Human Capital and Office of Equity, which handles discrimination complaints, then investigated throughout the summer.
McDonough said in his letter that “additional changes remain a possibility” at the school.
“We will monitor the situation closely in the months ahead,” McDonough wrote. “We are taking these steps so we can effectively address the concerns that have been raised by faculty, staff, and students. Our work is not yet finished.”
McDonough declined an interview request through a spokesman.
“He tried to put everything he can say about the topic in the letter to be as open as possible about the actions we are taking while also respecting the confidentiality of the process,” the spokesman, Lee McGuire, said in an e-mail. “For now he is going to limit his comments to what is in the public letter, so everyone has the same information.”
Councilor Tito Jackson, who chairs the City Council’s Education Committee and has raised concerns about the situation at Boston Latin Academy, said he believes the School Department acted decisively.
“I believe the changes in administration are justified so Boston Latin Academy can move forward,” he said. “I’ve spoken to many teachers, as well as staff members, at Boston Latin Academy and I’m taken that every single person who I spoke with were squarely focused not on their own job but the future of the city of Boston and the preparation of the talented young people who go to BLA.”
Teachers said they appreciated that school district officials took their concerns seriously.
“They really listened to us and were supportive,” said another teacher. “I do feel confident that they are going to help us make this school year a better one and we can just get back to teaching and learning.”
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Class is out for today.
