Washington Middle School Upheaval Update

An update on the story at Washington Middle School where the principal flipped schedules at the semester with no warning to students or teachers.

The students did hold a protest outside the school last Thursday. They also wrote a thoughtful letter about their concerns.

The principal, Emily Butler-Ginolfi, has not acknowledged the letter nor the protest as of the date of the letter.

Reflecting what the 8th graders have been learning in class, the letter starts this way:

In our 8th Grade history classes this year, we have spent a lot of time learning about the U.S. Revolution and the beginning of the country we live in today. Unfortunately, we are not able to continue those important and historical discussions with many of our same classmates, peers in other classes and programs, and even in most cases our teachers, but we have learned a lot about how much power matters in a system. This kind of situation not only happens in our history classes, but is now reflected throughout the school. If we are going to make a school where everyone learns and is cared about, we need to start having more student voice in decisions, because when different groups of people are involved, just like it should have been in the American colonies, everything works out better for the whole.

These are partial excerpts from the letter.  The concerns seem real enough AND address valid academic concerns.

On teaching changes:

Even though we all deserve the best education possible, the worst thing to do is to interrupt any of these learning experiences. Instead of switching students and teachers around so that every student is better served, why can’t we make sure that every teacher is able to benefit every student?

On race:

Communication is so important, but it isn’t a one-way street.  One student says, “Students are treated differently because of their skin. As a black student, it sucks that people like me get in trouble and are being suspected of things that other people aren’t.”

On working with other students

Now students in science fair groups are mainly in different classes and they don’t know if they will be able to finish the project on time. Book clubs were also created in some Language Arts classes so now students will not have a way to continue discussions and meet with their groups in class, these issues were also not made clear with teachers before Tuesday, 

Periods, Periods, and more Periods 

        This year the passing periods have also been changed. Last year we had 5 minutes and the schedule and times were easy to memorize, but now we have to remember exactly when class ends and when it starts and it is really confusing. This is in addition to us having to memorize a completely new schedule in the middle of the year.

Also, four minutes is not enough time to get to our classes especially if we need to use the bathroom. I know that as a girl, it can be very inconvenient to have your period because of the bathroom limitations. It’s stressful to have to deal with your period when there’s no time to use the restroom due to the fact that we don’t want to be tardy. Girls can’t plan their periods, sometimes they start during class or passing periods. Girls can’t always wait until a class is over to take care of it.  

In addition to the passing period problem, we are not allowed to go to the bathroom the first or last 10 minutes of class. This is completely unfair because you never know if someone is having an emergency. This goes back to girls getting their periods as well, sometimes going to the bathroom is necessary. It shouldn’t be a shameful thing or a thing to get in trouble for. 

The students also express concerns over lunch and music changes.  They conclude:

In addition to these changes that are being made, we can’t ignore that in the letters the principal has given us, they show no apology for not communicating to students and families, no regard for raised opinions by the community, and they often blame other sources for problems that have cost us time being educated and much more. 

She even got the address of our school wrong; it is the address of the school she previously worked at. 

That the principal did this is bizarre.  She kept the template from her old school and just used it for Washington Middle School? 

She also mentions that the changes being made happen often in secondary school, but secondary school is high school and not middle school.

The students are incorrect here; middle/high are secondary but, to their point, I have never experienced this kind of out-of-the-blue changes in either of my sons’ middle or high schools.

They conclude:

We need to be treated like the school we are, and we need our principal to set an example of how to act in these situations, because believe it or not we are all still learning. We understand this is all part of her own principles and values, and understand how hard of a job she has with little state funding, but we think everyone should be able to have a voice in the decisions being made at our school, no matter how much the impact.

I can only add - why is the district allowing this to happen?  Not only is Washington's enrollment in decline, it appears the entire school is in free-fall change.  What good is that?

Again, why are principals so empowered in this district? And why would a new-to-the-district principal be allowed such leeway?

I found this in Parent FAQs; maybe this is why:

Advocacy for additional funding for WMS with district, given our unique population and being a middle school. We are 79% Free and Reduced Meals eligible without the HCC magnet, which means we would be a Title I school. 

On the other end, SPS does not currently provide additional funding for HCC programming. 

As a middle school, we must have teachers who are licensed to teach both middle and high school courses—an issue which is unique to schools with HCC programs and more challenging at a school like WMS that would otherwise be Title I.

Many schools might be Title One if they didn't have more students who come from high-income families, HCC program  or not.  To blame not getting Title One funding on the HCC program is very odd.