On another post Anonymous wrote:
"New Blog
Once again u prep has our children in danger. Today a
middle school teacher was punched multiple times and two other students
were jumped by multiple students. Is this a school???
"
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84 comments:
There are widespread reports of serious problems at U Prep but you would never know it from watching a Board meeting or a task force meeting.
Today a teacher in the middle school was punched multiple times when girls were jumping another student. The PPS could care less! My daughter is scared to go to school.
When I was a teacher at King during the ALA years it was really dangerous and older middle school kids were assaulting teachers,principals, security etc, they even threw me out of my door way when I attempted to block two boys from coming into my room to attack my eight year old student. I told my elementary children if any middle school child came into my room again to hurt me, them, etc to take out their cell phone and call 911.
If you are a u prep teacher or parent tell the children to call 911 if they are witnessing an assault or are in danger. Until the real police (and the media attention it will draw) are involved, nothing is going to change.
10:11,
Another PPS teacher here. I've been told that when you call 911 regarding a PPS crime, the call is always routed from the city police to the school police.
As you know, when the school police handle anything, reports are buried, and the public is kept in the dark.
I have no idea how to get around that. Perhaps someone on this blog can make a suggestion.
Where are the reports buried? Where could, say, a reporter find them?
Questioner, 10:22 here.
Sorry for any confusion. When I say an incident report is "buried", I mean the report is written in such a way that what really happened is distorted beyond all reality.
Let me give an actual example. A fellow teacher in my school was assaulted by a student. The teacher was injured. The PPS police report said that the teacher tripped and fell in the hallway.
That is an extreme example. Most PPS police report distortions are more subtle. But you get my point.
Even if a student calls from a cell phone? That would be a very dangerous practice. What if an active shooter is in a building and 911 calls are diverted to school police? I'm sure many parents would be horrified if this is a standard practice, I am a teacher and I've never heard of this. I would expect if I had to call 911 the city police would respond.
10:22 here (again).
Let me add one more thing. There certainly are distortions when PPS crimes are reported.
But do not automatically assume that the PPS police are at fault. Principals can (and do) pressure the school police to modify reports.
And then there's central administration at Bellefield. Once a PPS police report reaches them, the modification routine begins again.
It has been my personal experience that the public learns the whole truth only when an outside agency is involved.
As noted below, the mayor's task force is now a city Commission; ask it to become involved.
Speak to the City Paper reporter; be willing to give your name on the condition that it not be revealed.
If staff and students are in physical danger and PPS cannot or will not address the problems, even contact the DA as you would if for example child abuse was taking place in a school and the district was doing nothing.
10:22 here (yet again)
10:44, I actually was involved in a situation where an active shooter was thought to be in my building. Thankfully, there was no shooter.
Both the city police and the school police responded. So I'm thinking that when an active shooter is involved, the school requests city support.
Notice that I said "an active shooter" and not just "firearms". I am aware of cases where students were known to have guns (in a backpack, in a locker, etc.) The city police did NOT respond. Those incidents were handled by the school police, who are unarmed.
Foolish, yes. But it keeps negative stories out of the local news.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP @@R@@ FROM ABUSING US ANY LONGER? I SAY WE PROTEST A SAFE PLACE TO WORK AT AND WE WANT COMPASSIONATE ADMINISTRATORS THAT ARE HUMBLE! WE ARE SO TIRED OF THE ABUSE AT WORK THAT IS SLOWLY KILLING US!
Contacting the DA about U prep is a great idea. I hadn't thought of that. He gives the impression of being someone who thinks for himself and is not afraid to tick people off to get things done. I don't see him being under the control of anyone at Bellefield.
You have to give him evidence to work with... personal accounts, names, dates, details.
Someone sent comments that cannot be posted- about personal lives, etc; but they did specify that the teacher who was punched is female and that one student who was jumped is in the high school and the other in the middle school.
Ask your Board member to investigate.
10:56 that is truly terrifying. School police are not equipped or experienced in any situation requiring firearms. If I ever have to call 911 for any safety reasons I will be sure to say 'active shooter' no matter what in order to get the real police to respond and I hope anyone reading this will do the same. Do you trust school police with your life or the lives of your students?
It just wouldn't be responsible to say active shooter if that is not the case; and you can be charged with giving a false report. There has to be a better solution.
If someone in my building has a gun there are seconds between carrying a firearm and becoming an active shooter, I'll take my chances at being charged rather than murdered.
Someone running around with a gun is very different from hearing that a student has a gun in their locker.
Any situation involving a gun in a building filled with children should be handled by armed officers. Seriously? We are talking about schools! In what other work place would a disgruntled employee with gun in their purse/desk (similar to a child with a gun in a locker) be handled by unarmed company security? The police would be called! And they would respond! And we can't expect this in a school?
Where was the police officer when the teacher was being assaulted?
Has it occurred to anyone that sending the UPrep thread to Malinda Gates might be informative?
There does not actually seem to be a way for community members to reach decision makers in the organizations that are affecting our schools.
The only online contact in the Gates Foundation is for communications/marketing personnel, who if they answer provide a corporate type response.
Use the US Postal Service . Address it to Malinda Gates and send it to Corporate Headquarters in the Pacific Northwest.
USPS letter to Bill and Melinda Gates got no response at all.
Get creative here. Make visible a huge SOS somewhere in the vicinity of UPrep. Post it on face book. Let the TV stations fly over it and capture the image.
Just because there was no response does not mean no one got it or read it.
The most serious situations do not get are response because they do not know how to handle it.
However, it cannot help bur influence perspective and thinking, even when the Agenda is not what is generally accepted.
There is NEVER an excuse for NOT taking ACTION!
True, go ahead and send letters to the Gates Foundation, it can't hurt but it needs to be just one of various strategies.
The SOS could be effective!
Kudos to acting Wilkinsburg superintendent Dan Matsook and the Wilkinsburgh School Board for their LEADERSHIP in today's PG article, "Reading, writing and confiscating", by Clarece Polk.
No free pizza for these students!
Anonymous wrote:
"The purpose of the Gates Foundation is to cause failure and disatisfaction with the public schools in order to create a charter school market and dismantle unions. Almost all of the money goes to teacher evalution systems and central office consultants. They also want to destroy unions and promote teach for America. By putting systems and people (broad superintendents) into place that cause schools to fail, they turn the public against teachers. Go ahead and call them, this is exactly what they wanted. A charter school market and failing schools with high teacher turnover and local media and communities blaming teachers. This has happened in every city that receives Gates money. Now our [name calling deleted] mayor has us in even more debt to Gates. Meanwhile gates money is funneled to local media and A+ schools o cover up or promote whatever suits their agenda. Getting the DA involved is likely the last hope. Everyone else is on Gates payroll. The only people who are not directly touched by the millions of dollars are the students!
Also u prep teachers, I feel for you. I teach right down the street and while I don't personally know any of you, I have written the Union, the HDEC, the HDCG, the local NAACP, the urban league, and the city paper. But you had a reporter wanting to help and NOBODY would go on record. I taught at King during the ALA years when students were blatantly using drugs in the stairwells, older student so were molesting younger children in bathrooms. Some injuries to teachers included a broken foot, a concussion, a torn hamstring, a cervical disk rupture, and the security guard was hurt too badly to return to work. Not to mention the teachers who were taken out on stretchers due to attacks of high blood pressure from the stress or literally had nervous breakdowns following walk throughs led by Otuwa and her henchmen. We were crying out for help and surely would have talked to a reporter to get help!
There is safety in numbers. Central office can easily continue to target the random teacher who speaks out, but if all the parents, students, and teachers went on record with the same stories and the stories went public, they couldn't fire you all. Talk to the reporter, Rebecca Nuttall who posted on this blog. Our silence is exactly want they count on to cover these things up."
Reporters should be able to keep names confidential and off the record. The City Paper reporter who has covered U Prep can be reached at rnuttall@pghcitypaper.com.
My daughter is a student at that crazy house and said she was nearly run over today because of the other students running up and down the steps like maniacs. When she came to she said she could hear a fight break out. But she said that's nothing because there's always fights. Getting run over on the steps though really scared her. Can anyone out there help me? What other school can she go to in the district? She is a very good student and she behaves. Help my baby and me, please!
Did you see the advice on another thread about obtaining a transfer?
UPrep is the PPS version of the 'Castaway'. Yes__put an SOS on its rooftop. Where is 'Wilson' when you need him?
You can talk to her and remain anonymous. U Prep teachers and parents please reach out. She has permission from her editor to keep you anonymous.
Rebecca Nuttall
Staff Writer
Pittsburgh City Paper
650 Smithfield Street
Suite 2200
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-316-3342 x. 175
rnuttall@steelcitymedia.com
@PGHReporter
All right so here's your opportunity everyone; please take it.
Praise the Lord! Finally, a contact!
Why are they leaving these administrators in charge? The PPS are a joke! The teacher that was punched several times in the face never called for security. I am not sure why? I have to say that we have several (not all) excellent Security and I am not sure why the police officer is there because he does not come to any fights! I am glad we have the security that are effective or we would be in big trouble. I have 34 kids in most of my class rooms and they are out of control. I am ready to have a nervous breakdown. You can not go to the principal because your just treated like your the problem and you can not handle your class room. This school is dangerous! The principal was punched in the head and now a teacher in the face. Why aren't the superintendents stepping in?
PPS central office and Linda Lane do not care about the teachers or the students in that school and many other schools. This could not be any clearer at this point. A student being murdered did not change anything, what else is there to say? The only thing Lane and company care about and respond to is PR, especially avoiding negative PR.
I have been following this thread and advocating for the U Prep community because I was in a school where similar things took place. As a PPS teacher I also felt an obligation to advocate for any children and adults who are in crisis in any of our schools even if I don't know you.
But honestly at this point, if there are still people who are witnessing these things or working in this building or sending your children there and you are still venting on this website instead of contacting the reporter who can actually get this story out, you should be ashamed of yourself.
This is second time this woman offered to help and a child was murdered since the first time she reached out. I have offered to go on record to help her in anyway possible and I don't even teach at your school.
This is exactly why Lane won't ever do anything to help U prep. She honestly doesn't care and she can count on the fact that NO ONE will challenge her and speak out! At this point the silence of the teachers and parents is worse than anything!
Somebody with a connection to that school please write that you have contacted Ms. Nuttall. If it is truly that dangerous, horrible etc, what do you have to lose? I can hardly stand to read another post complaining about how bad it is.
Agreed- if you do not take the opportunity to work with the reporter, it really does not make sense to keep complaining here.
"You can talk to her and remain anonymous. U Prep teachers and parents please reach out. She has permission from her editor to keep you anonymous."
7:43, please clarify. Does that mean you do not have to give your name? Or does it mean that you must give your name, but it will be kept secret?
You have to tell the reporter who you are, but she will not print or reveal your name.
Who made up that name, UPrep? That is the funniest item of all the factually based insults on here. I am a sub and I will never return to that so-called school. Oh, I heard the Secretary of Education is now involved. Did anyone else hear that?
The name was Roosevelt's- his approach seemed to be that the name was half the battle. The Secretary SHOULD be involved. Not even considered on this thread, probably b/c Tomalis never responded to anything.
My daughter goes there. I am taking her out next week. I was told to go on here to see the truth about that school. I only hope God forgives me for leaving her in that place for so long.
You are making the only choice. Thank God the news is getting involved.
Godspeed 7:59. At least one parent ready to do what he/she can. Too bad so many others have not taken the challenge.
7:59, I understand The only thing principal Hardy is good at, besides disrespecting teachers, is interfering with parents withdrawing students from his school.
One effective tactic is to withdraw your student from PPS completely. Tell them you are moving. The new receiving school will request necessary documents once you are in your new place. Then, "move" back into the district and apply to a new school. In the meantime, your student is not responsible for missed time and assignments.
Good luck, God bless.
7:59 I would do the same thing. It isn't ideal but I would probably enroll my child at a cyber school until I figured out an alternative.
I hope these parents who are writing about withdrawing their students are contacting Rebecca Nuttall to report their experience with the school and share their stories about why they are leaving and how hard the principal makes it to leave. The only way the "news is getting involved" is if people contact her and tell their stories. Judging by the numbers of posts on this thread and previous threads, there should be a huge number of teachers, parents, and students with stories for Ms. Nuttall. Has anyone contacted her yet? Anything that is posted here NEEDS to be told to her.
I am sending Nuttall a letter. As far cyber school goes, it doesn't matter, because any place is far better.
There is only one explanation, someone is protecting Mr.Hardy. Why???? What does he have on Bellefield? Why in the world would anyone keep this ineffective principal in this position!!! If this were a business he would have been removed months ago.
Dear Dr. Lane
Get out of Bellefield and visit these schools! Stop hiding! Stop pretending that everything is OK. Stop blaming teachers. Step forest and DO SOMETHING for these kids. This is disgraceful!!! Remove this principal. Put in someone who ca lead this school. You are ignoring the cities neediest students. SHAME ON YOU!!!
Getting rid oh Hardy may not be so easy. He is black. The board will not vote to get rid of a black principal. Especially one who is working in a Hill District school. The shouts of racism will reverberate throughout PPS no matter how bad he is.
They can't fire him. Other than being a poor administrator, he has done nothing that can justify his dismissal. He has not committed any crime. He has not molested or assaulted anybody. He is not a drunkard. You get the point.
The board can't promote him. They ran out of those positions for useless beyond belief people. There are no places where he can do no harm. The board thought a dedicated faculty and college bound students would carry him through. Instead, they got a man who will sink his own ship before saving it. All the while, his crew, the board, won't even complain about wet socks!
Excuse me, but if the Board did it's homework, they would find that he IS NOT a model citizen outside of the school day. And yes, I know this to be true as do many many other teachers! But, for some reason, they look then other way. In the end, it will all come out and they will look foolish once again for allowing this man to continue. Just because he is black, really? What about all of the black kids at that school? Don't they deserve better!!!! The students are being sacrificed just because he is black...how lame, how LINDA LAME!!!!!!
i have a question about the current administration. I know there are two new deputy administrators both from the high school principal ranks. how many other top pps administrators have a background in high school teaching or management? Sims, Micheaux, May-Stein? The others whose names I do not recall? Seriously, parents are easily schmoozed by principals and we don't know as much as we think we do. here is a question for you...how long should a parent wait for a principal to return a call? Ms. Lane once said, everybody has a boss.
If you have evidence of unprofessional/ harmful behavior or that "he is not a model citizen" then tell the reporter to investigate it. You write that the board & Lane need to do their homework. Well they did, and they found out they can do WHATEVER THEY WANT, and no one will speak out. They don't truly care, they only care about being exposed. We have been given the chance to do our homework now! Gather your stories and take them to Rebecca Nuttalll! Please tell me I'm not the only person who has responded to her, I do not even work at U Prep.
First of all, thank you for making me aware of this site. Second, What's being black have to do with it? White people were the deciding factor for electing Obama as president, not black people(US). African-Americans(WE) despise what Hardy has done to the Hill District and our fragile children. White people rose to the occasion for the righteous(US). Now it's time for blacks(US) to rise to the occasion for (EVERYONE) and send Hardy out on a rail.
I'm a sub, and all subs in the district call UPrep "No Way", because when AESOP says "ASSIGNMENT UPREP" we say "No way".
When principals struggle, you really have to ask if part of the problem may be that they are placed in positions without the traditional training and experience. Principals who have spent time as high school teachers and assistant principals or similar roles and are fairly evaluated and trained along the way seem to do well. It seems like pre-Broad/Gates we didn't have principals who crashed and failed. It is true that test scores weren't always high but they are if anything lower now.
Can you say PELA?
There is one thing everyone who is reading and posting can do. It may no change things, but it will get the message out the. Stop complaining on he and WRITE LETTERS and SEND them to :
Linda Lame (I love that one!)
All of the board members
All of the executive board members and asst. supers
Peduto
The Principal (s)
All of the Pittsburgh papers
Seriously, if they received a ton of mail they may start to pay attention. And if you don't feel like writing, print out these posts and mail them!
They won't take these posts seriously. In fact, I wonder if any of them are aware of this blog.
4:47, do you want to make it easy for people and provide the addresses?
Mr Hardy had zero training. He was a poor choice from the start.
For those who do not have to remain anonymous, speaking at the public hearing is also an excellent option. In fact, there is a hearing tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm, call PPS by noon at (412) 529-3868 to sign up.
4:47 PM____ put Derrick Hardy at the top of your list.
Great, I have chaos and a Principal that harasses me and talks to me like I am nothing to deal with this week! Will I get called names? Will I get hit? Will they hide what happens to me? Everyone knows what we are going through! WE SENT LETTERS AND NOTHING HAPPENED! We are all equal in this world no matter your position! When will people realize that!?
8:30, have you contacted Ms. Nuttall? When newspaper stories are published describing teacher, staff, and student assaults, as well as the other atrocities, PPS will act. U prep will not change until it is exposed to the public. I know this blog is public, but there WILL be a reaction to a news article or likley a series of articles if staff, parents, and children speak out.
PPS and the union will both likely do something after they are exposed. Both are going to look REALLY bad to the public for allowing this to go on for so long. That is why it is so important that this is documented and reported. Other news outlets may start to investigate things too.
The public will support the teachers and families if these stories are published. If any good can come out of a horrible situation, maybe this will serve to reignite community support for teachers and school staff. If the stories from blog posts were published in a newspaper, I can't see how it could not incite the community to stand beside teachers and demand a solution from the Board.
As long as this blog is the only outlet for these stories, PPS will continue to do nothing. Had anyone given a statement or information to Ms. Nuttall yet?
9:17 PM Okay give me names and addresses and I will sent them everything that they hide!
To 10:38
She has permission from her editor to keep you anonymous.
Rebecca Nuttall
Staff Writer
Pittsburgh City Paper
650 Smithfield Street
Suite 2200
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-316-3342 x. 175
rnuttall@steelcitymedia.com
@PGHReporter
Anonymous wrote:
"
When you watch the board on the city channel. They lie about so much! At UPREP four kids were murdered in a year and one of the students that went to UPREP committed one murder. [NAME DELETED] (teacher)was jumped and beat up and she will say it did not happen because her and Hardy are tight. Ask the students! Multiple kids are being jumped! Teachers and staff are being abused by kids and Hardy! The kids swear all day long, cut all day long, leave class, leave the building, violent, drugs, and kids are begging to leave and Hardy will not approve the forms. Huge food fights! Cell phones are a huge problem! They text when their is a fight coming to other students! Film fights! They are on Facebook in the classes and tell the teachers to mind their on business. The administrators do NOTHING to discipline the kids so staff gave up on referrals and taking students to the admins. Most of the time people are frighted that Hardy will scream at them. He is verbally abusive!!!!!!!!
10:57 please tell these things to Rebecca Nuttall, see contact info in previous post. It is critical that these stories get out to the public before another child or staff member is seriously injured or worse. We have to take responsibility to stop this, to call them on their lies. Let's get these stories to the public so we can get help.
Taking control of our Schools:
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2014/11/24/Wilkinsburg-schools-ramp-up-discipline/stories/201411240038
On 6:34 and Wilkinsburg-- everything they are doing sounds very normal for a school-- but high reaching for PPS. There really was a time,folks, when we removed disruptive students from class- honest!
Roosevelt said part of the reason for the expensive Clayton/ CEP contract was to move disruptive students so that other students could learn. But, there have been much fewer students than projected enrolled at Clayton.
Many, if not most, of old-style teachers/principals in PPS did not have to MOVE students to alternative placement. But, old-style was very different from the current educators who don't know how to handle/engage themselves nor the students.
This blog tells the story loud and clear in ways that are not helping either students or people in schools.
Conditions in some schools are being exacerbated by mindsets that truly---just don't get it.
Letcshe Alternative was a resource that many old-style teachers/principals used in MOVING students that needed more comprehensive engagement. Many good things happened there at Letcshe with dedicated staff and leadership.
Amen, Amen, Amen 9:32!
I was there and witnessed it day in and day out!
And even in the 90's when rival "gang" members were sent from ALL PPS city high school to Letsche, there were NO PROBLEMS (that could not be handled) in that environment! AMAZING things happened and the stories of success for students would blow the bloggers on this site away!
The new deal at Central Office that began with Roosevelt and continues under the auspices of Broad/Gates/Consultants, etc. literally destroyed lives, young and old.
i don't have any first hand knowledge of Letsche but even during MR's time as superintendent he acknowledged the successes there, once telling parents at an EFA meeting kids did not want to leave there because they were learning and appreciating the education. jeez, why have Clayton then? the law prevented kids with IEPs from going to Clayton and a few might have had great gains there. what was really the thinking during the CEP pitch?
No good reason, just a general attitude that anything Pittsburghers could do, an outside consulting firm could do better.
Seriously?! No teachers have contacted Ms. Rebecca Nuttall about U Prep? For months, there have been endless posts about abusive practices, serious safety issues, and atrocities that should not occur anywhere much less a school.
The superintendent, the union, NO ONE has or will help you! If you are a teacher, you know how PPS operates. They want to avoid negative PR.
This reporter has gone out of her way to keep teachers anonymous! I truly cannot fathom that no teacher or U Prep parent has contacted her. I have to question just how bad it really is, because if these posts are true the teachers and parents would be speaking out to get help.
The central office staff including Linda Lane could not are less about you. She knows she can let that place go to hell because not one person will have the guts to speak out (even anonymously) Unbelievable! Shame on you.
It's bad enough that Hardy has created a climate of abuse, fear, and violence, but you are all allowing it to continue.
I don't feel sorry for one teacher there who doesn't take this opportunity. I feel bad for the children whose teachers and parents who write here all day long, but can't send an email to Ms. Nuttall to get help. It is shameful!
And that will end our thread on U Prep- we have been informed of the asserted problems, a reporter has stepped forward to write about them so they cannot be ignored, and at this point further complaints are not productive.
i saw the list of those who will speak at the public hearing. how is it possible that nobody will speak on the UPrep issues? isn't there anyone who feels they have nothing to lose at this point? maybe a 2014 grad will have some time over the holiday break in december.
I have no horse in the race. never worked in a school. i feel so bad for those kids who think they have no chance for a future because they are a Uprep student. if the situation is just a tenth as severe as the posts indicate, I am ashamed of the adults in power letting this continue.
Questioner, regarding your Nov. 24 9 PM post: Please do not shut down the U Prep thread, or any other thread for that matter.
A post that one person might see as a just another complaint, another person might see as an valuable piece of information for future use.
I see posts here as more than just calls for action. I see them as data points. And the more of these we can collect, the better.
If action is not taken, it would be a real pity. But at least there will be a record - on this blog - of what really happened in the PPS.
As I said before, the more information we can collect, the better.
The problem is that if NO ONE will take action to make an investigation possible, it calls into question whether what is posted is really credible information.
Watch today the security on four will sit on his chair all day and do nothing and the 5th floor security will be everywhere but on five and get away with it!
I work on the fourth floor. How can the kids stand there and talk to the security guard all day and he just sits on a chair acting like he is this great security guard? He watches the kids just form a group in the hallway and moves them when an administrator walks by?
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