Clean the mess

I am writing to your newspaper as a concerned parent, a parent who is very concerned about what is happening at my daughter’s school, Hopwood Junior High School (HJHS). I am not writing about the name change–that seems like a political and nonessential issue, especially since it has succeeded for so many years with that name–but about the essential educational characteristics of the school–the behavior of the students, teachers and administrators at HJHS. I am writing about safety concerns for students, the civil rights of students, teachers and administrators. I want to see justice done and the integrity of our educational system preserved.

I have heard a lot of allegations and rumors, and, unless the facts are brought forth to public scrutiny, this behavior will damage a system that relies on open and democratic communication. I have heard that the administration of HJHS has been accused of falsifying information in the WASC Self-Study.

I have been told that it has withheld funds that students themselves raised from use by those same students in reasonable activities that have been allowed in previous years. I have heard that it has forbidden our best students–STUCO and Honor Society students–to travel off-island on an educational trip, as has been done in previous years. I have heard that students have assaulted other students, male and female, on the HJHS campus, and that the perpetrators are not suspended from classes. I have heard that the administration has interrogated and intimidated students and teachers who have petitioned the government for a redress of their grievances–thereby violating the Constitutions of both the CNMI and the USA. I have heard that there are only a few disgruntled employees at HJHS, but when I visited an after-school meeting of HJHS teachers in Garapan, I saw many teachers, of all ages, genders and ethnicities. I have heard that the Public School System has stated that these teachers did not follow proper procedures in presenting their grievances, but I have also heard that the PSS has failed to follow those procedures as well.

I understand that the program for Gifted and Talented (GATE) students has continued to be suspended, despite assurances in a PTA meeting last September that it would be restored this semester. This was one of the reasons I encouraged my daughter to continue attending HJHS. Parents have not been provided any evidence that the new “cohort” system that is being piloted this year has improved discipline, discouraged tardiness, or prevented absenteeism. Yet the need for this system was given as the reason for suspending special programs such as GATE. Has HJHS returned to a policy of catering to those students who are least successful in school at the expense of attending to students who are presently successful and need continued support?

I ask the Public School System to take immediate action to investigate these allegations, to identify and discipline anyone-student, teacher, or administrator-who is responsible for committing or permitting injustice.

We are the community, and our children are our future. If we do not serve them well, then the Commonwealth will be ill-served in the future.

Please clean up this mess!

Vince Riley