Statement to the Rochester Board of Education by BENTE-AFSCME President, Dan DiClemente

(Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation)

Written and Presented to the Board on November 20^th by BENTE President Dan DiClemente.

My name is Dan DiClemente, and I represent the food service workers who are being threatened, the secretaries who feel intimidated, the school safety officers that the same, few, adolescents are swinging at, due to an in-school suspension policy that is falling short of helping students who are suspended, while placing into jeopardy the safety of the students who aren't.

Poorly conceived and inadequately staffed programs have turned in-school suspension rooms into overcrowded holding tanks, ill-equipped to moderate the behavior and educate a population that we are all trying desperately not to lose to the lack of success of out-of-school suspensions.

When my daughters get into a fight with one another, my wife and I don't throw them out of the house, but we don't send them to the same room either - with twenty-two other kids in it. 

Teenagers who are turned away because the in-school suspension rooms exceed maximum capacity, push and shove other staff and students aside as they race through the halls, bang on classroom doors, and scream profanity at adults who are constantly reminded that there isn't a damn thing that they can do about it. 

As a custodial assistant who was at Jefferson when Stephanie Givens' life was needlessly taken, I can assure you, that none of us want to go through the pain of that tragedy again.  Paying little attention to the opinions of staff who work in our schools on a daily basis that tell you that this policy is failing all kids miserably, is reminiscent of the mentality of a failed leadership style perfected by George W. Bush. 

A poorly conceived in-school suspension policy can be perilous to the rest of the school community, and if not equipped with the right tools, it can send a message to parents that the district is simply isolating troublesome adolescents in order to pull down out-of-school suspension numbers.  We need to do more to look out for the teen who misbehaves because their home life is unconscionable, but it should never come at the expense of the model student who may suddenly develop attendance problems and risk suspension themselves, as a result of being afraid to go to school. 

Until we can all collectively develop an in-school suspension policy that has the resources to make it successful, in the immediate interest of safety for all students and staff, on behalf of the concerns expressed to me by the many dedicated support staff workers throughout the Rochester City School District, we implore the Board of Education to do the right thing and suspend the Superintendent's in-school suspension policy until further review.