Teachers protest ‘dangerous’ conditions at St. Louis school

STREET. LOUIS – Teachers at Vashon High School say understaffing has led to “dangerous situations inside the building,” including the use of pepper spray against crowds of students.

“It is unacceptable that our students who come to school to learn are placed in a situation where physical pain may be caused solely because we do not have clear policies, consequences for behaviors, or effective leadership,” the petition reads. of teachers and staff sent St. Louis Public Schools administrators last week.

“Our workplace is unsustainable and leaders made promises to us that have been broken or completely ignored,” teachers and staff said.

Millicent Borishade, acting superintendent of SLPS, did not respond to questions Monday. Borishade and principals from other schools have rotated to supervise Vashon this year, teachers said.

Each day, 20 classroom teachers give up their planning periods to serve as substitutes in other classes, according to Lauren Bowers, head of the math department.

“Teachers are lucky to have one planning period a week and they are exhausted by it,” Bowers said during public comments at the Oct. 8 meeting of the St. Louis Board of Education. “It’s not fair that we’re at the end of the first quarter and we still have four open positions that need filling and it’s causing chaos.”

Of Vashon’s 37 teachers, only 15 are certified. There are two guidance counselors for more than 600 students, Bowers told the board.

“Our students need social-emotional supports and restorative discipline practices because they are dealing with a lot of trauma. “Our teachers need hazard pay and any type of incentive to teach at Vashon because we are losing incredible educators to the high-stress environment,” he said.

Vashon opened in 1927 on Laclede Avenue as the second high school for African-American students in the city, after Sumner. The original Vashon building eventually became Harris Teachers College, a predecessor to Harris-Stowe State University.

Vashon was nearly closed after enrollment declined in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, when the desegregation program bused thousands of city students to St. Louis County schools. .

The desegregation agreement included tax dollars for new school buildings, and the current Vashon building at 3035 Cass Ave. opened in 2002. While many SLPS buildings are more than 100 years old, the $40 Vashon campus million has modern amenities and capacity for 1,300 students as the centerpiece of the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.

The school has always been an athletic powerhouse, and boys basketball won its fifth consecutive state title and 15th overall last spring. But academics have struggled for generations despite strong support from alumni, the community and businesses. Ten years ago, students protested what they described as unequal treatment of Vashon compared to the district’s magnet high schools.

Enrollment at Vashon has grown to more than 600 students this fall, up from 480 five years ago. Nearly all of the students are black and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of poverty. The average student enters Vashon at a fourth-grade reading level and never catches up.

Last year, four out of five students were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of class time. The 2023 graduation rate was 59% and the average ACT score was 12.5 on a scale of 36, according to state data.

There were 144 student suspensions in the first two months of this school year, Bowers said, compared to 62 in the entire 2022-2023 year.

Teachers said school security officials staged a walkout earlier this month in support of Vashon graduate and former basketball coach Col. DeAndre Davis, SLPS security director who resigned Oct. 7.

The following week, Vashon security used pepper spray “to disperse crowds of students” in the hallways and cafeteria, according to the staff petition.

Vashon teachers and alumni said morale has also been damaged by rumors that the high school will close before the nearby National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus opens in 2025.

“The solution is not to close Vashon because that would just drag these same problems elsewhere, but the solution is to invest in our needs,” said Bowers, who is in his 11th year teaching at Vashon.

City, school district and NGA officials denied the rumors and said there are no plans to close or repurpose Vashon.

The SLPS board approved a contract in August to provide dual enrollment opportunities for Vashon students at St. Louis Community College’s Harrison Center, across Cass Avenue from the high school.

Still, the rumors worry former Vashon principal and basketball coach Floyd Irons, who said he would be devastated but not surprised if Vashon ends up closing.

“We’ve been fighting the closure of Vashon since I’ve been a student there,” Irons said. “My heart bleeds blue and white. Vashon is the community for the most part.”

The current problems on Vashon are not new. In April, the school’s principal of seven years, Brenda Smith, and two assistant principals were reassigned to other positions in the district. Borishade, then SLPS head of schools, appointed Christopher Crumble to oversee Vashon, but he has now returned as principal of Yeatman-Liddell High School.

“It is imperative that teachers and students feel safe in their learning environment. The incoming team is tasked with creating and maintaining this type of environment,” Borishade wrote to the Vashon community at the time. “The goal of this leadership change is to enhance safety measures, improve communication, and ensure a high-quality learning environment for all.”