Aerial view of the PHS complex.
Plainfield High teachers have offered another view of the ruckus at PHS Friday afternoon, reported in today's Courier (see here).
The Courier story is a little vague on the timing, citing 'early' afternoon in the opening paragraph and 'near 2:30 p.m.' further on, quoting Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig. These are not the same thing from a school-day perspective.
I have been told the incident(s) began during the school's 6th Period, which runs from 11:50 AM to 12:27 PM. It was not clear whether the fistfights began in the hallway and spilled outside or whether the incident was entirely outside.
With four daily lunch sittings in the cafeteria, this was the third and all but perhaps 50 students for this sitting had entered the cafeteria when the incident(s) broke out, I am told. There was no fighting in the cafeteria.
The teachers had nothing but good things to say about how well and how quickly the school's security staff and the Plainfield police they had summoned handled quelling the disturbance. Renata Hernandez posted pictures of the actual fighting on her blog (see here).
And, while there was technically no lockdown, it is understandable that rumors of same may have gotten started by the way what happened next unfolded.
Rather than sounding the bell and moving students forward at the end of 6th Period to their next classes, everyone was held in place until about 1:20 p.m., when it appeared the disturbance was completely over.
At that point, everyone in the building was moved to their 7th Period location (meaning that the last lunch group was able to get into the cafeteria), where they remained until dismissal.
Most students seem to have been orderly and took the disruption in good stride. There is some suggestion that, except for the disruption of the class periods, teachers and students on the second floor of the complex were unaware of the incident.
I was told that the incident seemed, according to the teachers, not to be gang-related, but to stem from some bad feelings between parties taking place outside the school context.
How would a true lockdown differ?, I asked.
I was told that in a true lockdown situation, an announcement would be made over the PA system and teachers would execute a predetermined protocol -- locking the doors, drawing shades or blinds so no one could see in, and moving the class to the back of the room, as much out of a line-of-sight as possible. An all-clear to resume normal activities would be made over the PA system when the lockdown was ended.
The teachers noted that there is a disconnect between the instantaneousness of communications between the students -- with cellphones and texting playing a key role in how kids hear about what is going on and how rumors are spread -- and the top-down communications of the administration through the (now quite behind the curve) PA system.
Often, I was told, the students are more aware of what is happening than the teachers.
When I asked whether there was a system of the administration communicating with the teachers by text messaging to their cellphones, I was told a) there is no such protocol, and b) teachers are supposed to keep their cellphones off during the day.
Seems to me there is something missing from the administration's communications plan not to include the latest, all-pervasive technology.
- Courier: "Authorities quell melée at Plainfield High School"
- PEPTalk: Revisited: "While the cat's away..."
-- Dan Damon [follow]
Posts
7 comments:
This is happening in all the schools in the country. The texting that kids do all day long is not only distracting them from their school work but alerting them instantaneously to events like this one. There is a simple technology to prevent this, a cell signal blocker. Install one in each wing of the school and make sure it's on from the first bell to the last bell of the day.
Hey, Dan,
At the institution where I work, our IT Dept. has created a text message emergency alert system that we subscribe to--if there is an emergency (snow, fire, etc.), a text message is sent immediately to our cell phones. All one has to do is log on to the school's system and subscribe. It was very helpful during this past couple of weeks. I work at a college of nearly 10,000 students. Given the much smaller universe of PHS, it seems that a similar system could work. I don't think that not allowing teachers to have the cell phones on is workable--perhaps Dr. Gallon and the board can have the IT Dept. test one of these systems so that the notifications of any difficulties can be instantaneous.
Remember Dictator took cell phones from staff and disabled thoses with cell phone the ability to text. He is to concerned about squelching the ability to communicate and doesn't value technology. Oh unless is's all about beefing up his resume! He is a horrible administrator and Educational Leader. While he is on Harvest Radio trying to improve his ruined IMAGE, the children are at being placed at risk. He needs to go and so does the BOARD of Mis-Education.
3416. Even as recent as the February BOE MTG DSG is Still Lying
by timeforthetruth, 2/20/10 18:39 ET
LK, LB State infoYour unique Tracking number on the system is 591479 In all correspondence with NJDOE, please indicate your unique tracking numberYour unique Tracking number on the system is 585912 In all correspondence with NJDOE, please indicate your unique tracking number.
Number of Applications found : 3 Application Number Date Received Endorsement Certificate Type Request Type Status Comments 1 03/02/2008 0106 - Supervisor Standard Certificate Denied Assigned on: 01/12/2009 2 04/24/2009 1410 - Teacher of English CE Certificate Issued Assigned on: 08/07/2009 1410 - Teacher of English Standard Certificate Issued Assigned on: 08/07/2009 3 01/05/2010 0106 - Supervisor Standard Certificate Incomplete Correct fee not submittedIncomplete ApplicationWaiting for transcript(s)Criminal conviction question is not answeredSuspension/revocation of certificates/licenses question is not answeredOath of allegiance OR Non/citizen oath and affidavit is not completed and/or not notarizedVerification of accuracy statement is not signed
Number of Applications found : 3 Application Number Date Received Endorsement Certificate Type Request Type Status Comments 1 06/24/2008 0106 - Supervisor Standard Certificate Denied Assigned on: 07/18/2008 1900 - Teacher of Mathematics CEAS Certificate Examiner seeks Information Assigned on: 07/18/2008 2 04/24/2009 1102 - Elementary School Teacher with Mathematics Specialization: in Grades 5 - 8 CE Certificate Issued Assigned on: 05/28/2009 1001 - Elementary School Teacher in Grades K - 5 Standard Certificate Issued Assigned on: 05/28/2009 1102 - Elementary School Teacher with Mathematics Specialization: in Grades 5 - 8 Standard Certificate Issued Assigned on: 05/28/2009 3 07/26/2009 1001 - Elementary School Teacher in Grades K - 5 CE Certificate Issued Assigned on: 08/12/2009
I agree, technology should be used positively and not misused especially in the hands of kids. The schools should have signal jammers in place to avoid unncessary distraction of kids.
It is illegal for schools to install signal jammers.
This incident just shows how (out of touch) the teachers and the students really are.... this fight was gang related... it was a fight between 2 rival gangs !!!!! which is an every day event at the high...My own children texted me to let me know what was going on that day! And at the end of the day whats going to be done about the gang problem in Plainfield....NOTHING !!!!!!!!!!!
Post a Comment