Anonymous wrote:did the board respond to her?

It was just public comments. There is no back and forth. Some guy goes every single week with grievances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And many of the policies aimed at curbing bad behavior (especially kids just wandering the halls all day) were rolled back by Dr Clark once he returned. He believes kids need more freedom. This freedom leads to high absenteeism, high rates of failing grades, and high rates of administrative pressure to pass these kids at the end of the year (we cannot have kids not graduating at YHS).

APS has always prioritized more student freedom as opposed to neighboring school districts like FCPS where student movement has always been very limited.

Student movement at our FCPS high school hasn't always been "very limited," but when kids came back post-Covid with their social development delayed and some feral behaviors, the administration cracked down on kids wandering the halls or trying to leave and come back during school hours.

You won't like the comment, but YHS kids engage in boorish behavior at sports events that would get kids confronted by an administrator at most schools. In fact, when some YHS kids (and obviously just talking about a small number) showed up at one event clearly impaired, and yelling loudly, they acted surprised that one of our administrators confronted them and made them leave. Not sure that would have happened at YHS.

did the board respond to her?

What would help is if the Yorktown parents stopped fighting against dress codes, SROs, and for the rules to apply to everybody except their kid.

For a teacher to stand up at a School Board meeting to make that statement, there is a problem! Listen to her!

That’s the point - students ARE wandering aimlessly and being disruptive

Anonymous wrote:I can’t speak of FCPS, but YHS is much looser today than it has ever been. I have watched this personally over multiple decades. What we see today is not normal, nor it is good.

Visitors from other APS schools wonder why there are so many kids in the hallways during class.

Are you not referring to the common areas at Yorktown that the architects designed for informal and collaborative learning? The new W-L "annex" has such spaces with padded furniture. Some school districts have embraced these new modes of learning.

If it's during a lunch period, typically students can go most places on campus to eat and socialize, and upperclassmen can go off campus.

If it's none of the above and students are wandering aimlessly and are disruptive, then you have a point. That is not a good trend.

Anonymous wrote:I can’t speak of FCPS, but YHS is much looser today than it has ever been. I have watched this personally over multiple decades. What we see today is not normal, nor it is good.

Visitors from other APS schools wonder why there are so many kids in the hallways during class.

I volunteered at each HS recently and specifically at Wakefield and was shocked at the lunch time shenanigans! Kids roaming in the halls, screaming, eating everywhere, leaving trash, chasing each other to the bathroom. It was chaos at best. At YHS it did seem that many more kids than seniors were leaving the building.

I can’t speak of FCPS, but YHS is much looser today than it has ever been. I have watched this personally over multiple decades. What we see today is not normal, nor it is good.

Visitors from other APS schools wonder why there are so many kids in the hallways during class.

Anonymous wrote:And many of the policies aimed at curbing bad behavior (especially kids just wandering the halls all day) were rolled back by Dr Clark once he returned. He believes kids need more freedom. This freedom leads to high absenteeism, high rates of failing grades, and high rates of administrative pressure to pass these kids at the end of the year (we cannot have kids not graduating at YHS).

APS has always prioritized more student freedom as opposed to neighboring school districts like FCPS where student movement has always been very limited.

And many of the policies aimed at curbing bad behavior (especially kids just wandering the halls all day) were rolled back by Dr Clark once he returned. He believes kids need more freedom. This freedom leads to high absenteeism, high rates of failing grades, and high rates of administrative pressure to pass these kids at the end of the year (we cannot have kids not graduating at YHS).

I’m a sub at YHS and I don’t think she’s talking about FMLA. things ran a lot smoother when he was out, the interim principal was awesome she should just replace him

all 3 of my kids had her and loved her class. She seemed very sad to be leaving at the end of last year. I've never had any reason to interact with the principal but based on my experiences with her I believe what she says without hesitation. and yes pp, she is a mom, but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything

Anonymous wrote:He took family leave after the birth of his child. I applaud him, but I knew there would be backlash. This country still can’t accept the idea of a man being a hands-on parent, or putting his family first.

And… they also removed the SROs from the schools, which I think might have a lot to do with her concerns about security. That is not his fault.

She was not referring to the FMLA. The principal (and some other admin) are consistently out of the building on a regular basis. It's a running joke among the staff that the admin team are barely present, particularly on Fridays or when it's a long weekend. The amount of leave taken by them is very suspect and teachers wouldn't be permitted to do that. As a result. the supervision in the school is severely lacking. Ask any of the kids who go there - they will tell you they can do whatever they want. Kids leave school during all periods - walk right out the front door. Look at the data for the increased number of fights this year. Why are other schools not having this problem? Because they are run better. They have actually decreased their incident issues, while the ones at YHS have skyrocketed. Major incidents are routinely swept under the rug and not communicated to the families and community. Increased racial and antisemitic issues as well. The drastic change has been noticed by a lot of people - and someone decided to finally speak up. It's not personal, but the staff and students deserve a better, safer, and more functional environment.

I don’t think she was referring to the FMLA. That happened after she left. In my experience, he does seem a bit disconnected. I also find that he is very conflict avoidant and when someone brings him a problem, he brushes it under the rug.

The removal of SROs is not his fault, but we need them back.