3 Henderson high school administrators leave amid safety concerns

Basic Academy of International Studies in Henderson has lost all three of its assistant principals during the just-ended semester amid growing safety concerns among staff members.

Clark County School District documents show that Assistant Principals Melanie Snively, Karen Hatch and Deborah Thaggard all retired or transferred to other schools within a few weeks of one another in late November and early December.

Hatch and Thaggard did not return requests for comment, but Snively said she left as a direct result of what she described as an increasingly unsafe environment for students and staff.

“To look at the bigger picture, it’s the students and staff who suffer,” Snively said. “They feel less safe. The feeling permeates throughout the building.”

Struggle with a student

Snively’s departure was not voluntary.

In a video filmed and posted to Instagram in October, she is seen pushing and grabbing a student in an attempt to redirect the minor to another part of the school. The girl resists and repeatedly motions for Snively to stop.

Snively said that she was trying to curtail a fight between two students but that she regrets how she handled the situation. She added that she was asked to retire during a brief meeting with Region 3 Superintendent Karla Loria.

Loria, who did not return requests for comment from the Review-Journal, recently came under fire for not having a teaching credential despite drawing a public salary, a violation of state regulations. A district spokesman declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding Snively’s retirement.

In 24 years with the district, Snively said she has been hit, spat on and cursed at, but that discipline cases have risen sharply by her estimate in the past few years. State data for Basic High seems to reflect her experiences: In 2013-14, there were no instances of violence to staff reported for the school. Last year that number rose to 10.

Also in 2013-14, Basic reported 27 instances of violence against students vs. 78 last year.

Snively said the rise can be partially attributed to a series of policy decisions at the district and state levels that have left administrators with more students on campus to supervise and fewer resources with which to do so.

First, the majority of off-site behavioral schools for students with serious disciplinary infractions were eliminated. Then the criteria for mandatory expulsions changed as the district struggled to reduce the disproportionality of discipline for students of color.

Statistics presented on Dec. 12 to the Clark County School Board indicate that this is an ongoing issue, as the district fell short of its goals this year for reducing suspensions for African-American students, who still have higher rates of suspension and discretionary expulsion than any other student group.

Next, school site deans were tasked with investigating every reported incident of bullying, leaving them with little time for individual student cases or classroom visits, Snively said.

Finally, she said, Basic was one of 55 CCSD schools to lose Title I funding this year to the tune of over $300,000. That money paid for teaching resources and additional staff that had to come out of the general budget, at the expense of programs like a Saturday morning study club, Snively said.

“Administrators are spread so thin, it’s hard to be as effective as they once were,” Snively said.

Teachers’ concerns

Several other Basic teachers, who spoke to the Review-Journal on the condition they not be identified because of a fear of retaliation, agree that safety issues have steadily grown worse at the school over the past year.

They emphasize that 99 percent of students are blameless but said that their education suffers when teachers and administrators are distracted with disciplinary matters involving a few dozen others.

The issues stem from inconsistent enforcement of and even confusion about school policy regarding banned behavior and items, teachers said.

“It is chaotic and not healthy for anyone,” one teacher said.

Others pointed to specific incidents they say were not handled appropriately: On Nov. 21, for example, the school reported to parents that an individual with a gun was seen in the vicinity of campus, but that the person was not a threat to students. Teachers say the school did not report to parents that the individual had threatened two truant students that day.

On Dec. 6, a student was arrested for bringing a BB gun to school in a backpack. But teachers say they weren’t properly notified of a potential threat when the gun was first reported, nor did the school call for a soft lockdown while police worked to identify the student in question.

Basic High Principal Gerald Bustamante did not return a request for comment from the Review-Journal.

Parent perspective

Teachers’ concerns have not necessarily trickled down to parents, many of whom say they’re happy with the education their students get at the school, particularly in the International Baccalaureate program. This year, the school reported a notable increase in graduation rates for the class of 2019, up 3.6 percent over 2017-18.

Danette Hafen, a parent of two Basic students, said neither of her children has reported feeling unsafe on campus.

“I feel there is a problem with disrespect for authority that is not unique to any one school,” Hafen said, citing the closure of behavioral schools and the implementation of restorative justice programs as possible reasons for an increase in behavioral problems.

Hafen’s understanding is that the three assistant principals each left the school under different circumstances, including one who left for a promotion and another who went back to the classroom to teach.

Another Basic parent, Michelle Blazzard, said her concerns about safety go beyond the school level.

“My kids feel safe at Basic,” Blazzard said. “I feel the admin team does a great job at keeping us posted on events that go on at the school. I do think it’s lack of respect from the students and us not having any behavior schools anymore.”

District response

District spokesman Mauricio Marin said the district cannot comment on individual personnel matters but said that all administrators mentioned in this story have “retired or relocated to another CCSD site through the regular process available to employees.”

Basic has two substitute administrators filling in for vacant assistant principal positions, and the school is working to fill those positions permanently, according to Marin. The school also has deans who work on student discipline matters, Marin said, and the district encourages all to take an active role in reporting safety issues.

“The school district takes safety matters seriously and encourages anyone with concerns about safety, suspicious behavior or activity to report it to school administrators, law enforcement or anonymously through SafeVoice,” Marin said.

Snively said she harbors no ill will toward Basic High or school administrators.

And though she said she feels relieved to be retired from a high-stress job that often had her working 70 hours per week, she worries about the co-workers she left behind.

“They’re going to lose people who are dedicated to the kids,” Snively said.

Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@reviewjournal.com. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.