No credit for Samohi’s Straus
CITY HALL Dissatisfied with the leadership at Santa Monica High School, hundreds of people flooded into the school board meeting here on Thursday, ultimately forcing the Fire Department to shut it down out of safety concerns.
However, the sincerity of some of those dissenters remains at question, with many of those in attendance Thursday night being students seeking extra credit. One teacher who admits he offered his charges extra credit for their showing was Michael Felix, a history teacher who contends he only wanted students to participate in the democratic process.
The majority of those on hand expressed their displeasure with Samohi’s Chief Educational Officer and lead principal, Ilene Straus, whose leadership style, they claim, has created a division amongst students and teachers. There is also concern amongst faculty regarding Samohi’s recent redesign into six small learning communities, or houses, each with its own principal. Many question whether or not it has accomplished its goals of allowing for more specialized instruction and the fostering of stronger relationships between students and faculty, as well as administrators.
Felix said he was lobbied by a fellow teacher and union member to have his students come to Thursday’s meeting.
“I gave into the peer pressure, and in retrospect, I can see that might not have been the best decision to do something like (give extra credit),” Felix said. “I didn’t quite understand, myself, the full magnitude of giving extra credit, but I guess there seems to be some doubt about that decision.
“Some said it was duplicitous or deceptive and I don’t quite understand that,” he continued. “Perhaps they’re just angry that the students showed up … I apologize if it offended people.”
The City Council’s chambers could not accommodate the estimated 300 people who spilled out into the hallways and lobby of City Hall on Thursday evening. The Fire Department was soon called to the scene to manage the situation. Fire Capt. Lee McNett had to maneuver through the crowd in order to reach the school board, at which time he informed them that those who did not have seats had to leave the chambers and assemble in the lobby downstairs. According to the Fire Department, the council chambers can only accommodate roughly 100 people.
After repeated requests for the crowd to disperse were ignored, McNett forced the school board to shut down the meeting and for City Hall to be vacated.
“Capt. McNett applauds the students’ involvement in this,” said Fire Marshall Jim Glew. “If the students would have followed due process, the meeting could have taken place. But students chose not to comply with his request. We want to work with people and have things like this take place, but we have to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”
The school board attempted to operate video monitors in the lobby of City Hall so that those in attendance could watch the proceedings. However, technical difficulties prevented the monitors from being turned on.
In response, City Hall now plans to broadcast all meetings held in the council chambers on those monitors, “whether we expect an overflow crowd or not,” said Judy Franz, who is in charge of community relations at City Hall.
Many students expressed anger and seemed discouraged by the meeting being canceled, questioning the move as it sent a confusing and conflicting message to students, many of whom were looking to attend a school board meeting for the first time.
“People were genuinely upset that it was canceled,” said Madeline Moore, 17, a senior at Samohi, and a member of Straus’ student advisory group and the I House advisory group. “The students, to some degree, were part of the problem, but they just wanted their voices heard.”
“The students, to some degree, were part of the problem, but they just wanted their voices heard.” — MADELINE MOORE SAMOHI SENIOR
Moore said she was glad to see the meeting canceled, as the council chambers are not large enough to accommodate all those who wish to speak about the future of Samohi.
The school board has decided to reschedule the meeting for Thursday, June 1, according to a statement released by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. A location for that meeting was still undetermined by late Friday afternoon. There have been suggestions it be held at Barnum Hall, Samohi’s theater.Interim Superintendent Mike Matthews could not be reached for comment.
“The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education wishes to express its regret for adjourning the Board meeting of May 18, 2006, shortly after it started,” the statement from the district said. “The Board thanks the Santa Monica High School students for their interest in their school and in the workings of the Board. The Board also thanks the Fire Department for its assistance.”
While difficult to determine why so many students turned out, there is clearly a movement afoot to reform the leadership structure at Samohi, with teachers, students and parents demanding immediate change.
Parent groups have called for the dismissal of Straus repeatedly over the last school year, calling her ineffective and divisive. There have been fliers circulated on campus demanding she be removed, claiming Straus has been unwilling to foster better relationships with students and faculty and is not qualified to lead an urban school with more than 3,000 students.
A group that has been highly critical of Straus is The Unity Coalition, which is comprised of African-American and Latino parents concerned about poor student achievement, racism and an inconsistent disciplinary policy at Samohi. The coalition brought the matter before the school board earlier this year, but managed to get just two votes to discuss the issue, one from Oscar de la Torre and the other from Maria Leon-Vasquez, said Jules Bagneris, the coalition’s spokesman.
“The coalition views Straus as a clear and present danger to the students,”Bagneris said. “We have been consistent about her inability to deal with the threat of violence and to provide educational achievement for all students at a high level. She is a poor manager … Her management style is abrasive and the staff and faculty feel oppressed.
“Morale is the lowest I have ever seen it.” Repeated attempts were made to contact Straus on Friday, but she could not be reached for comment.
Moore said Straus shouldn’t be held solely responsible for what she views as the multiple problems associated with the house system.
“Dr. Straus isn’t necessarily the best principal in the world, but she can’t be blamed for everything,” Moore said. “I think there is a dark cloud hanging over Samohi. People are being divided by different directions.”
Moore said the house system has helped create some division on campus between students in each house, exacerbated by a lack of consistency in enforcing disciplinary policies. She added that some teachers have let their displeasure with the house system filter down into their classroom discussions, unfairly influencing students one way or the other.
“Since redesign started,teachers have talked about it in their classes,” Moore said. “I think it’s very unprofessional. It is teachers who have the most contact with students and they need to do something positive as opposed to using their classrooms or things like extra credit to have students support their agenda.”
The faculty has also raised concerns about leadership at Samohi, questioning whether or not the CEO position is even necessary, given there are already six house principals. The union also filed a grievance with the district regarding inconsistency in discipline, and has formed a joint committee with administrators to address the issue.
Harry Keiley, president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, would not say whether or not members have requested Straus be replaced, preferring not to discuss personnel matters in the press. However, he did say conflict has occurred in the house system and that teachers do not feel they have a good working relationship with Straus. This assessment is based on a series of interviews with faculty during a “union listening tour,” as well as in a formal survey conducted earlier this year.
“We would like to depersonalize the issue as much as we can and focus on the characteristics of a strong leader,” Keiley said. “Once we have those characteristics, it will be up to (the school board) to decide. However, teachers will have a part.”
Having a CEO might just be the problem, said Samohi parent and booster club president Crystal Quine, who feels the title may encourage the person holding that position to set themselves aside from the rest, dictating rather than leading with an open mind.
“It’s not the only reason for the problems at Samohi, but setting ourselves high on top of the hill is not the place to be when you are talking about unifying the campus,” Quine said.“Instead of having a CEO, why not just a liaison who moves through each house to make things run smoothly, and let the principals in each house have more control.”
Quine said the house system needs to be revamped altogether. Students should be grouped according to how they learn, she said, and paired with teachers who are sensitive to culture and teach in a way that stimulates students.
School board member Oscar de la Torre said the turnout at Thursday’s meeting shows there is a serious problem at Samohi that needs to be addressed immediately.
“We need to have an honest and open dialogue that focuses on solutions and not the problems,” de la Torre said. “We need to show some urgency, because in all my years as a student and as a faculty member at Samohi, I have never seen it this bad.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 20, 2006. Read the original PDF.