Committee to monitor Santa Monica High School redesign
A grievance over the future of Santa Monica High School, which pitted more than 50 teachers against administrators, has been resolved, officials announced Tuesday.
Two days of mediation resulted in a compromise that allows the fall redesign at Samohi to move forward but gives teachers more control over how it happens.
“Some people will be pleased and some may not be,” said Harry Keiley, president of the local chapter of the Classroom Teachers Association, the teacher union. “But this was the best possible solution to a very complicated problem.”
Samohi will divide its 3,400-student school into six smaller schools starting this fall. Proponents say the new arrangement will improve learning and allow teachers to spend more one-on-one time with students because class sizes will be reduced.
As part of the compromise, a committee of six teachers, Samohi Principal Dr. Ilene Straus, four additional administrators, one school employee and one student will monitor the redesigned school.
How the school handles its scheduling and student advisors, among other issues, will be dealt with by the committee. If the committee decides to, it can put any change up for a teacher vote, where it must receive the support of 70 percent of the teachers.
Keiley said he is cautiously optimistic the redesign will move forward smoothly.
“We believe that meaningful school reform should be embraced by the teachers union and by teachers,” Keiley said. “However, there are a myriad of external factors that adversely affect student achievement.”
Keiley said the union and Samohi teachers will monitor the redesign to make sure it accomplishes what administrators predict it will. He said it is too early to tell what kind of issues may arise.
More than one third of Samohi teachers signed on to the grievance in May. They alleged the school district violated its contract with the union by failing to properly include them in its plans for the redesign.
If it had not been resolved through mediation, the grievance would have gone to arbitration for a decision.
Superintendent John Deasy said he is looking forward to working with students and teachers to continue to improve education at the high school.
“I’m really appreciative of the work we did collectively to improve the quality of education for students at Samohi,” he said. “It was a thoughtful process.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 6, 2003. Read the original PDF.