Penn Hills town hall echos pleas for discipline at Linton Middle School

Penn Hills School District officials are developing a new security model at Linton Middle School to help address fights and other student behaviors.

Superintendent Nancy Hines said the district is exploring adding youth engagement specialists next school year. They are specially trained to deescalate situations and build rapport with juveniles.

Having retired police officers at the front door to help screen visitors and assist with student arrival and dismissal is also part of the proposal still being crafted by administrators.

“I think we universally agree the current security model is not working,” Hines said.

District officials also are exploring moving fifth grade to the elementary school and making Linton grades 6-8, and other ways to help separate the grade levels at the school.

The announcement was made at a town hall meeting Monday night in which parents said middle schoolers fight every day, show a lack of accountability, receive very little discipline and do not have the tools necessary to succeed.

“When you come into an environment and you hear children using foul language, talking to teachers disrespectfully, and then you say, ‘That’s OK because that’s the way they are,’ you are in error,” said Arnita Stagger, retired high school principal. “Mediation does not take the place of discipline. There’s no way … Are you training them for the corporate office or are you just training them for prison?”

Stagger, who is also the mother of school board vice president Yusef Thompson, was one of at least a dozen speakers at the town hall designed to discuss various middle school issues.

Administrators and other Penn Hills officials implored parents to get involved in their students’ lives, check their phones and be cognizant of what they do on social media.

“We’re dealing with kids who are very technologically savvy,” Penn Hills police Chief Howard Burton said. “They can do stuff with the phones and computers I can only dream of, but they’re still kids who don’t have the mentality to realize what they’re doing and what they’re getting involved with.”

He said detectives have been in the schools to talk to students about bullying, cyber crimes and other subjects.

Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese, accompanied by councilman John Petrucci, suggested the district look into implementing a dress code similar to East Allegheny School District.

About 30 Linton teachers attended the town hall wearing red tops and holding signs that read “Linton Teachers Care.”

Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Matt Edgell spoke on behalf of the teachers union.

He said things have gotten to the point where it’s difficult to teach classes and help students. Two words that showed up most often in a recent Linton staff survey and subsequent interviews were “students need.”

“Students need guidance,” Edgell said. “Students need structure. Students need more opportunity. Students need more resources and offered more courses, and students need discipline. Those were the needs.”

Teachers John Bilsky and Karen Halbleib said students cannot take certain textbooks home because there’s not enough of them to go around.

“We haven’t had textbooks for all of our students in seven years,” Bilsky said. “This is not a new thing. We’ve ordered them many, many years ago … When we brought that up, we were told because of the economic situation that’s not an option.”

The district is more than $172 million in debt largely due to construction loans for the high school and elementary school. School directors have authorized bond refinance in an effort to save more than $10 million.

Board president Erin Vecchio requested teachers send her information on what textbooks are needed. She plans to ask for state assistance for books and other financial matters later this month.

Vecchio blamed Harrisburg and its financial recovery plan for forcing the district to make drastic cuts in both spending and staffing and raising taxes.

“This whole financial recovery plan has totally ruined this district,” Vecchio said. “We cannot continue down this path by hurting the kids’ education, by putting people out of their houses because of people’s mistakes … We will not put a teacher or student in danger because of their cuts.”

She also recommended a three-strike policy when it comes to fighting.

“You can get caught three different times and, if you go above that, you’re gone,” she said. “I’ll expel as many kids as I have to to make these schools safe.”

Thompson commended Vecchio for calling the town hall meeting and sympathized with the parents.

“We can sit here and talk all day, but if we don’t take any action, then there’s nothing that’s going to happen,” he said.