Schenectady High off 'dangerous' list City school removed from state list after 3 years; violent incidents down By LAUREN STANFORTH Staff writer Published 12:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 7, 2011
SCHENECTADY -- For the first time in three years, Schenectady High School has been taken off the state's list of "persistently dangerous schools."
The state Department of Education confirmed the change Tuesday. The state only carried over five previously offending schools for the 2011-2012 list, which included Berkshire Junior-Senior High School in Columbia County. It added 14 new schools, none of them in the Capital Region.
The list, which was posted on the state's website, is a classification under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. It is a reflection of districts' voluntary reporting of what dangerous incidents happen on school grounds -- everything from a student throwing an empty water bottle at a teacher to stabbings and shootings.
Schenectady had expected to get off the list last school year, but the state upped the requirement for demonstrating a reduction in violence from one year to two.
A school is classified as "persistently dangerous" if for two consecutive years it has a record of serious incidents that may include murders, robberies, sexual offenses, assaults, arson, kidnapping, reckless endangerment and possession, use or threats to use a weapon.
Former Schenectady Superintendent Eric Ely frequently protested the high school's position on the list, saying because of the small number of schools highlighted, other districts must be under-reporting incidents to avoid the negative moniker. Schenectady High School first appeared on the list in 2008-2009. Since taking over in summer 2010, Interim Superintendent John Yagelski has worked to reduce violent incidents that are ultimately reported...............................>>>>................................>>>>...............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....84.php#ixzz1XGSrDXMm
The list, which was posted on the state's website, is a classification under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. It is a reflection of districts' voluntary reporting of what dangerous incidents happen on school grounds -- everything from a student throwing an empty water bottle at a teacher to stabbings and shootings.
A school is classified as "persistently dangerous" if for two consecutive years it has a record of serious incidents that may include murders, robberies, sexual offenses, assaults, arson, kidnapping, reckless endangerment and possession, use or threats to use a weapon.
Former Schenectady Superintendent Eric Ely frequently protested the high school's position on the list, saying because of the small number of schools highlighted, other districts must be under-reporting incidents to avoid the negative moniker.
Voluntary reporting, so you can come right off the list if you no longer volunteer your numbers as far as the violent crimes... It's only "persistently dangerous" if you have murder, robbery, and the like? And it's not persistently dangerous if you have the same number of murders, you have to have MORE than you had before. Gee, good thing things like those NEVER happen in Schenectady, right?
I was thinking of Mr. Ely's remarks before I got to that paragraph. Gee, all Schenectady had to do to get off the list is refuse to tell people how bad it was. How long does that take? There could be NO schools on this list, if they just wouldn't hand out the information. The fact that the school is off the list doesn't show it's getting better, it just shows that they could possibly be refusing to consider taking care of the issues anymore, or at the very least letting people know they have issues.
I think the people already know there are issues, so you don't have to tell us. This entire thing is a joke. Look at that, the Renaissance in Downtown Schenectady has permeated the halls of Schenectady High.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Logged
