Tensions surface at Canton Middle School meeting

by Mary Helen Sprecher
newsroom@baltimoreguide.com

Councilman Jim Kraft (D-1) didn’t ask for a vote from the crowd of about 200 who had gathered on Thursday night to discuss the possibility of a new use for Canton Middle School.
“Go home and think about it,” said Kraft at the outset of the meeting. “Talk to your families. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Talk to your community associations. Take a vote then. But we won’t be doing that tonight.”
Kraft’s requests for a civil discussion not withstanding, the meeting at United Evangelical Church did begin to turn contentious when Michael Sarbanes, the Baltimore City Public School System’s director of partnerships, communication and community engagement, took the microphone, presenting the case for the ‘transformation schools’ that would be operating in existing facilities beginning next year.
Transformation schools are alternative educational programs designed not only to improve students’ academic performance but to make them better members of the community. Friendship Charter Schools, operating out of Washington, D.C., was the chosen operator for Canton Middle, beginning next year.
That didn’t sit well with many Canton residents, who have long complained about the violent and disruptive behavior of some of the Canton Middle students. The meeting was punctuated by frequent outbursts from various groups of residents, who had been promised the middle school would be closed after the 2008-2009 school year.
Many of the residents, said Sue Thompson, president of the Hampstead Hill Association, had participated in the Facility Solutions program, and had believed the city’s promise that the school would be closed.
“It all goes back to trust,” said Sue Thompson of the Hampstead Hill Association. “That’s what I got out of this meeting. They’re tired of hearing it and they’re tired of what’s happening. And now they feel like the school system broke its promise to them and never asked them what they thought.”
Sarbanes later noted that some aspects of the Facility Solutions program had not worked out, including decisions regarding conversion of several elementary schools to PreK-8 schools. The situation with Canton, however, is the only one causing community tension, he said.
Sarbanes admitted that “the community has a right to expect decent behavior on the part of students who are on their way to and from school,” a statement community members applauded. There was equal acceptance of his statement that students were not being educated well and deserved better. But when he described the fact that Canton Middle had been chosen because it was a facility that was “of a decent enough shape and size,” the grumbling started again.
“So we’re not important, but the building is?” yelled one man.
“I respect the skepticism,” said Sarbanes the next day. “You have to. It’s natural. And I’m very, very sympathetic.”
Would it have been preferable to have more time to talk to Canton in advance about the upcoming reuse of the school?
“If there had been more time, sure,” said Sarbanes. “And in the idea world, there would be loads and loads of time to discuss this.”
On the other hand, he noted, it was in the best interests of the students to move forward with the establishment of a new and better educational system, one that would be in place by the fall.
Representatives from Friendship Charter School presented their case, describing the culture, curriculum and philosophy of their school. Many parents and community members were interested and enthusiastic. Others displayed doubt and vehement objection.
When the community members were allowed to take the microphone, a line quickly formed down one side of the church. Students, parents and community members — all expressing a variety of opinions — got up to speak.
Some were shouted at by those who disagreed. Some were cheered on. All, however, got their turn to speak at the meeting, which did not break up until after 9 p.m.
“There is no reason to give up on the kids,” said Carla Walker, a parent in favor of the new school. Walker expressed anger at those who, she believed, wanted to identify all the Canton Middle students as troublemakers. “With so many kids bunched up in one room and not getting an adequate education as it is, that’s not fair. Don’t give up on them. You can’t just give up.” She shrugged, sent one fulminating look at the crowd and returned to her seat.
Monica Collins, a Canton resident, told of being intimidated and yelled at by middle school students, who received no discipline in return.
“I’ll be out walking my dog, and they’re yelling the most vile things and doing the worst things. I’ll go inside, talk to the principal, point out the child who was doing it, say ‘That’s the girl,’ and I get told, ‘Oh, she’s already in trouble.’ But nothing happens to her. Nothing ever happens.’”
Friendship personnel spoke on the importance of making students take ownership for their action, and for becoming part of the community at large, and many in attendance nodded their agreement. But when told that existing Canton students would be eligible to re-enroll in their school, and that the Baltimore City Public School System would be in charge of student selection and lotteries, the grumbling exploded into outright shouting.
“You’re coming in at a crisis point” said Sue Thompson to the Friendship officials when order was restored. “You have teens attacking the elderly, attacking teens, attacking children and young women. They’re chasing people with sticks and rocks and bats.” And, she noted, if charter schools are the answer, “then that’s where you need to go.”
According to Sarbanes, although students could be admitted to and enrolled in a Friendship School, and although the administration will work with them carefully and thoroughly, students who refuse to work within the system can be expelled and sent to whatever middle or high school they would have been attending otherwise.
“They don’t mess around,” said Sarbanes.
Sarbanes said that city school system and Friendship officials would be making the rounds of community association meetings in order to discuss the situation further. He also spoke of putting together a bus trip that would allow community members and parents of prospective students to visit one of the Friendship schools in Washington.
Sarbanes said that while he understands that the Canton community has suffered at the hands of misbehaving students, he takes exception “to the notion that children do not respond to their environment — that’s just wrong. Anyone who is the parent of a child knows that. People are saying that because the behavior hasn’t been good, it can never be good. That’s just not true.”
Sue Thompson wants what is best for the community. “I’m all for the children,” she admitted after the meeting. “I’ll always stand up for them.”
But she added, the city owes Canton a better explanation by far than the fact that it has a building in good enough shape to use immediately.