Public School Climate a Concern

Parents voiced concerns about the overall quality of student life in Cambridge Public Schools during a school climate subcommittee public hearing last night—the first step in the district’s plan to refocus attention on ensuring students’ physical and emotional well-being.

The meeting was prompted in part by results from a 2006 parent attitudes survey, which indicated that issues relating to school climate—including student safety, behavior, and discipline—were widespread concerns. In response, the district adopted the maintenance of a “safe, nurturing, and healthy school environment” as one of its goals for the current school year.

Parents at the meeting said that while experiences with teachers were generally positive, students still reported encountering bullying and theft outside of the classroom. Most parents agreed that maintaining a positive school culture should be a major priority.

“I’d rather have my kid be a nice person than pass the MCAS,” said parent Debra Gustafson.

Some parents also noted that establishing a respectful school climate would require educating faculty members as well as students.

“Teachers are not exempt from bad social skills,” said parent Chandra Banks.

Deputy Superintendent Carolyn Turk emphasized that the district should integrate its social skills education with academics.

“It’s not a matter of one more thing,” Turk said. “It shouldn’t be one more thing. It should be the thing.”

Turk also told the audience that the district already has two programs, Responsive Classroom and Developmental Design, which provide teachers with a curriculum to help students learn how to behave respectfully.

According to school committee member Alfred B. Fantini, use of these programs is up to the jurisdiction of individual principals, but the hope is that all schools will implement some kind of effort to address the issue.

Marc C. McGovern, who chairs the subcommittee, said that there would be many more discussions on the issue, but that he and the other school committee members felt it was important to hear directly from the community first.

“We’re not going to reach the academic achievement and academic goals that we want to reach if we have schools where staff and students don’t feel safe,” McGovern said.

“School culture is the thread through all of the other goals that we’re trying to achieve,” he said.

—Staff writer Michelle L. Quach can be reached at mquach@fas.harvard.edu.