Discipline, funding cuts top concerns voiced by public
By: Scott Morgan
FLORENCE Louis Talarico already knows what he’s getting himself into and he says he can’t wait.
With the school district in turMoil over issues like discipline and program funding, it might be easy to expect that someone new to the district helm would be intimidated. But rather than seeing problems, Dr. Talarico, who was hired by the township Board of Education Monday night, said he sees challenges that need to be acknowledged before they can be fixed.
"When you’re a superintendent of schools, you want to accept challenges," said Dr. Talarico after Monday’s meeting. "Obviously, the whole district has discipline issues. It’s something that needs to be addressed."
Dr. Talarico will assume the superintendent’s chair from Gerard Steffe on Sept. 1.
Throughout Monday’s meeting, Dr. Talarico quietly listened as teachers, parents and board members discussed last week’s controversial decision to let all members of the eighth-grade class participate in their graduation. District officials debated whether to allow that after an incident involving more than 30 students at a June 11 graduation practice erupted in confrontations between teachers and rowdy students.
Ultimately, Mr. Steffe allowed the entire class to participate, even though many eighth-grade teachers wanted the troublemakers removed from the ceremony. In protest, Florence Middle School’s eighth-grade teachers did not attend the June 18 graduation.
Teachers also chided school board members, particularly Mr. Steffe, for undermining their credibility in disciplinary matters.
After the meeting, Dr. Talarico addressed the discipline problem, saying the board, the school staff and the district’s parents all need to be on the same page when it comes to discipline.
"(Kids will) act any way they can," unless they are taught otherwise, Dr. Talarico said, adding that students tend to perceive their bounds based on how the school system runs. "They need to be reminded why they’re in school."
Dr. Talarico went on to discuss his concept of "discipline with dignity," in which students are taught to understand why they are being disciplined and are made to feel like part of a solution, rather than as a cause of trouble. He said that fairness, respect and consistency in dealing with trouble is paramount.
"(Discipline) is not always negative," Dr. Talarico said. "What makes discipline (effective) is understanding and … for everyone to feel important."
He added there must also be a measure of accountability for every child.
"There are something like 400 kids in the high school," he said. "No one should slip through the cracks here."
Dr. Talarico also listened to impassioned pleas from teachers and former students wanting to save the district’s music program. The program’s supplies budget was cut by $6,000 when the 2003-2004 school budget was defeated in April. Dr. Talarico said he will do everything he can to ensure that arts and music programs do not disappear in Florence.
A former tenor saxophone player himself, Dr. Talarico said, "The arts are really the highest form of learning." Unfortunately, he added, they are usually the first thing to be cut in times of economic trouble.
"We have to save (the program)," he said.