More than 50 people met with representatives from Long Beach Unified School District and Avalon School on Wednesday to discuss concerns from a parent group, about the state of the school and the leadership from the school and district.
The community group, known as the Avalon Parent and Community Advocates Consortium has expressed strong concerns about the school, citing maintenance cleanliness and administrative leadership as some of the biggest concerns of the group. Student discipline was also a major concern for many.
LBUSD Superintendent Chris Steinhauser and Avalon School Principal Chris Lounsbery, were among the administrators in attendance. Nearly 700 people have signed a petition, urging the district to take action on what the group is calling a crisis situation. Several members of the group made statements at the meeting.
“We implore you to pay attention to the needs of our community,” Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy said.
MacGugan-Cassidy is one of key members of the group, but she has noted that her involvement is as a parent and not in her capacity as a city councilmember. Initially, the group e-mailed a five-page letter to LBUSD Board Member Jon Meyer as well as a 24-page addendum that included campus pictures that showed rusted doors, pipes sticking out of the ground and black mold on locker room tiles, among other concerns. Yet, the concerns of the group go far beyond cleaning up the campus.
“To be very frank, we are at a tipping point,” school parent Julie Lee Perin said.
While the parent group is acting only as parents and/or community members, several members are connected to key organization on the island, such as the Chamber of Commerce, Catalina Island Museum, Southern California Edison and the Catalina Island Company. Along with student safety and education concern, one common thread is that the state of the school is making it difficult to keep and recruit qualified employees because they don’t want to put their kids in the school.
Steinhauser addressed the group, noting that as a whole, the district is not much different than Avalon School. The district prepared a comparison of Avalon School to schools of similar size to Avalon to show how the school fares compared to others.
Steinhauser did acknowledge that Avalon is unique. He said the district would take the groups concerns seriously. Avalon is the only school in the district that goes kindergarten through high school, but compared to k-8, middle schools and high schools similar in size, the numbers line up.
But there are distinct differences, including the ability to move schools if wanted or necessary. Steinhauser noted that on the mainland 45 percent of students choose to attend a district high school that is not their home school. Avalon students can’t easily make that choice.
The uniqueness of Avalon School has created challenges, that the group say are not being addressed. They also assert that student discipline has fallen due to poor leadership and the inability of the school to address them. Steinhauser said this is just the first step in addressing the concerns.
“This is just the beginning of a conversation,” Steinhauser said.
Part of their demands is that Lounsbery be replaced as principal. They are also adamant that the principal should be someone who can/will live on the island. Student bullying, behavioral issues and drug/alcohol abuse are major concerns for parents. There is also concern that the bullying is beyond typical teasing and has grown into hate and intolerance on a deep level.
Lounsbery said he appreciated the input from the group.
“This meeting provided opportunity for ongoing discourse that will be taken into consideration as we move forward to improve Avalon School for the students and families we serve,” Lounsbery said.
The group also asserts that lack of support of teachers from administration to hold students accountable has helped feed the culture of bullying. Steinhauser acknowledge that the school has responsibility, but that it is a much broader problem.
“The school needs to do its job, but the community needs to do its job as well,” Steinhauser said.
Steinhauser said that there would be a follow-up and that the district would look for ways to assist the school in changes. He also said that any health and safety issues should be addressed as soon as possible.
Steinhauser said that while state laws can make it a challenge to get community help with improvements, there are programs that allow for volunteer groups to help and for students to get paid opportunities to assist with things like tutoring.
Many of these concerns were expressed to Steinhauser and the district last year, but the group said only one, student uniforms, has come to fruition. Steinhauser said that more meetings will be held, and that a plan will be implemented. The parent group has also expressed a desire to assist in any way.
Ted Apodaca is the editor of The Catalina Islander. He can be reached at 562-317-1100 or at editor@thecatalinaislander.com.
