51ºÚÁÏ

ST. LOUIS — Teachers at Vashon High School say understaffing has led to “dangerous situations within the building,� including pepper spray used against crowds of students.

“It is unacceptable that our students who come to school to learn are in a situation where they may be caused physical pain solely because we do not have clear policies in place, consequences for behaviors or effective building leadership,â€� reads the petition from teachers and staff sent last week to 51ºÚÁÏ Public Schools administrators.

“Our workplace is unsustainable and we were made promises from leadership that have been broken or ignored completely,� the teachers and staff said.

Millicent Borishade, interim superintendent of SLPS, did not respond to questions Monday. Borishade and principals from other schools have rotated through oversight of Vashon this year, teachers said.

Each day, 20 classroom teachers give up their planning periods to serve as substitutes in other classes, according to Lauren Bowers, head of the math department.

“Teachers are lucky to get one planning period a week and they are exhausted because of it,â€� Bowers said during public comments at the Oct. 8 meeting of the 51ºÚÁÏ Board of Education. “It is not equitable that it is the end of the first quarter and we still have four vacant positions that require coverage and it’s causing chaos.â€�

Of the 37 teachers at Vashon, only 15 are certified. There are two guidance counselors for more than 600 students, Bowers told the board.

“Our students need social-emotional support and restorative discipline practices because they are dealing with so much trauma. Our teachers need hazard pay and any sort of incentive to teach at Vashon because we are losing incredible educators due to the high-stress environment,� she said.

Vashon opened in 1927 on Laclede Avenue as the second high school for African American students in the city, following Sumner. The original Vashon building eventually became Harris Teachers College, a predecessor to Harris-Stowe State University.

Vashon was nearly closed after enrollment declined in the 1960s and again in the 1980s when the desegregation program bused thousands of city students to schools in 51ºÚÁÏ County.

The desegregation agreement included tax dollars for new school buildings, and Vashon’s current building at 3035 Cass Ave. opened in 2002. While many SLPS buildings are more than 100 years old, the $40 million Vashon campus has modern amenities and capacity for 1,300 students as a centerpiece of the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.

The school has always been an athletic powerhouse, with boys’ basketball winning its fifth straight state title and 15th overall last spring. But academics have struggled for generations despite strong alumni, community and corporate support. Ten years ago, students protested what they described as unequal treatment of Vashon compared to magnet high schools in the district.

Enrollment at Vashon has grown to more than 600 students this fall, up from 480 five years ago. Nearly all of the students are Black and qualify for free or reduced price lunch, an indicator of poverty. The average student enters Vashon at a fourth-grade reading level and never catches up.

Last year, four out of five students were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of class time. The 2023 graduation rate was 59% and the average ACT score was 12.5 on a scale of 36, according to state data.

There were 144 suspensions of students in the first two months of this school year, Bowers said, compared to 62 for all of 2022-2023.

Teachers said the school’s security officers staged a walkout earlier this month in support of Vashon graduate and former basketball coach Col. DeAndre Davis, SLPS’ director of safety and security who resigned Oct. 7.

The next week, the Vashon security team deployed pepper spray “to disperse crowds of students� in the hallways and cafeteria, according to the staff petition.

Vashon teachers and alumni said morale has also been damaged by rumors that the high school will be shut down before the opening of the nearby National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus in 2025.

“The solution is not to close Vashon because that’s just going to shuffle these same issues somewhere else, but the solution is to invest in our needs,� said Bowers, who is in her 11th year teaching at Vashon.

Officials from the city, school district and the NGA all denied the rumors and said there is no plan to close or repurpose Vashon.

The SLPS board approved a contract in August to provide dual enrollment opportunities for Vashon students at 51ºÚÁÏ Community College’s Harrison Center across Cass Avenue from the high school.

Still, the rumors concern former Vashon principal and basketball coach Floyd Irons, who said he would be devastated but not surprised if Vashon ends up closing.

“We’ve been fighting closure of Vashon since I’ve been a student there,� Irons said. “My heart bleeds blue and white. Vashon is the community for the most part.�

The current problems at Vashon are not new. In April, the school’s principal of seven years, Brenda Smith and two assistant principals were reassigned to other positions in the district. Borishade, then SLPS’ chief of schools, installed Christopher Crumble to oversee Vashon, but he has now returned as principal at Yeatman-Liddell Middle School.

“It is imperative that teachers and students feel safe and secure in their learning environment. The incoming team is tasked with creating and maintaining this type of environment,� Borishade wrote to the Vashon community at the time. “The aim of this leadership change is to enhance safety and security measures, improve communication, and ensure a high-quality learning environment for all.�