Jane Addams H.S. Students Fear They Lack Credits to Graduate

The chances that a student at the Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers in the Bronx would cross the finish line to graduation in four years were already poor, but seniors said they have now been told of a new obstacle: a credit problem that could cost some of them their diplomas in June.

Students said there was a meeting of the senior class on Wednesday to announce that some students had been given credit for classes incorrectly, leaving them short of the required number they need to graduate.

The city's Department of Education is investigating allegations by teachers that the school engaged in what one teacher referred to as "double dipping," the practice of giving students credits for multiple courses for taking a single class.

Stephen Tavano, a math teacher and union chapter leader at the school, said he reported the practice to the city within the last week, after discovering irregularities in students' transcripts.

In some instances, he said, students in a cosmetology class were also given credit for taking chemistry. Although chemistry is not a graduation requirement, it is unlikely that students ever took the course, as the school does not employ a chemistry teacher.

He also accused administrators of giving students who took an accounting class credit for a business mathematics course, as well.

He put the blame on the principal, Sharron Smalls.

"Clearly, there's an agenda of credit accumulation, and it certainly plays into this," Mr. Tavano said. "There's tremendous pressure to get students to graduate, but what has to be understood is that they've got to graduate the right way, according to the standards of New York State. And the principal made it a point to break the rules."

"As a leader, she should not be here, she's ineffective, and most recently the school was given an F on our progress report, and that's disgraceful. And the F really, is failure for doing the right thing by our students," he said.

Ms. Smalls did not return a call seeking comment.

The allegations were first reported on Thursday in The Daily News.

On Thursday, many students expressed confusion about how many credits they needed to graduate and whether they were suddenly short of the required number. Mariaelena Blair, 17, wrote a letter to the principal, worrying that although she had been told that she was on track to graduate, she believed she was missing required math courses.

"I feel that as a dedicated senior looking forward to getting my diploma, the counselors and teachers in the school are not looking out for our best interest," she wrote.

Like many of her classmates, Clarissa Williams, 16, a senior at the school, was thrown off-balance by the news.

"They put me in cosmetology because we don't have chemistry," she said. "This could really affect me, my graduation -- I wanted to go to N.Y.U. for criminal justice. Now I don’t know if I’ll graduate."

Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said, “Our support staff are working with the school to look at transcripts and schedules to ensure students are getting the proper courses to graduate.” It remains unclear how many students were affected.

Ms. Feinberg said that until the department completes its investigation, it is unclear whether any students' graduation chances are in jeopardy.

"Sadly, this is a school that for years has performed far below citywide averages on critical academic measures, which is why we are considering phasing it out and providing students with better options," Ms. Feinberg said in a statement.

Last year, 45 percent of the high school’s seniors graduated on time. The school received an F on its annual progress report from the city, and the Department of Education is considering the possibility of closing the school down.

Ms. Smalls, who became principal of Jane Addams in 2007, is also being investigated by the Department of Education based on teachers’ complaints that she required them to pay for parking spaces and failed to report student suspensions.

At the end of the last school year, 91 percent of the school’s teachers voted in support of a document calling for the principal’s removal. The “vote of no confidence” accused Ms. Smalls of a string of alleged offenses, from not complying with special education requirements and dumbing down math and science courses, to giving a quarter of the school’s teachers unsatisfactory ratings.