What's at stake?
Staffers call for more improved safety plans at Phoenix Secondary Academy.
A group of education interpreters sounded the alarm bells Thursday, calling for Fresno Unified to take action on what staffers described as escalating violent threats from students at a community day school that serves “at-risk” youth.
In a statement late Thursday, a Fresno Unified spokesperson confirmed the district is investigating multiple recent incidents at Phoenix Secondary Academy in the Sunnyside neighborhood, but said no other details could be released, citing student confidentiality laws and the need to protect the fledgling probe.
Interpreters and classroom staffers say they want the district to move with urgency and come up with a better campus safety plan.
Chantel Cox, one of the educational interpreters, said that staff have asked multiple times to meet with administrators to discuss the situation and for a written safety plan to address staff safety concerns.
“Interpreters across the district are now on a rotating schedule, and because of this, students at multiple other sites are receiving inconsistent service,” Cox said. “When we show up to work at this particular site, we are threatened, we inform admin that we have been threatened and we need to remove ourselves because we feel unsafe and it’s documented as job abandonment.”
Cox also described an incident in recent weeks where the unnamed student threatened to kill staff and students with a firearm, threw a desk across the room, bashed their hands against a wall and smeared it with blood. According to Cox, the student’s consequence was being allowed to go to lunch, watch a movie and play sports.
Shelly Smith, an educational sign language interpreter, said, on top of threatening to shoot her, the student threatened to commit a school shooting. Moreover, Smith says that social media posts by the student shows that they have access to weapons, proof, Smith says, has been offered to district administrators and law enforcement.
“There’s a district policy based on education code that states that students can be suspended or expelled for ‘intentionally engaging in threats or intimidation directed against district personnel or pupils,’ however, this student has received zero consequences,” Smith said.
Currently, staff have not filed reports with law enforcement, but said that they would file reports individually with the Fresno Police Department if the district continues to have them return to the site without a safety plan.
Another interpreter, Lisa Hemenway, said that the student in question has claimed to be part of a gang and threatened individual staff members.
“Administration has declined to meet with us as a group, review a photo of the student brandishing a gun on social media and consider our request to be removed from that site,” Hemenway said, adding “instead, we have been met with pushback and direct orders to remain on campus, regardless of whether our lives have been threatened.”
On top of meeting with the district to formulate a safety plan, staff are asking that one of the involved students be transferred to a different school site to receive additional support and intervention. Additionally, they seek reimbursement for any sick time used, remote options for work for the time being and for increased student behavioral support and accountability.
A letter signed by the affected interpreters was shared at Thursday’s conference detailing the staff’s demands and addressed to district superintendent Misty Her.
A statement from the district’s press office on Thursday acknowledged the staff concerns.
“There is a process that must be followed when events escalate into reports or concerns over safety within the district, and we are committed to following these procedures as outlined.
“We also don’t want to diminish the feelings of anyone involved,” the statement continues, “The permanent staff at Phoenix Secondary is specially trained to support their students, and we remain committed to ensuring that all employees serving on campus, including those in temporary assignments, receive the training and support necessary to be successful.”
Manuel Bonilla, president of the Fresno Teachers Association, joined the interpreters on Thursday, though the staffers in question belong to a separate union. Bonilla said some have been impacted to the point of taking sick and unpaid leave.
“And what has the district’s response been?” he said. “Threatening these employees with job abandonment; Imagine being threatened by violence at work and then being threatened again for taking the time to protect yourself.”
