PARK 'N
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WORK:
Does the Santa Fe Public Schools district find laborers by heading to DeVargas Park, the location where undocumented workers often gather for short-term work [Outtakes, April 20: "Kicked From the Curb"]? One might think so from reading an April 21 Journal Santa Fe article that says a man named Fidelino Lopez went to the park April 20 in search of a quick day job and by 11 am had completed a part-time custodial job at a local public school. While Santa Fe Public Schools spokeswoman Ruthanne Greeley says Fidelino Lopez is in the district's employ, she is adamant that the district did not pick him up at DeVargas Park. "He's a substitute custodian part-time," Greeley says of Lopez. But, Greeley adds, "We do not go pick up workers. He came to us, applied, got a job and went through a screening." Greeley also says that Lopez, to whom the Journal referred as a native of Guatemala, has all of the working papers necessary to allow him to work legally in the United States. (NK)
NOT-SO-SMALL PROBLEMS:
For weeks, teachers at Santa Fe High School have alleged to SFR that school administrators have harassed and intimidated those staff members who have made comments critical of administrative policies. Now their complaints against the administration have become official. Santa Fe Public Schools Spokeswoman Ruthanne Greeley confirmed that the Santa Fe High Faculty Senate has decided to file a grievance against principal Susan Lumley for creating a hostile working environment.
"A grievance has been received," Greeley says. However, "It's a personnel issue. Grievances are confidential and we're unable to discuss anything we're still in the middle of." Both Lumley and Superintendent Gloria Rendón were out of town at press time and unavailable for comment.
One of the administrative policies that has concerned faculty has been small learning communities (SLCs), which have been hotly debated by administrators, faculty, parents and students and frequently covered by the local media. Implemented in large public schools nationwide, small learning communities work by creating a school-within-a-school setting. Students in SLCs are clustered in groups throughout the day in which they take the same classes and have the same teachers throughout the school year. Small learning communities have been criticized for limiting student choice and ignoring learning differences of students. Next year all freshmen at SFHS will be placed in SLCs. (NK)
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