Rough opening for new junior high

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.

While the new Dr. William H. Bailey Middle School may be named after the longtime civil rights advocate, students at the campus say they are deeply divided into factions based on everything from musical preferences to hobbies.

After the dismissal bell rang Monday, eighth grader Benjamin Leavitt quickly rattled off a laundry list of the campus cliques.

"Goths, punk rockers, skaters, rappers, wanna-be gangsters," Leavitt said. "Just normal kids who don't like each other."

Leavitt said he would prefer to be back at O'Callaghan Middle School, which he attended for sixth and seventh grades before being reassigned by the district to Bailey.

"People argued all the time at O'Callaghan, but they didn't fight," Leavitt said. "It was much more peaceful."

Bailey students determined to stake out their territory have attempted to start fights, both on campus and off, and left graffiti calling cards. That has Bailey principal Karen Paquette re-emphasizing her " zero tolerance" policy.

"Middle school is an age when kids are trying to grow up, distance themselves from their parents and experiment with their identities," said Paquette, who has done doctoral research into the genesis of peer pressure.

"Unfortunately we have a small number of students here who are leading other kids off in the wrong direction."

Since the start of the academic year in August, there has been one report of an assault and six batteries. Eighty-seven students also have been written up for fighting, and two students received criminal citations after an after-hours fight near the North Hollywood Avenue campus off East Lake Mead Boulevard.

Of Bailey's 1,500 students, about 1,000 were drawn from O'Callaghan Middle School. Bailey's enrollment is 45.5 percent Hispanic, 17 percent black and 33 percent white.

In addition to Bailey, the district also opened Del Webb and Jerome Mack middle schools in August. Del Webb, located in Henderson, recorded 10 fights in the first months of the academic year, said principal Pat Skorkowsky. Bailey has about 400 more students than Del Webb and a larger minority population.

At Mack, there have been 43 student fights and one battery, said principal Joe Murphy. The school's enrollment is over 61 percent Hispanic, 14.5 percent black and just under 20 percent white.

Paquette said she has been forced to take a particularly hard line on graffiti because it is a crime that quickly breeds copycats when left unchecked.

"The message to our students has to be strong and it has to be consistent," Paquette said. "This school belongs to everyone."

Since the school year began, five students have been disciplined for graffiti and three students were turned over to police after surveillance cameras caught them breaking into a classroom and vandalizing it, Paquette said. Three other cases of graffiti are under investigation.

One Bailey student has been recommended for expulsion after scrawling the name of her favorite punk rock band on a cinder-block wall outside the school. Her mother told the Sun that her daughter is not a gang member and has not been in prior trouble.

"We tried to reason with the vice principal," the mother said. "We said, 'Suspend her for a week, make her pick up litter, clean the wall' -- something like that makes sense rather than throwing her out on her first offense. They are way overreacting."

The student will have an opportunity to appeal at an upcoming hearing, and it is also possible her punishment will be reduced before then, Paquette said.

Desiree Stager, a seventh grader at Bailey, said most of the fights she has seen have been the result of an overactive rumor mill.

"It's the 'he said, she said,' thing going on," Stager explained. "Nobody goes up to the person and finds out if it's true, they just believe the worst."

Like Leavitt, Stager said she would prefer to be back at O'Callaghan.

"I'd feel safer and people would be getting more of an education," Stager said.

Bob Bailey, the school's namesake, said Monday he was distressed to learn about both the graffiti and the fights.

"There is certainly no room for intolerance," said Bailey, a former broadcasting executive known for his lifelong commitment to minority business development and civil rights. "I thought we had moved beyond the need to fight each other."

Bailey said he planned to contact school administrators and offer his support.

"I have every confidence in Dr. Paquette that she will do what is necessary to quell whatever conditions are actually arising and nip it in the bud," Bailey said.

Edward Goldman, associate superintendent of education services for the district, said regulations require principals to recommend expulsion in certain circumstances, such as possession of a firearm or "substantial" damage to school property.

Goldman, whose office reviews student disciplinary cases and has the authority to reduce or increase punishments, said he receives about 35 recommendations for expulsion daily.

The majority of the cases involve drugs or weapons being brought to school, most commonly pocket knives, Goldman said. It is unusual for a graffiti incident to result in an expulsion recommendation because those cases are typically handled at the school level, Goldman said.

A principal's expulsion recommendation must be upheld by Goldman's office. Parents may appeal first to a review board and then the Clark County School Board.

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at [email protected].