The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a teenage refugee from Ukraine attended a middle school in the city, where she encountered students that were disrespectful, violent, and bullies.
The worst part, she says, is that not a single staff member at the school did anything about it.
Yana, a 13-year-old Ukrainian refugee, expected Marina Middle School in San Francisco to be reminiscent of a teen movie, but instead encountered a chaotic atmosphere with students disrespecting their teachers by talking back, jumping on desks, and using profanity with no repercussions, per the San Francisco Chronicle. She had her phone stolen in the cafeteria, and she was subjected to bullying while attending the public school.
Yana commented that a week into it, she realized the theft of her cell phone, along with the intimidation from the students she suspected of the act, was nothing out of the ordinary.
I thought it was going to be better because its San Francisco. But after two days, I saw everything going on at the school.
Her aunt recounted, They started yelling and cursing and moving toward her. A counselor came and intervened.
After her phone was stolen, Yana ceased attending her school, and her mother and aunt, Mariia Moroz, requested a school transfer, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
I was scared, but now Im thinking about (the students) with more anger that they are there and shes sitting here at home, said Yanas aunt. She would tell us, and we were terrified.
Han Phung, assistant superintendent of middle schools for the San Francisco Unified School District, recently said that San Francisco is still struggling with the consequences of the lockdowns put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person instruction was discontinued, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
They were in fourth grade when everything shut down, then they jumped into middle school. Remember folks were in their houses and not having to deal with other kids and emotions, said Phung.
A complaint was filed by a law firm against Marina Middle School concerning staffing disarray subsequent to the announcement of disciplinary issues at the school, as reported by the San Francisco Examiner.
John Affeldt, managing attorney for Public Advocates, was quoted in a January San Francisco Chronicle report saying, The staffing chaos at Marina Middle School, with numerous departures and vacancies, rolling substitutes instead of stable teachers, and unlawful assignments are among the worst conditions weve seen since we filed (the Williams case) over 20 years ago.
He continued, While hiring is a challenge post-pandemic for most districts, SFUSD needs to be much more proactive in addressing the vacancies at Marina Middle and across the district. Inaction is not an option.
Login