BHS Teacher Conflict

From what I know (which is all second hand since my last kid left BHS four-plus years ago), this letter to the editor of the Daily Journal encapsulates the conflict pretty well

I am one of 2,300 students and families who are incensed by the announced transfer of Kevin Nelson from Burlingame High School, where he has taught for 27 years. His removal from BHS will negatively impact the school where my older son graduated from in 2015 and my younger son will be a senior next year. 

It is my impression that this is the result of conflicts with the current BHS Principal, P. Di Yim, who is in her third year of service and has announced her resignation after this term. Principal Yim had systematically removed many of the classes and sections that Mr. Nelson developed and taught for years. He started the AP government program at BHS in 1994, wrote the AP economics program for the district in 1997, and ran the district GATE program. All three teaching and coordinator roles have been affected. Within the same week that Mr. Nelson’s transfer to an unnamed district high school was announced, Principal Yim announced her resignation. The linkage of these two events is unclear, but what is very clear is that Nelson is loved and respected by the BHS community and should be allowed to remain teaching there.

You can click through on the link above to read the rest.  I know, from a first hand discussion, that the Trustees view this as a complicated issue and mostly in the supe's hands.  This Daily Journal article the day before the letter notes that it is still in a cloud of uncertainty

Nelson said in an email he has received no further correspondence from the board or Skelly since being told Thursday, Jan. 14, he would be transferred.

No action was taken during the board meeting, as the issue was not on the agenda for consideration, and was only brought up by the community for discussion as part of the public comment period.

From my chats around town, this is the most closely watched issue of all right now.  You can read up on the history of the conflict here.

Comments

[Mom]

We cannot have the passing of the buck on this teacher. As one person said in the article, we will just get louder.

[JD]

Don't hold your breathe. The Superintendent is going to transfer Nelson. The new guy can't fold to Burlingame parents. He has not been around long enough to know the history of BHS. Nelson is going to get sacrificed.

There is a lot of talk about this issue and there are many important issues coming out about what has really been going on inside of BHS. When are they going to go after the real problems?

We believed and trusted Nelson and they are going to take him out.

[Beenhereforever]

This has nothing to do with Kevin Nelson. He will be transferred and that is that. So be it. He should have had his hands slapped many years ago. Who says he is a good teacher? Kids whom he lets sit around and do nothing? Disgraceful.

[[email protected]]

I have read about "this issue" multiple times:
-Jon Gillmore
-Ed Larios
A few others that I do not recall.
I have never read a response from an "outcast."
Maybe they want to leave.
PS
Nobody cares about Mr. Nelson other than you "Helicopter Parents."
I bet you folks live in your Parents House.

[Doe1]

Jon Gilmore is heloing to lead State Championship Football as Sacred Heart Prep.

You can't hear Ed Larios from under all of the zeros in the settlement check paid out by the SMUHSD for their legal liability.

[Steve]

I love the cowards that don't post under their own name. C O W A R D S. Beenhereforever is a joke. If you have something to say, put it under your own name. Are you an adult or just a complete wuss?

[Doe1]

There have been complaints filed against Yim and BHS teachers for improper conduct on the campus. Yim's dance routine is enough evidence that things at BHS are out of control. He has pissed off some teachers but for a good reason, these "adults" are abusing their authority and taking it out on our kids. These teachers can talk tough to a 16 year-old but they refuse to meet with parents and then retaliate against the students. I heard one teacher refused to meet with a Board member whose student goes to BHS. Others boast of wrecking student's GPA's

BHS parents are afraid to take action on behalf of their students because they fear retaliation from the teachers towards their students. The teacher has the power of the grade and can de-rail a kids path to college. This case is proof. Stand up for students - get bounced.

Within the group of parents who have come together on this issue are those who discovered that they each had to hire a lawyer to overturn a false issue with the same English teacher in three different years! The teacher problems at BHS are not widespread, but they are real and damaging. Nelson was just the messenger.

BHS has not been the same since the Teshara years. The district has placed weak leaders at BHS who have failed to lead the school. The current situation is a product of that failure. They let Yim resign. She's gone. She should not be allowed to continue on the campus as there will just be more damage. The new Superintendent does not know Burlingame, but three members of the Board are from Burlingame and should be expected to fix the problem. We elect home town folks to these seats, we could at least expect they would support the home-town school.

[Bruce Dickinson]

Listen, Steve-O, the name-cop. Somehow using an extremely common first name to post on this site makes it all ok in your book? What if beenhereforever posted as "John" or "Mike" then all would be ok? Seems to Bruce Dickinson as a petty thing to focus on instead of debating real issues.

As you can see from my posts, I was originally very skeptical of the anti-Yim posts, partly because of someone (the PantherBoy) making some really weak arguments with few specifics. Then more evidence was mounting and it became clear that Yim had to go. I apologized to the Panther Boy, as Bruce Dickinson is never afraid to be wrong, and the very next day the principal "resigned".

Where there's smoke, there's fire, I think we should continue to post as much information as possible and leave the issues open for debate. When it comes to Burlingame's crown jewels, one of them being the schools, we need to get behind something of great importance for our children, grandchildren, and frankly, our real estate values. Issues and arguments matter a lot more to yours truly than someone taking potshots and rebuking those for not using a first name.

Remember folks, Content is King!

[Peter Garrison]

I do think that not using one's given name can lead to a temptation to be more harsh in one's comments on social media. The result may be the harsher tones now sounded in presidential debates as well as cyber-bullying and the rude public forums.

[Peter Garrison]

Not to put too fine a point on it- but people can also lose a sense of perspective in this contrived anonymity and end up staging and dancing to inappropriate songs at high school sporting events...

[Doe1]

According to the BHS course selection guide, pole dancing will be offered as a PE elective in the Fall .The Panthers will erect a stripper pole on the 50 yard line and offer instruction in the fine art of the bump and grind.

"lose a sense of perspective..." The SMUHSD School Board should take a good look at themselves so they can see how foolish they look.

Popularity and public support mean nothing.... unless you have to run for office.

[Glenn Mendelson]

There’s a new article in today’s Daily Journal with powerful comments from Mr. Nelson.

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2016-03-08/teacher-career-taken-apart-kevin-nelson-expects-transfer-to-aragon-after-27-years-at-burlingame-high-school/1776425159698.html

I believe that there are individuals, besides Principal Yim, which include some teachers, members of the BHS Administration and employees of the District who hold a vendetta with Mr. Nelson for past actions that he took as a student advocate. I believe they have a vindictive agenda to have him transferred. It is possible that the Superintendent and/or the Board are not fully aware of this and may be unwitting participants in this scheme. It is also my belief that if we can prove that Mr. Nelson’s transfer is a result of a vendetta, there is a chance that the decision for his transfer can be reversed. Instead, if those hostile individuals are unhappy with Mr. Nelson, maybe they should consider leaving. This morning I submitted a public records request to the District to see if I can collect more information to prove my theory. I also plan to speak on my theory at this Thursday’s District Board meeting. Mr. Nelson's transfer is on the Agenda under Item N.1. "Approval of Personnel Actions. Please come to the District Board Meeting this Thursday at 7pm and voice your support for Mr. Nelson. United we stand! Citizens for Mr. Nelson and a better BHS!

[Observer]

So I guess those teachers at BHS who have already lawyered up are starting to think twice about what they did and the lies they constructed.

Mendelson's public records request will get anything on file and these people are most likely too stupid to cover their tracks. Its Murphy's Law...anything that can go wrong, will go wrong... especially if Murphy is doing it. You can only tell a lie so many different ways before people catch on to what you are doing. Once the district (or outside legal counsel) starts to put the squeeze on the teachers who told lies, they will easily give up those at the center of this mess.

You can't lie in a deposition, its called perjury.

[resident]

It's too bad the two lawyers for the old lady on Oak Grove don't take on Kevin Nelson's plight instead.

[GPA.NoMore]

A former Burlingame High School English teacher made it a point to ruin students GPA’s in order to destroy their pursuit of becoming a Valedictorian.

Each year, a group of BHS Seniors starts the year with a 4.0 GPA. They only have to continue this practice for one last semester to become a named as one of the Valedictorians…. Until they see the name of their senior English teacher and know that their life has been ruined.

This teacher makes it a point to destroy students by intentionally giving the student low marks in order to destroy their GPA.

It gets worse.

The teacher created a grading system where the student were not graded on the quality of work, but instead on the student’s family income and status. The grade has an inverse relationship with the status. The teacher believes that students who have more wealth and status should perform at a higher level. These students who entered with a 4.0 were destined to earn a B…. no matter how hard they tried.

In a meeting with one student and family, the teacher admitted that “I don’t follow any AP Curriculum and I have higher standards for some students than others.”

BHS students enrolled in the course stated that they stopped putting their names on their papers as it would result in a lower grade. When grading papers with no names attached, these students ended up with higher marks. One parent (of many) took the English papers to college professors for an evaluation. The papers received high marks of A from the college professors. The BHS teacher refused to budge.

The SMUHSD Board was made aware these incidents but has chosen to take no action.

Burlingame students and parents are still afraid to speak out because they fear retaliation from teachers. These seniors had a hope of becoming a Valedictorian, but these dreams were smashed because their parents made too much money.

Is this real? Ask any BHS senior who took AP English Literature over the past five years and did not get Jim Burke as a teacher to find out. Once the story broke among the BHS community, students refused to take AP English Language, as they knew it would be the end of their GPA.

What is really sad… the members of the English Department were aware of this practice and praised those who ruined the GPA of the elite.

I've been gone from BHS for a while but I thought I'd add this to the list of S$%& going down at the school.

Remember… Keep Portland Weird