Big Fight at Roosevelt over School Newspaper

By Paul Kozakiewicz

A firestorm has engulfed Roosevelt Middle School because the principal cut a popular journalism class.

Principal Diane Panagtacos cut the journalism class that produced Roosevelt Highlights, an award-winning publication, from this year's curriculum. The action mobilized students, parents and teachers who want to keep the popular program.

Students circulated a petition, parents worked with the school's Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) to come up with alternative plans and teachers volunteered to shift schedules to accommodate the plan.

But the groups say Panagtacos has refused to reinstitute the class - supposedly because of budget cutbacks.

Roosevelt teacher Nancy Maxson has taught the journalism class for the past seven years. She said problems started minutes after a copy of Roosevelt Highlights hit the halls with a letter that was unflattering of the principal. She said Panagtacos berated the student in her office for publishing the letter in the school's newspaper.

From that time on, Maxson said, the principal was out to silence a campus voice that has been a publishing tradition at Roosevelt for most of the past 73 years.

Panagtacos did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Maxson said the feud over the journalism course has alienated many in the school community.

"The parents have lost total confidence," Maxson said.

In the current academic school year, Panagtacos moved the Yearbook Class from an after-school program to a core-curriculum course and provided $12,000 in the budget to pay for it (one-fifth of a teacher's salary). The journalism class that produced Roosevelt Highlights was eliminated and its teacher was reassigned to teach another course. The Yearbook Class was later reclassified as a journalism class and a syllabus was produced.

But Maxson says the structure for the new journalism course bears little resemblance to the rigorous course she taught - a course which students aspired to be a part of. She says of the 25 students who signed up in the spring to be part of the journalism class, none are currently participating in the renamed Yearbook Class.

A student petition requesting a restoration of the journalism class netted 141 signatures. "Help bring back journalism," it said.

The PTSA has held several meetings and convened a task force to try to resolve the dispute.

The group formed a special task force, which offered three recommendations as a way to settle the controversy:

· keep the journalism class as it was - an elective course - producing Roosevelt Highlights;

· move the Yearbook Class back to its old slot as an after-school activity with PTSA funds to fairly compensate the teacher;

· add a journalism class, with Maxson as teacher, as a before- or after-school program. The PTSA would contribute funds to produce Roosevelt Highlights.

By changing the Yearbook Class back into an after-school activity, the journalism class could be funded with the money budgeted for a Yearbook Class. The cost of printing Roosevelt Highlights is mostly covered with advertising revenue, about $2,400 a year.

Tom Hammel is the parent of an eighth-grade student at Roosevelt. He said his daughter has been waiting since the sixth grade to participate in Roosevelt's journalism program and was disappointed when it was canceled. Only eighth graders can take the course.

"I got a little riled and said this is not OK," Hammel said. "It has turned into a big issue."

Hammel said the recently renamed journalism course is inadequate and "would clearly be a cut-and-paste, fun activity."

Since everyone's concerns can be met by restoring the course, which would not cost any additional money, Hammel is miffed at Panagtacos' refusal to cooperate with the school's students, parents and teachers. He said the efforts of parents, the PTSA and some teachers have been in vain.

"We're at an impasse," he said.

When members of the task force met with Panagtacos, the principal claimed the student petition was never given to her and that she was not approached in a timely manner. She also "rejected the proposals offered by the task force and claimed each one was unworkable," according to the task force report.

Assemblyman Leland Yee has also chimed in about the debate.

"We should find ways to keep that newspaper alive," he said.

Hammel and other supporters of the eliminated journalism program addressed a SF Unified School District Board of Education meeting Nov. 18 to air their concerns.

After hearing their complaints at the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Arlene Ackerman agreed to meet with those involved in the debate. As of presstime, a meeting had been set up for Dec. 3 to try to work out a solution.