The Junior High: 1960–2000

By Dr. Pelham K. Mead III

Dr. Pelham Kenneth Mead III

Educational Experience

Freeport High School, Freeport, Long Island, New York, Class of 1961

Springfield College, Springfield, Mass. Class of 1966, Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Health Education.

Springfield College, Springfield, Mass., Class of 1967, Master of Science

degree in Outdoor Education

SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, N.Y., 1984-1988, 6th Level Administrative

Certificate Program, 21 credits, transferred to Columbia University.

Columbia University, Teachers College 1988-May 13, 1992, Doctoral

Degree in Education specializing in Educational Administration

Writing Experience

First novel, Autumn Winds Over Okinawa 1945, published by Xlibris,

Jan. 2012.

Second novel, The Chinese Crystal Ball, published by Authorhouse,

Oct. 2012.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479739486

Dr. Pelham K. Mead III

Dr. Pelham K. Mead III Biography Previous novels Autumn Winds over Okinawa, 2011, (Historical Fiction),Xlibris Publishers The Chinese Crystal Ball, 2012, (Mystery), Authorhouse Publishers The Junior High, 2012, (fiction), Xlibris Publishers The 23rd Psalm, 2013, (Science fiction), Xlibris Publishers Education Doctoral degree in Educational Administration from Columbia University, NY, 1992. Sixth level Administrative Certificate program, New Paltz University, NY, 21 credits Master of Education degree from Springfield College, Springfield, Mass., 1967 Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Health, Springfield College, Springfield, Mass, 1966. Academic Diploma from Freeport High School, Freeport, NY, 1961

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Copyright © 2012 by Dr. Pelham K. Mead III.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Cucamonga JHS

Chapter 2 Big-Breasted Ronnie Bronson, the Female Physical Education Teacher

Chapter 3 School Politics

Chapter 4 Sex in the School

Chapter 5 The End-of-the-Year Teacher Parties

Chapter 6 Money

Chapter 7 Extracurricular Activities

Chapter 8 Teacher Stories

Chapter 9 A Cast of Characters

Chapter 10 Teacher Burnout

Chapter 11 Retirement

Chapter 12 The Beginning of the End

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to John Carucci

in memory of his excellence in teaching, his years as a football coach,

and his contribution to the school spirit Cucamonga JHS.

Special thanks to my buddies Paul Renfrew and George Schandel

for editing my book.

CHAPTER 1

Cucamonga JHS

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T HE NAME CUCAMONGA came from a local Native American tribe that used to live near the High Mountain town on the Canadian border in New York. When the High Mountain school district began to explode in student population in the 1960s, it was decided that an additional JHS needed to be built. At that time, there were only two JHSs, North JHS and South JHS. The students at South JHS were overcrowded in their school, and they were on double sessions for a few years. The board of education of the High Mountain school district put before the community a bond approval to build a third JHS. This bond issue was meant to deal with the overcrowded conditions of the existing schools.

The South JHS students’ population was being split in half to reduce overcrowding. Half of the South JHS students would go to the new junior high. The South JHS students were allowed to vote for the name of the new junior high. The choices were

•   Central High Mountain JHS

•   Washington JHS

•   Cucamonga JHS

The students in South JHS did not want to go to the new JHS; so as a spoiler, they chose the worst name they could. The name they chose was Cucamonga, a name for a once-existent local Native American tribe.

In 1959, the then current assistant principal of South JHS was to be transferred to the new Cucamonga JHS when it was finished in 1960. He was given the choice of the teachers he wanted to bring with him, so he chose his best friends, who were all department chairmen. They were all older men in their late fifties and early sixties. This seemed like a good base from which to start a new junior with experienced teachers. Actually, few teachers transferred, only administrators that were selected by the new principal. All the rest of the teachers were hired as new teachers.

In 1960, seventy-five teachers were hired in the High Mountain school district to begin work at Cucamonga JHS. In 1967, fifty more teachers were hired at Cucamonga JHS. The hiring frenzy was to meet the ever-expanding student population expansion in the 1960s. Cucamonga JHS started with 600 students, and by 1975, its population had doubled to 1,600 students in the one building built for only 1,000 students.

When the fall of 1960 came about, the construction was not completed; however, the district moved the students into the unfinished building anyway. Construction delays caused the problem of not having the building finished on time. While teachers were teaching in their classrooms, workers were drilling and nailing walls together in the next classroom.

Bang, bang, mmmmmm, bang, bang. And that, students, is why the Indians surrendered to the white man, said Mr. Torres. Every day during first period, social studies, English, and science classes, the hammering would start usually in the middle of a lesson. Teachers were used to being drowned out. They complained to the principal. Mr. Worley, is there something you can do to stop the hammering during the day? asked Mr. Torres.

No, Mr. Torres, I am sorry, but the work has to be finished now rather than later. Bear with it for now, said Mr. Worley, the principal.

The noise problem made it difficult to teach without distraction. Teachers learned to write notes on the board in advance of when the drilling started. Once the drilling started, no one could be heard. A positive note was that none of the students were noisy or could talk among themselves because they could not hear one another.

The auditorium was half finished, with the seats not completely installed. Technically, it was illegal to occupy a building that had not been finished, but the district had no plan B in case the building was not completely finished. Somehow the school district managed to avoid being fined by the local building code inspectors.

No sooner had Cucamonga JHS been built than it became overcrowded, and an extension wing was planned for and built in 1967. A small gym was started in 1968 and finished by 1970 to accommodate the increase in student enrollment. A lot of problems developed with the heating and air circulation systems in the new extension, requiring more construction and repairs to be made. Some classrooms lost all heat and were as cold as the outside weather in the fall and winter of 1967. Teachers had to move classes to the cafeteria or auditorium or library when the classrooms had no heat.

A fire was started in a closet in the large gymnasium when a worker with a blowtorch accidently ignited the insulation in the ceiling while he was welding metal braces under the roof. Fortunately, the damage was limited to the storage closet, and the fire department was able to get to the fire fast enough to prevent serious damage. The real damage was water damage to the gymnasium flooring and a few dozen fried footballs and basketballs.

The boys’ locker room had showers but no hot water until the plumbing was fixed. In the 1960s, it was normal to give out soap and towels to students to shower after class. It was mandatory at that time. When the 1970s came in with the concern for individual liberties, students’ rights, and many lawsuits, it was determined that students’ rights were being violated when they were required to take showers. So the mandatory use of showers was abandoned and adopted as a district-wide policy. Showering after physical education class was strictly voluntary.

Eventually, a shortage in funds caused the expensive free towel and soap program in physical education to also be dropped. Eventually, only the sports teams would use the shower rooms. The end result was that the physical education students went to class smelling and sweating. Not many teachers were happy with that conclusion, with students sitting in their classes sweating and smelling.

The teaching staff grew from 70 teachers initially to over 120 teachers by 1975. Many part-time teachers also joined the teaching ranks, and teachers who traveled from one school to another. Paraprofessionals came into use and were known as teacher aides. They needed only two years of college to be eligible for the job. The district used to have team teaching, but paraprofessionals provided a cheaper approach than two paid full-time teachers to one class. For a few years, there was a program allowing a special education teacher and a mainstream teacher teaching a mixed-ability group of students, including special education students. Budget considerations would eventually cause that excellent program to be discontinued. The teachers’ union fought against the use of paraprofessionals and lost.

Community voting on public bond issues was always difficult because the majority of the High Mountain school district was represented by Jewish private schools called yeshivas. The private yeshiva population grew from seven thousand students in the 1960s to fifteen thousand in the 1990s. The Jewish community had to be courted by the superintendent of High Mountain school district in order to secure their support of the public school budgets. Many trade-offs had to be offered to the private school community, such as universal busing, used textbooks, used school furniture, and special professional services. The Jewish community voted as a block against the expansion of the public school bond issues by busing Jewish voters to the voting poles. No public referendum could be passed without getting the Jewish community vote. The Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parents were paying both for yeshivas for their children to attend and for public school tax. Under New York State law, the High Mountain school district superintendent was legally responsible for all public and private schools within the borders of the High Mountain school district. Therefore, yeshivas had to meet New York State Education requirements or they would not be certified. The High Mountain school district was one of only three major Jewish districts in New York State that had a significant number of students attending yeshivas (1990: 10,000 students; 2012: 20,000) instead of public schools. This meant that the formula for repayment to the High Mountain School from New York State did not include the private yeshiva students. The public school system of High Mountain did not get any revenue from New York State to offset the cost of carrying thousands of yeshiva students who were not in public school. This also included Catholic schools that had a much smaller number of students. This lack of funds from New York State would eventually cause the High Mountain school district to develop a major shortage of funds to pay for the school budget every year. The shortage of funds developed into

a)   Threatened teacher strikes

b)   No teacher contracts for three years or more

c)   Cutting back in hiring new teachers

d)   Cutting back in sports programs, such as elementary soccer, softball, and basketball

e)   Reduction in teachers and support positions

f)   Closing of schools

g)   An increase in Orthodox Jews on the public school board whose agenda was to protect the yeshivas at the expense of the public school

Concerned parents had to form their own sports associations to provide sports for elementary school children. This community sports program eventually grew to include junior and