Records provided by the Temple Police Department indicate there were 27 arrests made from November 2007 to May 2008 at Temple High School Accelerated Academy, better known as Temple High South.

According to police records, arrests were made on charges ranging from possession of marijuana and gambling to assault.

In February, four employees with TH South filed a grievance with the Temple Independent School District, claiming the campus was turned “into a dumping ground for students” last school year.

During the 2007-08 school year, the grievance said enrollment was about 180 students and four teachers, with student to teacher ratios of 60-to-1 in some classes.

Lindsay Gustafson, a lawyer representing one of the employees involved in the grievance, said her client is working with the district to remedy problems with the school before her party will take any further action.

“We really had to push (TISD) to get them to address the issues at the school,” said Gustafson, who works for the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. “I think it’s fair to say that right now we’re in a waiting phase, and we’re going to see what changes are going to be made.”

TISD Superintendent Dr. Robin Battershell, who was not with the district at the time the grievance was filed, said earlier this week that the district was trying to fix the problems.

“We didn’t have good enough criteria set up for students entering the school,” Dr. Battershell said. “It kind of let things get off track, and the criteria that was set up was moved away from.

“We’re going to have tighter admissions criteria at the school,” Dr. Battershell said.

Gustafson said her client will be meeting with administrators next week to discuss issues.

“I must say that the new superintendent (Dr. Battershell) seems like she’s trying to work together with us as much as she can,” Gustafson said. “Although it took a long time to reach the point we’re at now, I’m pleased with where things seem to be heading.”

According to police records, there have been 26 calls for service at the school, at 1414 W. Barton Ave., since August 2007.

The grievance says teachers confiscated illegal drugs from students, some of whom had a “history of criminal activities, police records and are on probation.”

One teacher filed police reports including $250 worth of vandalism to a vehicle and three Class C misdemeanors for serious student misconduct.

The grievance says TH South became highly segregated during the school year, with a student population of about 90 percent African-American students, 8 percent Hispanic students, 2 percent other races.

TH South is suppose to serve a small population of at-risk students, who elect to attend the school.

Dr. Battershell said comparable types of schools are places where students, for whatever reason, can’t go through the regular school day, and need to go have a place to obtain credits.

“We were not treating the school with that respect. We lost that focus,” Dr. Battershell said.

“I think there were some really valid issues at that school,” Gustafson said. “I don’t think things were being run well. The administrators and people in charge seemed to let the students overrun the teachers, who were not in a good position because of the sheer numbers (of students).”

According to attendance records obtained by the Telegram, a first-period independent study class taught by one teacher had 65 students ranging from ninth-graders to seniors in it, conflicting school guidelines that state that independent study classes are to be “limited to 25 students.”

Absenteeism and truancy, according to the grievance, was rampant, especially in the afternoon, “with classes having as high as 98 percent absenteeism.”

Henry T. Waskow High School, which also caters to students who do not or cannot attend normal school hours in the Belton Independent School District, had 126 students enrolled at the end of the school year, with nine teachers at the school.