Protest of the closing of Catherine Ferguson Academy will be
Thursday, June 16, 2011
@12:00 p.m., noon
2750 Seldon
Detroit, MI 48208
Contact: Nicole
313-310-8871
3 fight arrests at Detroit school for teen mothers
April demonstration against school closing was peaceful, 3 say
Detroit — A teacher, student and alumna from Catherine Ferguson Academy are fighting trespassing charges stemming from what they say was a peaceful protest of the closing of the city school for pregnant students and teen mothers.
"We were fighting for our education," said Tiffini Baldwin, 19, a college student and 2010 CFA graduate who was arrested over an April 15 sit-in. "We were fighting for other people's futures."
Baldwin and Catherine Buckens, a graduating senior, were arraigned Monday at Detroit's 36th District Court. A not-guilty plea was entered for both. They were released on their own recognizance and given a July 11 pretrial date.
Teacher Nicole Conaway is to be arraigned today.
Roughly 15 supporters were outside the courthouse Monday morning.
"There's no way a Detroit jury will convict them for fighting for one of the best schools in the country," said Joyce Schon, attorney for Baldwin and Buckens.
"CFA is a real community. It's like an Underground Railroad for young women who got pregnant. CFA is irreplaceable."
The trespassing charges carry a maximum penalty of a $500 fine or 90 days in jail, said their attorney, Shanta Driver.
Opened in 1986, the academy was targeted for closure as Detroit Public Schools announced plans to turn over some schools to charters in a bid to help trim a $327 million deficit.
According to the district, each CFA student costs $12,619 to educate, compared with an average of $7,600 across the district.
DPS offered CFA to charter operators to unload the building's operational cost of $2.7 million a year.
But plans didn't materialize, and last week officials announced the school would officially close.
About a dozen people were at the library sit-in in April after classes ended, while more than 50 picketed outside, Baldwin said.
Police were called, although classes weren't disturbed and participants acted peacefully, she said.
"We were just holding our ground, and they were treating us as if we were holding someone hostage."
Baldwin and Buckens were arrested and separated from their children, Driver said, noting Conaway also was at school during operating hours.
"To charge someone with trespassing because they were in their own school when it was open is a pretty bogus charge," said Driver, who is also national chair of By Any Means Necessary, a group that defends civil rights.
DPS spokeswoman Jennifer Mrozowski declined to comment on the case Monday.
Meanwhile, supporters are trying to save CFA. A rally is planned there Thursday. "It is a high-performing, extremely successful model of what Detroit can do in terms of creating successful public education," Driver said.
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