Student & Staff safety concerns aired at District 21 school board meeting
By Tom Peterson
The North Wasco County School Board heard multiple concerns about safety from staff and teachers at their regular meeting on March 16 as the behavior of students has led to Emergency Room trips for staff receiving a fractured ankle and concussion.
More than a dozen parents and educators spoke out during public comments at the end of a meeting that lasted four and a half hours.
Schools have seen an uptick in behavioral problems that started at the beginning of the school year and have continued into March with little change, according to school staff at the meeting.
Younger students at Dry Hollow Elementary were detailed as running away, throwing furniture, using profane language and spitting on staff and slapping classmates, according to comments from staff and parents.
Superintendent Carolyn Bernal said the District is working toward a solution.
“I just want to take a moment to acknowledge that it has been a trying year and that our staff are facing some significant challenges,” she said. “We also know that we are not alone in this, and that schools across our state and the country are struggling through these same concerns.”
“These past few weeks we have had the opportunity to sit down with the parents and classroom teacher who spoke at our last board meeting,” she said. “They were able to share more about their concerns, ask questions, and even offer some great insights and ideas. We were also able to clarify and speak to some of the processes and supports that are already in place.”
The reasons behind students needing additional behavioral help can only be defined on a case-by-case basis. However, generally speaking, some point to trauma from isolation during the pandemic. Others point to changing family values and or neglect, low-functioning parents, poverty and too much time spent on phones or screens. Others put the blame on the administration that is implementing a new philosophy that prioritizes keeping students with behavioral problems in the classroom.
Whatever the case, a child who has high behavioral needs requires more staff time, which is then not available to other well-behaving students, a point that was made several times by staff at the meeting.
“The disruptive learning environment that our students and staff are currently enduring puts this core value of safety at risk,” said Jodi Ketchum. Ketchum is a teacher and the District 21 Education Association President representing certified staff. “The students who are engaging in disruptive behaviors are frequently communicating to us that they do not feel safe in their own bodies. Let's listen to our students and our staff about this vital aspect.”
“The behaviors we are seeing include verbal abuse, such as screaming, threatening, name calling and using profanity, person to person abuse: spitting, hitting, kicking and using objects to be abusive; weaponizing the classroom such as overturning furniture, using supplies in a physically abusive manner, and throwing objects; destruction of property such as ripping things off of the walls, graffiti, destroying bathrooms, destroying technology and books. Across all schools and grade levels, the disrupted learning environment continues to be a top concern for our members.”
“Our students and our staff do not feel safe in our schools,” Ketchum continued. “We are not able to continue in this state of unrest. It is not sustainable nor ethical for our staff and students to not have their basic need for safety met. Please help your employees, help our students by providing an immediate relief you can to find solutions that allow us to get back to the important work of safely educating our students.”
Ketchum also thanked the Superintendent for her open-door policy and willingness to work on the problem throughout the year.
Educators also blamed new philosophies implemented during the year that focus on keeping students within the school community after acting out.
Called restorative practices, the philosophy, in part, asks teachers and staff to work with misbehaving students with the aim of restoring the student into the community amongst their peers in the classroom.
Click here to read the District’s complete explanation of Positive School Communities and Restorative Practices that was recently posted.
Dry Hollow teacher Karen Wilson took aim at the philosophy stating it was the cause of the problem.
“I'm speaking tonight because I hope the school board will use this information to change the harmful course our district has on related to behaviors, which persistently disrupt learning and breed contempt for authority,” she said.
“The foreseeable result of a well-meaning but poorly implemented one size fits all restorative practice disciplinary model is that students are behaving in ways never before deemed acceptable in a public school setting,” she said.
“Violent, disruptive and defiant behaviors are being normalized as they become expected and inevitable… Behaviors are radically different and getting worse. It cannot be entirely or even primarily blamed on the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“I would ask you to consider the question what has changed this year?”
“Last, I described some of the problem behaviors which disrupt learning regularly in my classroom. Tonight, I'd like to describe to you what happens when a student who has been removed from the classroom returns. Once a disruptive or violent student is de-escalated, they are usually allowed to return to my classroom the same day, often less than 30 minutes later, sometimes with a brief restorative conversation or apology, sometimes not.”
“Most often, the student will then disrupt learning all over again. They are then again removed from the classroom and the cycle repeats over and over again. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is constantly anxious and on high alert, waiting for certain students to blow up or otherwise disrupt the peaceful order and learning in the classroom. The atmosphere in our room feels unstable and volatile, and even our peaceful times feel fragile as we await the next major disruptive behavior to interfere with our learning.”
“It makes it difficult for students to sustain their focus and to control their own emotional, often unseen and internal response to chronic exposure to these behaviors. They have learned that their teacher and principal are powerless to stop the problem behaviors of the disruptive students, making them feel insecure and unsafe at school. Students who formerly were not discipline problems have begun acting out or emotionally shutting down. The rollout and implementation of the restorative practice policy has turned this district's long-standing disciplinary policy on its head for students with highly disruptive and violent behaviors.”
Earlier in the meeting, Special Educational Assistant at Dry Hollow Ginger Bradshaw detailed two staff members who had to be treated at the Emergency Room as a result of disruptive students. One staff member was hit in the head with a basketball thrown by an aggressive student and received a serious concussion bringing on nausea, vomiting and headaches.
Another staff was injured while chasing after a runaway child who was running down the steep grass hill toward 19th Street at the school.
The staff member fell and fractured her ankle.
“She’s going to be out for a month,” Bradshaw said. “Maybe two. We don’t have the services that we need. We can’t cover all of this. I’m really concerned.”
“I know this takes time, but something has to to be done… So, please think about it, talk about it and do something. And I appreciate your time this evening.”
Earlier in the meeting, Superintendent Bernal acknowledged the challenges teachers are facing.
“I just want to take a moment to acknowledge that it has been a trying year and that our staff are facing some significant challenges,” Superintendent Bernal said earlier. “We also know that we are not alone in this and that schools across our state and the country are struggling through these same concerns. Covid was a challenging time, and unfortunately, as educators, we are continuing to cope with the ramifications as they manifest inside our schools. Our kids missed out on valuable milestones and learning opportunities during the shutdown, not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well. Students are coming to us with significant needs, in ways we have not seen or experienced before.”
“I believe wholeheartedly in our district’s vision, and that ‘Our schools are a place where children belong’ and ‘Each student is known by name, strength, and need…’ We undoubtedly have work to do on all fronts to ensure we continue to commit to this statement each day, but I also feel optimistic about the things we have done, and can do, to help address these challenging circumstances."
