Dec 9, 2024, W. Virginia Watch: ‘Police cannot help me’ — Teachers ask WV lawmakers to address violent, disruptive student behavior
Lawmakers failed to pass this year’s school discipline bill aimed at helping elementary teachers
Last week, an elementary student violently attacked Kanawha County principal Stephanie Haynes for 38 minutes.
“Myself, an assistant principal and another staff member are currently covered in bruises because of this child,” she told lawmakers at the Capitol on Monday. “I actually called the police, and if you don’t know this, the police can’t help me.”
Haynes recalled that last year, the same boy tried to stab her with a night lock system that was meant to keep schools safe from intruders.
The Republican-led Legislature is trying to figure out how to help teachers deal with worsening elementary student behaviors that are crippling teaching time.
Haynes and other educators asked lawmakers to help them remove these students so that they and other students can feel safe. They proposed alternative learning spaces and funding to hire additional staff focused on helping these children. . . .
Lawmakers earlier this year considered legislation, crafted by a senator who is a teacher, that would have given elementary teachers greater authority to remove students for disruptive, aggressive or violent behaviors. It outlined steps for how schools should deal with students who needed to be removed from their classrooms.
The measure died on the final night of session in March as the Senate and House were bickering over other bills.
“We’ve got a major problem,” said Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, who is a principal at a private, religious school. “We are losing kids out of the public education system … and you guys are getting beat up … We should be concerned about the other kids in the classroom with the trauma.”
Four educators shared stories with lawmakers about kids’ violent outbursts, ongoing disruptions and incidents where they were physically attacked. Many of the students had experienced trauma, they said, but there were others whose parents didn’t support discipline.
“There have been times they’ve been so violent, we’ve had to remove all the other kids from the classroom … because they are throwing things,” Wallen said.
Educators explained the barriers they face in dealing with the behaviors, including an inability to take away recess as punishment due to the state’s rules on physical activity at schools. It is also challenging to expel elementary students, and the violent outbursts don’t always qualify as reason to remove the child from school.
Morgan Elmore is a preschool teacher in Randolph County Schools. She is also a foster parent.
“It is important to give age appropriate consequences but also not say just because a student has childhood trauma, an [Individuals Education Plan], or etc., that they’re entirely exempt from having to be accountable for their actions,” she said. “This should not be a free excuse to be dangerous.”
Lawmakers want to tackle a complex problem
Senate Education Committee Chair Amy Grady, a fourth grade teacher, stressed that a school discipline bill needed to be a priority for lawmakers during the next regular session in February 2025.
“Until we get these behaviors under control, we are not going to see our test scores improve and our enrollment is going to decline,” she said. School enrollment around the state has declined, and students have access to a broad education savings account program that gives families money to use at private schools.
“This has to be a priority this session. We have to find something that will help our teachers, these kids and our staff,” Grady said.
This year’s school discipline bill, crafted by Grady, faced criticism from Democrats and school employees who said it could result in children in need of serious mental health support being disproportionately removed from their classrooms. It didn’t come with funding for behavior support programs; Grady had suggested that counties use opioid settlement funds to pay for it. . . .
Del. Dave Foggin, R-Wood, floated the idea of reinstating physical punishment in elementary schools. He is a teacher.
“Pain is a great motivator. No one wants to issue pain to a child … but the only people who want to issue pain to a child are people who truly love them and want to correct their behaviors,” he said. “Who took the paddles out of the schools? That’s my quick and easy fix to this problem that’s not fun to talk about.” . . .
Del. Jimmy Willis, R-Brooke, said that the information shared was “deeply concerning.”
“I think it was a productive conversation today and only wish the State Department of Education would have been in attendance to join the conversation,” Willis said. “We as the Legislature will continue to work diligently and do what those in the classroom continue to tell us is needed to improve education and outcomes for every West Virginia student.”
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