BROCKTON — More than a dozen Brockton Public Schools teachers and staff members told state lawmakers Thursday night that students verbally and physically assaulted teachers, continued violent fights, name-calling, vaping and smoking. , expressed many of the issues facing Brockton High School, including theft. , which has also shaken up elementary and middle schools across the district, destroying school grounds and vacating buildings at will.
Several staff members from various BPS elementary and middle schools spoke about the Massachusetts General Law Office at a public meeting on February 15th. 84 C. 37H – 3/4: A recent student discipline law called “Chapter 222” limits school suspensions.
Four state officials representing Brockton attended the meeting, including U.S. Rep. Gerald Cassidy, U.S. Rep. Michelle Dubois, U.S. Rep. Rita Mendez, and U.S. Sen. Michael Brady, and 15 BPS teachers and staff members. I heard them discuss the behavior seen in schools across the country. Brockton.
“A lot of teachers in Brockton are feeling hopeless,” said Athena Deltano, a special education teacher at Arnone Elementary School. She said she was recently bitten by a student outside of her class.
“I think we're looking for a life raft right now.”
BPS teachers have spoken at School Committee meetings since October about violent fights, physical attacks and constant disrespect towards teachers against the approximately 300 to 700 students at Brockton High School. Thursday's meeting made it clear that the issue involves schools at all grade levels.
“We can't work safely,” Deltano said. “Literally, all of us are asking for you.”
What is episode 222?A new state law makes it harder to suspend students. Does that tie Brockton's hands?
“Mini BHS”: Middle school and elementary school teachers talk about violence
Adriana Alicia, a counselor at Arnone Elementary School, said the same student who bit Deltano also kicked Alicia earlier in the school year. She said Arnone School is a “mini-BHS.”
“I want to see change happen,” Alicia said at Thursday night's meeting. “We need physical, visible changes by the end of the year.”
Alicia said many BPS employees are considering leaving the district if these issues are not resolved by the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Alison Russell, a first-grade music teacher at West Middle School, where Thursday's rally was held, said she handed a drumstick to a music student and was thrown so hard at the bottom of her foot that she suffered a bruise. She said she can't give ukuleles to her students because they might break.
“I'm seeing my job becoming babysitting instead of teaching,” Russell said. “This doesn’t start in high school.”
Gitana Snow, a fifth-grade teacher at Downey Elementary School, said she heard students cursing, yelling and threatening to harm each other. She said she has seen students throwing chairs, punching walls, stealing from teachers and constantly disrespecting staff.
“The administration has been cooperating as best they can, but as we know their hands are tied,” Snow said.
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Will Chapter 222 harm schools?
State law, Chapter 222, places limits on how principals and superintendents can respond to incidents that occur in school buildings, with the goal of keeping students in school and continuing their learning.
According to the law, before a student can be suspended out of school, administrators must exhaust all “alternative remedies” and keep them within the school building. These remedies include mediation, dispute resolution, restorative justice, and collaborative problem solving.
”[It] “This change occurred in November 2022 as part of the state's broader legislation to address children's mental health needs,” said an attorney with the law firm Murphy, Ramea & Murphy, who represents Brockton Public Schools. , Paige Tobin said.
“Students were suspended longer than necessary,” Tobin said. “Especially in light of COVID-19, it was important to keep students in school as much as possible.”
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But when the law was first enacted, BHS administrators could no longer write behavioral references to teachers, said Karen Guzman, a math teacher at Brockton Virtual Learning Academy who taught at BHS. He said the teacher “told him” if a student was misbehaving. To suck it up. ”
“Chapter 222 took away the rights of all the other kids who wanted to learn,” Guzman said, to applause from the crowd of more than 50 teachers. “We need to look at what Chapter 222 has given us.”
Eleri Merikin, a ninth-grade teacher at BHS, said that in her class of 30 students, five or six have “extreme behavioral issues” and would misbehave in class every day of the semester.
“When are we going to wake up and realize that suspension is a tool?” Melikin says. “Schools are out of control and chaotic, and that's having a negative impact on everyone.”
