An increasing number of fights in Pasco County Schools prompted Superintendent Kurt Browning to issue a warning to students and parents in March.
In essence, that message was: Fighting will not be allowed in district schools. If it happens, principals should refer students engaged in fighting for expulsion.
In a videotape announcing the crackdown, Browning said it’s not that the district wants to exclude students from school but that it simply will not tolerate that type of behavior.
Browning said the increasing number of fights indicated that the district had been too lenient.
At the Pasco County School Board’s June 7 meeting, Board Chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong asked Browning: “Was our crackdown on fighting effective?”
The superintendent responded: “Yes, it was. I don’t have the exact numbers, but I do know our numbers dropped significantly for the fourth quarter, after I made my announcement: I wasn’t playing.
“Staff has asked me: Is that going to be in place for next year?
“The answer is yes. It’s going to be in place next year, and we’re going to continue pushing it out and letting parents know that we’re not playing and you need to have conversations with your children about what appropriate behavior is, in a public setting.
“One fight and you will be put up for expulsion. It’s that simple.
“Harsh? Maybe. It depends on if you are a parent or a student or the teacher that is having to deal with, or the administrator that’s having to deal with it.
“For our teachers and administrators, it may not seem harsh enough.
“I do believe that it takes kind of a drastic step to get the attention of families and kids, to let them know that we are here to educate children. We are not here to referee fights.
“Unfortunately, where society has placed us, we often times play the role of a parent and that’s with the help of the state Legislature because they continue to require schools to do so many things that I believe ought to be being done at home, but they’re not. That’s another story, for another day.”
School board member Megan Harding said she understands there are tougher rules in place regarding fighting, but she wants to know how the district will address other behaviors that also are unacceptable.
“There are a lot of behaviors that need to be addressed, not only at the secondary level, but the elementary level, as well,” Harding said.
“I’ve heard stories of children throwing chairs, yelling, screaming and causing disruption. I’ve also seen students who are upset and leave the classroom, and support staff and admin are having to follow that child around.”
Megan asked if the board could have a discussion on that topic.
Armstrong agreed that the issue needs attention. “I think that’s a topic that we’re all interested in and it’s certainly a concern of the teachers and parents,” she said.
Browning responded: “Discipline continues to be a challenge. I will continue to say that it all starts in the home. It doesn’t start in the school. It starts in our homes. It manifests itself in our schools, and yet we’re the ones left to deal with the behaviors of these kids. Not all of our kids are ill-behaved. It’s usually a smaller group of kids that tend to consume the majority of time of our administrators and teachers,” he said.
“We continue to work on that. I will tell you, finding solutions is like nailing Jello to a tree. It’s near impossible to do that because the problem is so big, it is so complex and there’s not one single answer to it,” he said.
Browning noted that dealing with fighting it is easier mete out discipline.
“You have videos, in almost every school. You can see it. There’s no shadow of a doubt who hit whom,” Browning said.
But when it comes to disrespect, to cursing, to bad behavior — it’s difficult, Browning said.
“Our goal is not to place kids outside of school. It does not serve the child well. It does not serve the family well. It does not serve our community well, when we put kids out of school.
“But, we’ve got to make sure for those children who are disruptive, there’s some consequence for their behavior, so we can educate the ones who want to be in school,” Browning said.
The superintendent told the board that staff would provide an update when it had some firm ideas for addressing the issue.
Published June 22, 2022
