It’s not a new problem, but as the 2022-2023 school year gets underway, the Pasco County public school district continues to search for an effective way to handle discipline problems — particularly at the elementary school level.
The issue came up during the Pasco County School Board’s Aug. 30 meeting.
Board member Megan Harding raised concerns about school teachers not feeling the support they need form the school district, when students create disruptions.
Harding said she’d heard from teachers who didn’t understand how the district’s No Tolerance Behavior Plan applies to elementary schools.
“I think that there’s not a lot of clear expectations on what that looks like,” Harding said. “When I’m asked that, I don’t really know what that looks like in elementary.
“They (elementary school teachers) don’t understand what that looks like and that the district has their back. I honestly can’t blame them for their frustration,” Harding said.
Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning told the school board: “That is a sticky wicket.
“We continue, as a staff, to work on the discipline issue and how we address elementary kids.”
The district has a plan for its secondary students. In serious cases, it can remove students from a regular school campus and the student can attend an alternative school.
It doesn’t have that option for elementary school students.
However, there are a small number of elementary school students who create havoc on school campuses, committing what the district defines as Level Two and Level Three offenses.
According to the district’s Student Code of Conduct, examples of Level Two offenses include: disruptive behavior, physical aggression, lying to a staff member, cheating, fighting, leaving a class or school grounds without permission, defacing property, gambling, and showing gang signals.
Examples of Level Three offenses include fighting that results in injuries; physical attack; using, selling or distributing controlled substances; bomb threat; false fire alarm; extortion, robbery; sexual harassment; theft of property; possession of dangerous objects (box cutters, pocket knives, look-alike weapons, etc.); major disruption on campus; and, sexual contact.
Both levels contain a longer list of offenses.
At the Aug. 30 school board meeting, Browning said there are instances, “where you have kids that are literally beating kids to the ground, bloodying them up and causing them to have to go the hospital because of the injuries they’ve caused. That’s the Level Twos and Level Threes, I’m talking about.
“The last thing I want to do is expel kids from school,” the superintendent said.
“I don’t want to expel kids, but I also want to make sure that the other 24 or 26, 28 kids in the classroom that aren’t fighting, have an opportunity to get an education. That’s what I want.
“That’s what we, as a school district, have a responsibility to ensure,” Browning said.
While the numbers of offenders are low, their impact can be sizable, he added.
“They will disrupt and create chaos either in a classroom, or across an entire school campus,” Browning said.
Harding said there are situations “where our teachers feel they are not being supported.”
“I have been in classrooms where there’s chaos going on, not because there’s any fault of the teacher, but because there are a few students that aren’t making good choices and they are being Level Two, and the teacher isn’t feeling any of that support.
“The learning is being impeded by other students. So, we do, at some point, need to be sure there are consequences for that,” Harding said.
She also cited an instance she’d reported involving a teacher who had been bitten.
“Our elementary teachers need that support just as much as our secondary teachers,” Harding said.
Browning responded: “And, I would agree. The one particular case that you are referring to, I have inserted myself in … I have spoken to the principal.
“I don’t buy the premise that the teacher should not feel supported. When the superintendent gets involved with something, that should send a pretty strong message,” he said.
“We continue to work on the discipline issues in this district. They are out of control. Not just in this district, but across the state of Florida, and quite honestly, across the United States,” Browning said.
“Ms. Harding, you have my word, you have my assurance that we will continue to work on the discipline issues,” Browning said.
While pledging to work on the issue, Browning noted that the problem of disruptive behavior begins long before students arrive on campus and extends far beyond the classroom walls.
“I will say this, until I walk out the door, and that is, ‘Parents have a responsibility to have discussions with their kids about what appropriate behavior is, in schools.’
“We’ve got to partner with them. They’ve got to set those expectations at home, so that they know when they come into school, what those expectations look like and what they need to do in a civilized society — and that is, behave.
Superintendent’s message to parents
Superintendent Kurt Browning reminded parents they “play a crucial role in promoting safety on our school campuses,” in a letter he wrote that’s included in the school district’s Student Code of Conduct for the 2022-2023 school year.
The superintendent’s letter says: “Preventing bullying and harassment is vital to establishing the safe, caring, respectful environment necessary for teachers to teach and students to learn. Please review with your student the definitions of bullying and the different types of harassment, as well as the consequences students could face if it is proven that they have engaged in such behavior.
“I want to eliminate uncivilized, disrespectful behavior in our schools, but I need your help to make sure students understand that the schools will not tolerate bullying, harassment or uncivilized behavior.
“We also need your help reinforcing with your student the consequences they face if they make a threat against a school. This issue is an increasing problem with more students on social media.
“Threatening violence against a school is never a joke; it always is taken seriously, and the consequences could include felony charges and expulsion from school. A new Florida law that went into effect on Oct. 1, 2016, makes threatening violence with a firearm a second degree felony.”
Published September 07, 2022
