CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State legislatures and educators are continuing to put their heads together to look at how to better address concerning behaviors in schools across West Virginia.
The Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability heard from West Virginia Department of Education officials recently on new initiatives they are working on to implement in a handful of schools in the state that would more effectively address the increasing disruptive and even violent behaviors teachers are experiencing in the classroom.
The main initiative state Superintendent Michele Blatt is working to implement in county school districts to address these concerning behaviors are geared toward alternative learning programs as well as increased in-classroom support.
She started the STRIVE initiative this year that looks at these behaviors and will address how to better handle them.
STRIVE — Strengthened behavior response through Targeted assistance to promote Regular attendance, Increased achievement, Validated practices and Empowered support teams — would bring together literacy and numeracy specialists, school safety officers and behavior support specialists.
Through the STRIVE initiative, WVDE was able to pull together some funds to implement a pilot alternative learning program in eight county school districts.
The districts will assess the new program during the upcoming spring semester through the next school year.
Deputy State Superintendent Sonya White told lawmakers that this is a two-pronged approach.
Sonya White
“They make sure teachers know how to handle difficult children and do some preemptive work, so you have your procedures for how you do school and that sort of thing so kids know what to expect, and like a tiered support system you have for academics you do the same thing with behaviors,” White said.
She said Monongalia and Raleigh counties already had strong alternative programs in place and the board was able to provide grants to them as well to help strengthen them even further.
White said they are looking at what will be the best solution for the alternative programming.
“Some counties use four to six weeks in an alternative program, maybe that’s not long enough, maybe they need to be there longer, a gradual phase back into the school versus maybe one or two days of support and putting them back into the classroom, and then again, helping the teachers transition them back if that’s possible,” she said.
In addition, White said through Marshall University, the WVDE has behavioral support specialists already available who are regionally placed. She said the specialists can go in the classroom of a disruptive student in question and support the teachers in handling said student.
White said this can hopefully alleviate the situation some before it escalates to the level of needing to remove the student and place them in an alternative program.
WVDE District and Leadership Support Director Drew McClanahan said during his harassment, bullying and intimidation report to lawmakers there was approximately 170,721 discipline referrals entered into the system last year.
McClanahan said roughly 2% of those were written up for bullying, harassment, or intimidation behaviors.
He said for more immediate situations regarding behavior, schools have a few different options.
“Generally dealing with disruptions and disruptive students, there are plans in place to remove students, to house students, you know, there may be situations where a parent can’t come or get there, and certainly there would be some opportunities at the local level to decide what the best course of action is to help remove that student,” said McClanahan.
White said another more long-term option has been removing the student from the classroom and placing them within virtual school programs which are in place across all 55 counties.
However, she said these virtual programs also pose some challenges.
“Sure, some of them may use that as an option for a student who is struggling, but at the same time, if we’re not getting the support at home to help with behaviors, I would be concerned that we would have a similar lack of support for their academic well-being as well,” White said.
Mike Pushkin
West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Delegate Mike Pushkin said he would like to look for some real long-term solutions.
He said it’s obvious the bad behavior in schools is the product of an even greater problem the entire state is inundated with.
“We’re in a state that leads the nation continually in neonatal abstinence syndrome and we have the worst drug problems in the entire country, yet a symptom is going to show up in our kindergartens and in our grade schools,” he said.
Pushkin said he thinks the alternative learning centers are a short term solution, but he said putting the most disruptive students in a virtual school setting will not solve anything.
He said for the long term solutions, all departments must come together on a statewide level and look at the opioid crisis in a more comprehensive way, as it’s what is truly fueling the problem.
“It’s not just a Department of Education problem, but it’s a problem we all were sent here to help alleviate and we need to do that,” said Pushkin. “It’s a way bigger problem than just this committee or an education problem.”
In addition to initiatives underway on the education level to help address disruptive behaviors, the legislature is looking to the reintroduction of Senate Bill 614 into the regular session this coming year which also focuses on implementing more alternative learning programs, particularly for elementary schools.