West Virginia lawmakers are trying to address teacher concerns about troubled kids disrupting their classrooms.
Again this session, Republican leaders on education issues want to expand the authority of elementary school teachers to remove disruptive kids from classrooms.
But fewer than half of West Virginia counties have alternative education programs to help the students who are removed, and legislative leaders say they are unlikely to fund a significant expansion.
After students are removed, they can be suspended or sent to specialized classrooms with lower teacher-to-student ratios and access to mental health support. At the elementary school level, only around 1 in 4 counties currently have a program.
Expanding these programs would require money and lawmakers have passed substantial tax cuts in recent years, eroding state funding to help kids.
In interviews, the leaders of both the West Virginia House and Senate education committees acknowledged that there aren’t enough programs but are pessimistic about more funding among other education priorities.
A rise in student behavior problems
Around a decade ago, Monongalia County school officials noticed a rise in anxiety among students, said deputy superintendent Donna Talerico.
Then, the pandemic happened, students were isolated at home, and things got worse.
The number one issue they see is students being overwhelmed by their feelings, leading to them refusing to sit still, climbing on cabinets or running out of classrooms.
“We prefer to just be able to teach,” Talerico said. “But we know that’s not the reality.”
In December, lawmakers invited Kanawha County elementary school principal Stephenie Haynes to discuss student behavior at a committee meeting. She described being repeatedly kicked, punched and headbutted by a third grader.
“Myself, my assistant principal and another staff member are currently covered in bruises because of this child,” she said.
In between questions about what they could do about it, some lawmakers recalled stories of their time in school, when kids were paddled or threatened with prison.
“The only people that want to issue pain to children are people who really truly love them and want to correct their behavior,” said Del. Dave Foggin, R-Wood, who has introduced a bill to allow corporal punishment.
Teachers union members identified student behavior as one of the most serious problems they face, after pay and burnout, according to a survey released last year by the West Virginia Education Association.
But physical attacks on teachers and school employees by students are actually relatively rare, lawmakers learned last month. Last year, there were around 500 incidents, according to discipline data shared by the state superintendent. Almost half were by kindergarten through third grade students and many involved the same students.
The kids who are starting school today grew up during the opioid epidemic.
Tina Wallen, an elementary school principal in Wyoming, told lawmakers that she sees a lot of kids who have had disturbing experiences from being born to parents who have substance use disorder and being raised by grandparents or great grandparents.
“A lot of time when they come to us in kindergarten, they’re not even potty trained,” she said.
More powers for teachers
In 2023, lawmakers allowed teachers in middle and high school classrooms to remove a student for behavior that is “interfering with an orderly educational process or disruptive to the classroom environment.” The student could not return to the classroom for the rest of the day.
If a student is removed three times in a month, the principal must suspend the student or try to place them in an alternative learning program, if one is available in the county.
Under the new law, only 11% of the students ultimately removed from classrooms — meaning they were removed three times in a month — were transferred to an alternative learning center.
This session, Senate and House education committee chairs have introduced legislation that would allow kindergarten through sixth grade teachers to have students placed in a behavior intervention program when they are “violent, threatening, or intimidating,” a definition that focuses on dangerous behavior while the middle and high school law focuses on disruptive behavior. Similar legislation nearly passed last year.
The child’s parents would be required to pick them up by the end of the day, and if they do not, the principal can notify law enforcement. Then, the student would be suspended for one to three days while plans for alternative learning are made.
“We’re trained to educate kids,” said Senate Education Chair Amy Grady, R-Mason, a fourth grade teacher. “And whenever we’re having to deal with violent behaviors, we’re not able to do the job.”
What could happen after students are removed
Grady’s bill would require counties to place students in alternative education programs, which offer a way for kids to be with counselors and specialists who work to eliminate disruptive behaviors, so they can return to their original classroom. Counties without programs could partner with neighboring counties.
But, only a fraction of counties have an alternative education program. 13 have existing programs, and the state Department of Education has given out grants to eight more counties to start such programs, said department spokesperson Christy Day.
House Education Committee Chair Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, said lawmakers are looking at funding for these programs after hearing from county officials who don’t have anywhere to send kids after they’re removed from the classroom.
But, he cautioned that lawmakers “have to prioritize” funding for alternative learning against a variety of school system needs from school safety and building costs to salaries and health insurance. Ellington said the behavior issues, particularly when they are violent, are very concerning and difficult to deal with effectively.
“Honestly, I don’t have a great answer, but we are looking at what can we do, and we’re open to all ideas,” he said.
Grady said that having a program in each county is the “ultimate goal” but that because of limited funding, she is looking at how counties could share programs and how more mental health support could be provided virtually in the schools.
The state Department of Education has pulled together some money to fund an alternative education pilot program, giving $250k to eight counties and some funding for programs in Monongalia and Raleigh Counties. The programs are just getting started, and most are housed with elementary schools, according to the state superintendent.
At Mountain View Elementary in Morgantown, the CLIMB classroom provides behavioral support, early development and some mental health services. The county used federal funding for a teacher who runs the program and has been able to add a second person with a background in social work through the state funding.
“They are working with an identified group of students to help them keep themselves regulated, so we don’t get to the point where a child is in a full blown crisis,” said Talerico, the deputy superintendent.
The county also has an alternative learning center where students go after options to improve behavior at the school level have been exhausted. Talerico said the county has had to make tradeoffs to ensure sufficient funding for the center, along with counselors and school psychologists that work with kids in the schools.
She said the county has had to pick and choose where to use its funding, and that other counties with fewer students and less money have it even tougher.
“We really need support from the state in this area, and I know every district would benefit from that,” she said.