“I’ve been hit, struck, kicked, spit on and scratched,” Brian Daugherty said as he explained the challenges he
and other teachers face at Grant Middle School.
In response to what they perceive as escalating violence, Daugherty,
a music teacher, and more than 30 other teachers and staff refused to go to
work May 10. The walk-out happened despite a last-minute, in-person plea from
Superintendent Jennifer Gill for the educators at the west-side school to stay
on the job.
“The most fundamental need in order to learn is to feel
safe,” Daugherty said. “And if we have people in the school – teachers and
students or staff – that don’t feel safe, then they’re operating in fright –
chaos. When there’s chaos, no one benefits, especially the kids. Ninety percent
of kids are ready to learn, and we have 10% that I feel aren’t ready to learn.
They are messing it up for the rest,” he said.
A few students ruining things for everyone is hardly a new
lament among educators. But Daugherty and his colleagues say what they are dealing
with is far different than what teachers faced in yesteryears. According to Daugherty,
threats today are specific and the violence is calculated.
As an example, Daugherty shared a copy of an email that was
recently sent to one of his female colleagues from a student’s account. The
student was unhappy with a grade he had received.
The email read: “I’m not gonna get mad but change my grade
now. Or I will come in and kill you. I know where you live, ho. And I’m not
playing. OK? Matter of fact, I’m gonna rape you. I’m gonna eat your ass. And
I’m gonna have my brother put his dick inside you, ho.”
The student believed to have emailed this note to his
instructor faced no consequences, said Aaron Graves, president of the
Springfield Education Association, the labor organization representing
teachers. He added that these types of threats have become increasingly common.
Teachers at Grant say they are fearful when they walk
hallways filled with students.
“The problem is, I have to be on high alert all the time.
When I see four or five kids get together in the hallway, we all tense up
immediately, said Heather Archey, a Grant English teacher. “It’s almost like we
play zone defense. Who’s going to move
forward to pull the crowd away (if there is a fight)? It’s almost like a battle
strategy. That’s exhausting. I didn’t sign up for that. I signed up to come in
and teach children and nurture children and give them a foundation.”
Larresa Kleinertz, a Grant history teacher, said her ankle
was injured during one hallway melee.
“I was trying to break up a fight that was going to happen. They were exchanging words and getting closer and closer. I was trying to get
them away from each other and talk to them,” Kleinhertz said. “And the next
thing I know, I was surrounded by a group of more than 50 students, and I was
right there in the middle of them fighting. I was getting stepped on, trampled.
It was ridiculous. … This is in the building outside of my classroom,” she
said.
Teachers respond to threats and acts of violence by sending
the offending students to the principal’s office.
“More often than not, he is back in the classroom 20 minutes
later,” Archey said of misbehaving students. She said it’s not that the
building administrators don’t want to do anything, it is that there are few
alternatives available to them.
“The discipline structure and the consequences that are in
place are no longer adequate,” Archey said. “At one point in time, they worked,
and that was enough to deter student behavior.
Right now, it is not working. We have students who violently assault
other students or have attacked a teacher.
“We’re talking (about a) teacher punched in the face
repeatedly, and the student is off for 10 days,” Archey said. “Then they come
back into the school because we’re told that the alternative location is full,
and we’re told that they have no other option. (When) students come back in,
they’re bold. It’s a 10-day vacation and
they are back.”
Superintendent Gill acknowledged in an interview with Illinois
Times that Douglas Prep Academy, the alternative school for junior high
students, is at capacity. The Springfield Learning Academy at White Oaks Mall
for high school students is also at capacity.
“We can’t just kick kids out to the street either, because
then they’re out in the streets,” Gill said. “And that’s not something that our
community needs or wants. So, we’re going to have to be creative and really
think with our community partners about how we can educate kids in an
alternative setting for even the shortest amount of time, if they’re going to act
like that during the school day.”
One option Springfield Public Schools may consider is
rehabilitating the building on East Laurel Avenue that once housed the Lawrence
Education Center and making it a learning venue for recalcitrant youths.
“Our old Lawrence building is getting renovated right now – just
some health and safety touch-ups, a heavy paint job and repairing some things,”
said Gill. “That building’s pretty old. It’s got some old bones and needs some
updates. … When we can expand (alternative programs), we may want to look at
how we can utilize that space differently.”
However, Gill said she does not believe Grant Middle School
is any more violent than it has been in previous years.
“I don’t think it’s just fights,” she said. “I think
sometimes it’s the verbal threats and just the language that’s being utilized.
But it’s a small number of students out of that total population.”
School board member Erica Austin said one reason for the
vociferous complaints of violence at Grant is that the school’s demographics
are changing, and its white faculty members lack the “cultural competency” to
deal with a student body that is increasingly Black.
“Grant has changed over the last couple of years. And so,
you’re seeing more Black and brown children at that school,” Austin said. “Washington
and Jefferson (middle schools have) the bulk of the (minority) students, and
they understood and knew how to deal with those students,” she said. “I just
think that Grant doesn’t have all the tools needed to understand and know how
to work with those kind of kids.”
Graves, of the teachers’ union, called Austin’s statement
“gaslighting at its worst.”
He added that both Black and white teachers are speaking out
about the problem of violence in Springfield schools.
Graves added, “It’s happening at Lanphier (High School),
Jefferson, Washington, Harvard Park Elementary School and Franklin Middle
School. It’s not just happening at Grant.”
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The democrats love talking about “restorative justice” so what’s so hard about “restoring” these juvenile delinquents? Have they tried sprinkling woke fairy dust on their heads?
Dear Ms Austin, where is it mentioned that the student’s causing the trouble are black or brown?
The entire mindset of the school board members calling it “Titanic” is so wrong and shows such poor leadership. The “Titanic” is a ship that sank with many lives lost, regardless of how many times it tried to turn.
The school board’s primary function is to be a group of elected individuals who are responsible for overseeing the management and direction of the superintendent.
There are several reports of an all-too-chummy relationship between some of the school board members and the superintendent, the person they are supposed to properly supervise, which would explain why there is one fire after another at 186 with no accountability or reprimand.
The so-called superintendent, Jennifer Gill, who is supposed to manage the district day-to-day, is clearly not doing her job and always has an excuse for everything; nothing is her fault.
It’s time for the board to take action, or those board members should just step down. This is not a resume-builder-elected position or sitting at the cool kids table. 186 is hurting the city it serves. Get with it, or step down.
So much to say and address with what was said on this…
First of all, making preconceived ASSUMPTIONS about teachers and their relationships based on the color of their skin is asinine! And I quote, “I don’t think Grant has all the tools needed to understand and work with those kind of kids.” What “kind of kids” is she referring to? Because these kids are MY kids and I take extreme offense to that.
I walk into my classroom every day not even seeing the “brown or black” students that fill my classrooms. They are children. And you know what? I have great relationships with them. They come to me and excited to tell me about the things going on in their lives.
But I guess since I’m WHITE, I don’t understand “these kids.” I guess black students calling me a “W” teacher cannot be true because I am white and simply do not have the tools to understand and work with these kids??? Complete bullshit!
The board is making false statements, not doing shit about the 5-8% of our student body that needs alternative placement and alternative education to help give them the life skills, skills to deal with trauma, the chance for the rest of the 92-95% of the school population the ability to learn in a safe, healthy environment.
How many of these board members have been teachers ? Have they had to come to work and console a student because they had cigarette burns all over them, or their mom or dad just got shot and died, their pet hamster is lost, they were walking home from a friends and had to run and crawl on the ground from a drive by shooting, their parents just split up, their sibling has cancer, they made a bad social media decision and exposed themselves, got raped, etc. etc. THOSE KINDS OF KIDS are what we deal with on a daily basis. And we, as educators, hold them near and dear to our hearts, help them through those traumas they bring with them each and every day and ALL we want from the district is to be able to provide a safe haven for those students without the other 5-8 percent of unnecessary, unwanted, unsafe, behavior to add to their already trauma-filled lives. But do you notice that “those kids” aren’t just black and brown, they’re WHITE too….Is that so much to ask ? For a safe place for ALL to learn?
How are we going to pay for it ? Oh let’s see…. The hundreds of UNNECESSARY “made-up” jobs within the district due to “higher ups” not being able to do their jobs accordingly, get new jobs with high raises. How about we revamp those jobs and place teachers in a facility that has the “tools to deal with those kids.”
I absolutely love my job! Yes, it can be overwhelming at times, but I know I can deal with and understand “those kids.” They are our future and they ALL need us now!
It may be time for a new superintendent. I also don’t appreciate the comments from the board. More diversity does not mean more violence. Those comments perpetuate stereotypes against black and brown people. The issue is not more diversity at Grant or lack of cultural competency with educators. The issue is the current disciplinary process or lack their of.
We also don’t even need to state the parenting issues here. That is a systemic issue across all races and ages of students. As parents we need to do better.
It’s a difficult situation for sure– the students have to go SOMEWHERE, hopefully somewhere that can help them grow and mature in more productive directions. But seeing this combined with Springfield schools’ absentee rates and test scores, it’s clear that things aren’t working as they are. We’re going to start losing good teachers (and probably have already). What are other comparable cities doing that we could emulate?
Oh you mean cut a program that was working at LEC? Our program kept off the street and helped them get a high school diploma! We also helped with the district graduation rate! It was said at the board meeting that it was too costly to rehab the building and now Gill states that is exactly what they are doing!!
Erica Austin should resign immediately for making such an ignorant statement. After she’s out the door, the superintendent should either come up with a strong sensible plan of action to correct these issues or she should follow Austin out the door. Lastly, all the other Board members should look in the mirror and ask themselves what they’re doing to help remediate the problems district 186 staff are facing and if they can’t come up with any, they should follow Austin and Gill out the door as well.
Too many people on the Board & in higher up positions, such as the superintendent, that view their job from a political lens and not through the lens of creating value and a better environment for district 186. An overhaul of the current system of doing things is long overdue. Time to restore discipline and accountability at 186 for the betterment of all the students, faculty, & staff that are there for the right reasons, and get a board that is competent enough to implement a plan of action that enables the necessary changes to be made.
This situation at Grant is totally unacceptable! Teachers need to feel safe just as students do! I thought there were security people at all 186 schools. If not, shouldn’t there be? There needs to be serious consequences for the “5-8%” that are causing problems, i.e. threatening and assaulting other students and teachers. In my opinion, the student that wrote the email to the teacher about changing his grade should be expelled. If the District continues to allow this type of behavior with nothing more than a 10-day suspension, the battle is lost, and you will find yourself seriously short of teachers….God bless them all!
Ms Austin, you cry about lack of cultural competence? What a load of BS. Violence is violence no matter what color you are. Maybe we need to eliminate the point system in the juvenile center where these little criminals should be behind bars. I’ve seen these fights as a school nurse in the Jr High schools. Ive seen the teachers have to break up these violent fights. I’ve seen teachers become so traumatized that they leave their jobs. These are NOT little innocent children. These kids are not scholars but FUTURE FELONS. Enough is enough. Quit throwing out the race card, it is what it is.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I served six years on the Illinois General Assembly House Education Appropriation Committee…the last two years…as Chairman. Parents/Guardians must be held accountable for their minor children’s misbehavior. Also, school administrators must pay a heavy price for allowing violence to dominate our public schools. Springfield District 186 pays the school superintendent over $200,000 per year and grants her pay increases. That nonsense needs to stop.
Illinois times, how about a closer look a he kind of disciplinary system requiring “hands off” of violent kids even when they put hands on others and consistently disrupt school?
“However, Gill said she does not believe Grant Middle School is any more violent than it has been in previous years.”
How very reassuring.
Violence is a serious sign that something is terribly wrong. Most blame the children and the parents, but root problem is the education system. This behavior is something to be expected under the circumstance. We have all become conditioned to accept traditional learning environments and dynamics as normal. This method of educating children is very abnormal, ineffective, and inefficient for a great number of children. The signs usually present and are identified first in minorities. This problem has cultural elements but is not culture specific. Forcing children to adapt to abnormal circumstances causes maladaptive behavior, depression, poor performance, ECT.
This situation creates discussions focused on punishment, judgement, blame when solutions come from critical thinking, understanding, and discernment. A school is suppose to provide a service and benefit students, families, and the community. If not all students are served by the same means we have to create alternatives, choice in education. So no child gets left behind.