Concord Teachers Report Student Assaults, Destroyed Property

CONCORD, NH — Hundreds of teachers in the Concord School District have signed a letter to the board of education requesting significant changes to the current state of classrooms around the city which they deem to be "extremely unsafe learning and working conditions." The letter, signed by more than 300 educators in the district, was presented to the board Monday and partially read at its monthly meeting by Mike Macri, the president of the Concord Education Association. The letter was prompted late last year after numerous behavioral incidents have gone unanswered, some for more than a decade.

The pent-up frustrations of teachers came to a head last year, especially from many younger faculty members, many who are considering leaving their careers due to the behavior of students. Other educators didn't sign their full names to the letter fearing retribution for speaking out about the dangers in some of the schools — since teachers in the past have been targeted for speaking out.

Interim School Superintendent Franklyn Bass said he was not blindsided by the letter since Macri and Karen McCormack approached him with their concerns late last year. Bass, Macri, McCormack, and Jennifer Patterson, the president of the Concord School Board, met vacation week to start "a positive platform to begin a dialogue to address staff concerns about school safety," the letter noted. Bass agreed with the letter's assertion that the beginning dialogue was a positive one. Even though he would only be in the job for another seven months, he said he was compelled to take action after hearing from the teachers.

"A job is a job," Bass said. "That's the expectation. I'm the superintendent of record and I'm going to do what I can to resolve (these matters). It's on my plate and that's what I'm going to do."

Bass said union officials had also approached him last year to tackle a list of grievances that have been "hanging out there" with previous administrators. Some, he said, have already been resolved. Others, "we will work through," Bass said.

"It's important (for a superintendent) to develop a good relationship with the president of the union," Bass said, adding he was glad to hear from Macri, "so we can develop a sense of trust and be open and honest about what degrees we can take to solve (issues). We have to be looking at it from both sides of the fence. We aren't against each other; we are looking at the same issue and trying to resolve it."

In the letter, the teachers said there were numerous students who were unable to manage their behaviors and creating an unsafe environment for other students, teachers, and themselves. Their actions, they said, were disrupting and interfering with classroom instruction on a daily basis.

"We are dedicated, hard-working professionals who care deeply about the academic success and emotional growth of our students," the letter stated. "We can infer that you are likely unaware of the current conditions in our schools and will be surprised by the specifics we share below. We implore you to take a hard look at the truth for the benefit of the students of Concord, whom we all serve. We assure you; we may be disheartened by the current unsafe conditions that are present in our schools, but we are committed to our purpose and to our work. We need your help. We want to work together to change the climate and conditions to ensure a positive and successful learning environment for all students and staff."

Some of the concerns raised included frequent evacuations of classrooms; students and teachers being verbally and physically assaulted with students using profane language, refusing to comply, and punching, slapping, scratching, kicking, and spitting at educators and other students; and destruction of district property and the personal belongings of teachers.

Property damage included Chromebooks and iPads being "thrown, smashed, and stomped on" as well as Eno boards "pierced" and chairs, desks, tables, bookshelves, dented and broken.

"Concord taxpayers and teachers bear the costs of replacement and repairs," the letter stated. "The student exhibiting unsafe behaviors learns that his/her inappropriate response to anger/triggers will result in a dysfunctional power to control what happens at school. Students who are continually unable to control their behavior due to stress, trauma, or other reasons cannot have their emotional and behavioral needs met given the current interventions available in the district. As a result, classmates experience trauma and have increased levels of anxiety as they witness these unsafe behaviors and evacuate."

Bass said the district would be identifying the number of students who are having extreme behavioral issues and the frequency of their outbursts immediately. He said most of the issues were in the district's elementary school.

In their letter, educators requested more support staff and better training for those staffers as well as police school resource officers in every school. They would also like to end the practice of classroom evacuations and, instead, "develop and implement a continuum of new programs and interventions that can consistently and therapeutically deliver proactive intervention to help these struggling students develop appropriate behavioral responses." The evacuations, they said, were not changing behavior and were negatively impacting other students. They also requested therapeutic programs as well as student support rooms that are continually staffed for students with "significant emotional disabilities" who are not prepared to be in regular classroom environment.

The district is working with the Concord Police Department to secure a school resource officer for the Rundlett Middle School — something police have wanted for years and requested last year but was rejected by the district. The district will also analyze staffing and resources at each school to handle all situations so that principals could do their jobs.

Bass commended the comments of incoming school board David Parker who raised the issue Monday of the school-family connection between students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Previously, some schools on the east side of the city have participated in family engagement workshops with the New Hampshire Department of Education which seem to have fallen off. Communication protocols will also be established for every school.

Bass added that there would be short-term and long-term actions taken by the district saying it couldn't be done in "one fell swoop" and would probably take a two- to three-year program to fix.

"It's not just simply an issue of coping with the behaviors or outside influences," Bass said. "We're not going at this kneejerk and say, 'A-ha, here's the answer.' We're really going to look at this and approach it with the proper manner."

When asked if some of the issues raised by teachers in Concord were unusual or the norm, Bass said every school district in the state was different but also dealt with many of the same issues.

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