After a special meeting was held to discuss behavior challenges in the Saugus Union School District, the governing board is set Tuesday to bring back the discussion to provide direction to the superintendent and cabinet members.
Earlier this month, the governing board held a special meeting to discuss “big behavior” challenges across the schools.
According to the meeting’s agenda, “big behaviors” include student actions such as:
- Destruction of school or classroom property (i.e. ripping classroom displays apart, breaking classroom tools, etc.).
- Toppling or throwing school furniture or classroom objects (i.e., tipping over desks, tables, chairs; throwing small classroom objects, throwing chairs or larger objects, etc.).
- Aggressively verbally assaulting school personnel or students (i.e., using profanity while shouting, using racial, gender, or antisemitic slurs, etc.).
- Spontaneously, injuring another student or school personnel by hitting, spitting, biting, etc., where blood is drawing or swelling/bruising occurs.
- Running out of the classroom or off of the campus to avoid engaging in classroom/school expectations.
- Threatening an individual or school/classroom with violence involving a weapon (i.e., “I’ll kill you”; “I’m getting a gun and shooting the entire class”; etc.).
Many concerned teachers and parents spoke in front of the board to tell them about how they felt like their time had been wasted at the special meeting after hearing a prepared presentation from district staff. Several community members told the board they were aware of the behaviors they were defining and the tools in place to support staff, but they were not working.
One after another, people asked what the board was planning to do immediately in response to the problem that has been worsening since 2019, instead of waiting for the second behavior challenge meeting in June.
Board member Anna Griese said at the special meeting she had been looking forward to having the discussion about bad behavior, but she feared the meeting was becoming more of a lecture rather than “a true discussion about what is happening” within the district.
“It’s not about the behavior of the child. We all know children are different. We all know the kids have different needs. It is about the response from the district,” said Griese. “It is about the programs and the policies that are in place from the district. Are they working? Or are they not working?”
Board member Matt Watson agreed with Griese, saying she made good points, and he thought the presentation helped provide a base for the context of the situation, but they did need to have a conversation on what practices need to be adjusted.
According to the agenda, the board will be discussing practices and consequences for students who display bad behavior and providing direction to Superintendent Colleen Hawkins and cabinet members that will develop new guiding practices that will be adopted in March.
Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the district’s administration office, located at 24930 Avenue Stanford.
