Harrisburg High School under lockdown

Harrisburg teachers recently shared concerns with the school board about the district's lack of consistency in following disciplinary procedures and the district's lack of mental health resources for students.

(Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com)

HARRISBURG--Four months ago, teachers and students in the Harrisburg School District sent 100 letters to the school board detailing behavioral problems in their classrooms.

"We have kids that threaten teachers and threaten each other," said Jody Barksdale, president of the teachers' union. "Parents come to school sometimes threatening to beat up teachers because they gave their child after-school detention. It's just getting out of control."

The problems have escalated in recent years, said Barksdale, an 18-year-veteran, and at all school levels, which is what prompted the letter-writing campaign.

Last week, for the first time since initially accepting the letters, school board members raised those issues publicly during a specially-called meeting to deal with expulsions.

The school board was asked to approve 490 expulsion rulings that had backed up over the past three years without getting board approval.

In each case, the district had meted out the discipline, but the rulings never made their way to the school board for approval as required by law. None of the cases involved expulsion from the district altogether, but rather suspensions and referrals to other programs.

Of the expulsion orders, 117 stemmed from assaults, with the bulk of them against teachers. More than 50 expulsion rulings stemmed from weapons violations.

The volume and nature of the violations confirmed what the teachers wrote in their letters, but also raised questions for school board members about whether school building administrators were dealing with violations evenly.

"Do we have a better understanding of what we are defining as an assault and what we are defining as a weapon?" board member Judd Pittman asked about the list of expulsions. "Is a weapon, 'I came at my teacher with a chair a ruler or I had a knife and a gun?' Is assault the definition under the law or the way teams within each individual building defines it? There are also some really ambiguous behaviors on there. What's multiple escalating infractions? Is that defined the same in each of our buildings?"

Barksdale, who didn't attend the meeting but addressed the issue with PennLive Monday, said punishments for the same behavior can vary widely, building to building, depending on the principal, which is frustrating for teachers and causes confusion among students.

A larger problem, she said, is getting students the services they need when their behavior problems represent more than just a behavior issue.

"We feel as though a lot of the problems stem from mental health issues," Barksdale said. "It's beyond a discipline issue."

After guidance counselor positions were slashed during the district's tough financial times, an outside agency was hired to provide services. But the outside agency doesn't have the capacity in each building to meet the demand, Barksdale said.

In addition, it can take months of red-tape before students can get into alternative education plans, she said.

Since the district axed its own alternative school in 2010 to save money, the district has had to contract with outside agencies to provide programs. But they have capped attendance.

Board member Jim Thompson asked how many seats were available, district-wide, for elementary students who need alternative placement.

District Business Manager Ken Medina answered: 24.

"And are those seats full with a perennial waiting list? "Thompson asked.

"I believe they are," Medina said.

That leaves students who don't have proper coping skills or anger management skills in an environment for months that isn't working for them, or their classmates.

Teachers are no longer struggling simply to keep students in their chairs, Barksdale said, instead they're trying to stop physical assaults.

"It's please don't hit him. Please don't throw a book at him. Please don't pull her hair," she said. "I wanted the school board to know exactly what we're dealing with: A day in the life of a teacher."

A single student's disruptive or violent behavior can then prevent 24 other students in the classroom from learning, Thompson said.

Melvin Wilson, a school board member, said the persistent problems are also driving away teachers.

"They don't want to come back to the district and they're taking sick days because they're so stressed out," he said. "They feel that no one is listening to them."

School Board President Danielle Robinson said district officials were working to bolster mental health services that could be offered to students.

Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney has met with teachers and staff at every school to identify building-specific concerns and seek viable solutions, according to Kirsten Keys, the district spokeswoman.

The district also hired a psychologist to provide support and training, Keys said, and officials are trying to leverage "the critical support and engagement of parents and the community."

In addition, the district last month approved two contracts to beef up security at the high school by hiring a firm to provide a safety and security assessment and provide unarmed guards.

One tougher roadblock that teachers run into, Barksdale said, is that some current service solutions are only available to students if their parents will sign off on it. And the parents won't agree.

"If the parent won't sign the permission, then our hands are tied," she said. "When does the district have the ability to do something, even if the parents won't sign off?"

District officials are working with teachers to find solutions, Barksdale said. But she just wishes there was a way to bring solutions faster.

"If a child needs alternative education, it shouldn't take months to get where they need to be because of our procedures," she said.

Thompson said the fact that teachers felt comfortable sharing their experiences with the school board was a positive sign.

"Our relationship is now solid enough that they can come to us and say, 'We need help,'" he said. "What we're doing as a board is keeping the pressure on the school district on these issues."

UPDATE: This article was updated to add district comments.