The House is advancing a Senate’s bill meant to bolster elementary teachers’ authority to remove aggressive, violent or threatening children from their classrooms
BY: AMELIA FERRELL KNISELY
After two separate meetings for deliberation, the House Education Committee has signed off on the Senate’s elementary school discipline bill.
A recent survey of public school teachers showed worsening student behavior was a top concern.
Senate Bill 614, crafted by a Senator who is a public school teacher, is meant to bolster elementary teachers’ authority to remove aggressive, violent or threatening children from their classrooms.
Opponents of the legislation have said that it could result in children in need of serious mental health support being disproportionately removed from their classrooms. It also doesn’t come with funding for behavior support programs.
According to the bill, elementary students removed from classrooms for behavior issues would be sent to a behavioral intervention program.
Only 13 of the state’s 55 counties have the type of behavioral intervention program referenced in the legislation. Lawmakers didn’t attach funding to the bill that could help counties jumpstart their own.
If the county doesn’t have a program or enough staff to serve the child, the student would be suspended for one to three school days. Parents would be notified, the student would be prohibited from riding the bus and law enforcement may be notified if the student wasn’t picked up by the end of day.
On Wednesday, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to remove the requirement to call law enforcement, saying educators shouldn’t be “introducing kindergartners to the legal system.”
The bill also said that students removed from classrooms wouldn’t be allowed to return to school until a risk assessment is completed. The assessments are typically completed by school psychologists.
Del. Ric Griffith, D-Wayne, raised concerns that the school-based risk assessment may fail to adequately diagnose issues in children that are prompting the misbehavior. He voiced concerns for more than 6,000 children in state foster care — who have disproportionately faced discipline in West Virginia schools — who likely experienced trauma.
Griffith put forth an amendment that would have permitted school psychologists who suspect that a child was suffering from an undiagnosed condition to “refer the child for a comprehensive clinical or medical evaluation.”
“I think before we make these decisions, we need to screen for these things,” he said.
“ … This ensures that we find the cause of the behavior, and I think this is not happening in many cases.”
Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, expressed concerns it could take additional staff and days to accomplish Griffith’s proposal. The amendment failed.
The bill did undergo minor changes in committee as leadership added in language from the House’s proposed “Teacher’s Bill of Rights” legislation.
Lawmakers advanced the measure to the full House of Delegates for consideration.
EDUCATION GOVERNMENT Elementary school discipline bill, aimed at helping teachers remove violent students, moves forward
ByWest Virginia Watch
Mar 8, 2024