Florence Middle School teachers criticized board for failing to discipline rowdy students
By: Scott Morgan
FLORENCE Angry teachers confronted the Board of Education on Monday night, demanding board officials and the public know that their reasons for skipping last week’s eighth grade graduation ceremony were based on frustration with the school board’s lack of support for teachers’ disciplinary efforts.
On June 18, teachers from Florence Middle School decided not to attend the graduation, protesting the school board’s decision to let nearly three dozen troublesome students take part in the event.
The board’s decision and the teachers’ protest stems from a June 11 incident at a graduation practice in which an eighth-
grade girl allegedly a teacher, swearing and yelling at her. The incident, according to teachers who attended the practice and Superintendent Gerard Steffe, who witnessed the incident, sparked cheers and applause from about 30 students, some of whom allegedly grew rowdier and more uncontrollable as the practice continued.
After the practice, teachers met with board administrators to discuss whether to remove the troublemakers from last Wednesday’s ceremony. Ultimately, Mr. Steffe allowed everyone to march, justifying his reasons Monday night by saying graduation is "a successful end to a long process."
Mr. Steffe, who is retiring as of Sept. 1, reminded the audience that the troublemakers were removed from a subsequent practice on June 16 and, that after being added back into the commencement ceremony, were no further problem.
"It was a positive, impressive, dignified and orderly … ceremony," Mr. Steffe said.
But the teachers in attendance Monday night said Mr. Steffe was missing the point, mainly in that by allowing the troublemakers to walk with their classmates, the school district has taught them a terrible lesson there are no consequences to their actions.
Laura Cauler, a special education at the middle school, said, "The message (to the troublemakers) was that a total lack of control is acceptable." Out of frustration, she said, the teachers decided much to their own discontent to skip graduation.
Board member Newell Kehr said the teachers’ decision sent its own inappropriate message.
"What’s the lesson learned?" Mr. Kehr asked Ms. Cauler. "When something gets difficult, turn and walk away and boycott?"
Susan Bassett, a sixth-grade teacher at FMS and president of the Florence Education Alliance, a teacher’s union, called Mr. Kehr’s comments "inappropriate" and disagreed with the word "boycott."
"We made a decision not to attend," Ms. Bassett said.
Seventh-grade teacher Glenda Autry, who witnessed the rowdy eighth-graders in the hallway outside her class after the June 11 practice, said, "I’ve never had such a terrible end of the year. My class was totally disrupted by the behavior of these students."
Ms. Autry said the conduct of the eighth-graders and a subsequent failure to properly discipline the offenders sets a dangerous precedent for her own students who will be entering eighth grade themselves next year.
Mr. Steffe said the back-and-
forth criticisms have accomplished nothing beyond fostering ill will.
"Stop the carping and the criticism," Mr. Steffe said. He cited his own distaste for the now-public nature of the graduation, saying it should be a private matter between parents and school administrators.
"This is not a topic for newspapers," he said. "It is a private family matter."
Mr. Steffe came under fire at the school board’s June 16 meeting by parents who claimed the board had left them out of any discussions about the graduation ceremony.
Ms. Bassett chided Mr. Steffe for not supporting the teachers’ attempts to discipline students throughout the year, and particularly at graduation. She said the board turns a blind eye to teachers’ complaints and tries to bury problems from the public.
"It broke my heart not to go (to the graduation)," Ms. Bassett said. "But we’re tired of being stepped on. You’ve undermined us completely."
Kim Dmitruck, a special education teacher at FMS and one of the teachers in attendance at the June 11 practice, said, "I was afraid for my life." Ms. Dmitruck also quoted her daughter, an eighth-grade graduate, as saying of the troublemakers, "They’re like animals. If there’s no graduation, I don’t care."
Ms. Dmitruck angrily stated that the school district provided no consequences to the girl who started the trouble.
"We gave her no consequences and she took it … and spit it in our face," she said. "Is everybody happy?"
One resident, a woman who did not identify herself, said the
district needs to be consistent and unyielding in its approach to discipline. Building on the board’s assertions that its actions always keep the students’ needs up front, the woman said, "Part of loving and caring is discipline and boundaries."
She also accused the school board of being afraid of lawsuits.
Summing up many of the comments, fifth-grade teacher Linda Reed said, "The problems will not stop until somebody stops them. This district has problems and it needs to be fixed."
Louis Talarico, who was hired Monday night to replace Mr. Steffe as superintendent in September, said after the meeting that he is aware of the need for more open communication and solidarity throughout the district.
"There’s no reason this thing can’t be confronted," Dr. Talarico said of the rift between staff and administrators. "We have to agree the issue needs to be addressed, see it as a challenge and confront it."