April_2019

TESTIFYING

APRIL 2019 CEA ADVISOR 9

Retired teacher recalls final days in classroom handling students in crisis Lisa Bress taught for over 30 years in a suburban school district, the last year in a K-2 school. “I have elementary, special education, and administrative degrees and certifications, and as a teacher leader, my role was to support teachers’ professional development and growth,” she explains, “but my time was quickly consumed by constant calls to assist with several very young children in crisis. They acted out verbally and physically on a daily basis in different classrooms throughout the day. I observed children kicking, hitting other students, smacking an adult across the face, throwing furniture, falling asleep in class, taking things from other students, screaming, and running out of the school building. I often spent hours at a time each day in a separate location with one particular child who would disrupt the learning in his classroom by assaulting others. We would work together until he was calm enough to return to his kindergarten class. These behaviors also continued on the school bus. I want to be clear that this child was not identified as a special- needs student. “Unfortunately, my principal was often absent or out of the building, so support was lacking. Since I had administrative certification, I was left responsible for school operations and was handling the crisis behaviors simultaneously. We were fortunate to have an excellent school psychologist and social worker, but they had a full load of students scheduled for services through their IEPs. Those children often missed out because their service providers were assisting with crisis interventions. “The extremely high level of need for some children took up the majority of our support staff’s time, leaving little time for other children. The process to provide children in crisis with additional support does not work quickly, and even when it does, there are not enough paraprofessionals, social workers, or school psychologists to meet those needs. To add to the problem, our district steadily decreased the number of classrooms available for children with behavioral and academic needs, and at the end of that year, I was told that our full-time social worker and psychologist would be shared with another school. So we would have even less support for our students, and in the next budget year, the superintendent cut paraprofessionals from the school as well. Based on my communications with colleagues who are still in this district, the problem of student assault has gotten worse.”

CEA President Jeff Leake tells lawmakers that the proposed legislation “will help us to achieve the safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environments that we know all of our communities expect as they send their children off to school.”

says she is supported by her administration and encouraged to speak out to protect her students and her colleagues. “During my 15 years in Connecticut classrooms, I have been stabbed in the back with a pencil, requiring medical attention. I have had to run across four lanes of traffic chasing students who fled the building. I have had to pull a student off another child who was being choked. In our classroom kitchen, an agitated student kicked a paraprofessional in the stomach, thrusting her three feet back onto the floor. My fellow teacher and I tried to restrain him, but he pulled away, punched me in the eye, and eventually lunged for a large knife. I held his hand as he tried to stab us. He was shouting that he wanted us dead and asking why it was so hard to take down two women. After 15 minutes, we finally got the knife away, and he ran. Luckily there were two of us, or the outcome would have been much different. My only thoughts were of my students and hoping none of them would get hurt.” Fragoso implored lawmakers to take action. “Being attacked or threatened in one’s workplace should not happen anywhere, especially in a classroom environment, where we want our students to feel safe and loved. We need systems in place to help teachers who are fearful of reporting incidents or threats, to ensure that they are protected and heard, and to provide supports and treatment to the students who need help.” HB 7110 includes a prohibition against discrimination or retaliation against any individual who reports or assists in the investigation of a disruptive or injurious incident. It also requires that a meeting be conducted with the affected teacher to discuss and determine the steps and interventions necessary to support both the student and the teacher. “These pieces are key,” explained Leake, “as too many of our teachers

have been pressured to not report or tell others what is happening in their classrooms. This legislation will help us to achieve the safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environments that we know all of our communities expect as they send their children off to school. This is urgent. The trauma in our classrooms is serious and real. Another year of doing nothing is not acceptable.” In the shadows While many Connecticut teachers have come forward to share their stories, hundreds more remain in the shadows, worried about putting their careers in jeopardy. One such educator, who has been dealing with severe behavioral issues in her classroom since the beginning of the school year, told her story on the condition of anonymity. Before accepting a job at a Connecticut elementary school, this professional educator taught internationally—and that was what drew her to the magnet school where she now teaches third grade. “I held his hand as he tried to stab us. He was shouting that he wanted us dead…” Danielle Fragoso, special education teacher, Madison “Because we’re a magnet school, we have a great deal of socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial diversity, with children coming from many other districts. I had taught in other countries and other cultures, so the diversity piece was a draw for me.” She realized, however, that the students coming into her classroom may have been sent there from other districts because those districts didn’t have the resources to address their needs. “Many of these children are very challenging and have severe trauma and anger issues. Our principal is very good and takes the time to build

CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas describes to legislators some of his experiences as a school social worker in Manchester.

relationships with teachers, but we simply lack the resources to address these students’ needs. We have one teacher for a class of 25, often with no paraprofessional, and we have two social workers for 700 students. It all comes down to resources. “This school year, I have had chairs thrown at me, pencils thrown at me, a student exhibiting sexual behaviors toward classmates, and repeated class evacuations. I have become extremely overwhelmed. Without another adult in the room, I do not want to turn my back on my students. Sometimes I need to give one student individualized attention—for example, sounding out a word—but that is not possible if I cannot ever turn my attention or look away from other students. “This has taken a toll on me. I feel drained, like I am on a rusty hamster wheel that won’t stop moving. I feel like I am never enough, and I have had panic attacks about going in to work. “I am losing sleep and shaking on the drive to work. My family sees it,

and I am seeking coping skills just to get through the rest of the year. I can’t help but think that if I am feeling this way as an adult, how is this classroom crisis affecting the 25 students in my room? What about those children who are experiencing trauma of their own and who come to school looking for a safe, peaceful, predictable place? For those eight- or nine-year-olds, the question becomes, ‘Where is my sanctuary?’” She adds that her students have adjusted to the reality of having to clear their classroom on a regular basis. “They’ve done it so many times, it’s second nature to them—which is sad,” she says. “Teaching is something I have always been passionate about. But now it almost feels like I made the wrong choice. I had so many dreams about being an effective teacher, but my motto about a successful day now is ‘No one bled; no one fled.’”

Testifying before the Education Committee, CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas remarked that public hearings on critical classroom issues often take place at times that make it difficult—if not impossible—for teachers to attend. He noted that U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes made a similar observation before the Education Committee in Washington, D.C., asking, “Where are the teachers? Where are the students?” Nicholas urged Connecticut lawmakers, “I ask that in the future you conduct meetings like this at a time when teachers can be present.”