Violence on the Rise at Central Falls Schools
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
One teacher and a staff member at the Calcutt Middle School in Central Falls were attacked by a student last week—a sign that violence in the schools is on the rise, teachers and other sources in the district tell GoLocalProv.
On Monday, May 16 a teacher suffered a fractured nose and was stabbed in the leg with a pencil while she was attempting to calm down an unruly student in a special education classroom. A behavioral specialist who was helping the teacher also was stabbed with the pencil, according to Col. Joseph Moran, the Central Falls chief of police. Moran said neither the alleged victims nor the school district filed a formal complaint with the Police Department. The only information the department has is an internal incident report filed by the school resource officer after the fact.
Two Central Falls teachers said the attack is the worst of its kind against a teacher in years. “That’s the worst we’ve had. We’ve shoves. We’ve had pushes—but we’ve never had anything as bad as that,” one teacher said. “The pattern of behavior seems to be intensifying.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEarlier this year, the violence at the schools—especially against teachers—seized the public eye when a YouTube video surfaced that showed a student striking a teacher in the gym at Central Falls High School.
Teachers said they were afraid to report such incidents for fear of retaliation by the administration, according to news reports at the time. In interviews with GoLocalProv, teachers voiced those same fears, saying they knew of teachers who themselves had faced disciplinary action for reporting threats and assaults by students. That is why the incident last week has largely remained under wraps, according to one of those teachers.
Superintendent Frances Gallo and a spokeswoman were both unavailable for comment Monday. But in the past Gallo has adamantly denied that teachers should be afraid about reporting incidents.
Sources: Assaults on teachers increase
Teachers say they are especially concerned about discipline at the high school, where they cited at least seven instances in which there had been an assault against one of their colleagues this year. One teacher was shoved through a door. One was struck by a shoe thrown by a student. And another teacher was punched in the chest. By comparison, last year, there was just one assault against a faculty member at the high school.
“Violent behavior by the students is definitely on the rise,” said one teacher at Central Falls High School.
Overall, there have been more than 8,000 referrals so far this year to the in-school-suspension room, which is known as the Restoration Room— named after a new and controversial approach to school discipline the district has implemented. Last year, there were less than 3,000 referrals for the whole year, according to data provided by teachers.
“This place is running rampant,” said one source in the district. “It is out of control.”
Police officer pulled out of schools
To compound the problem, the district is removing the school resource officer from its schools next year. (A school resource officer, or SRO, is a police officer who is stationed at a particular school. An SRO not only ensures safety at a school, but builds rapport between students and local police, according to Moran.)
In fact, Moran, said his department was notified that the district would no longer cover the cost of the resource officer in a letter that was received the same day that the officer filed a report about the incident at the middle school. The letter said the district could no longer afford the cost—even though district officials last week boasted that the district currently has a $2.2 million surplus. The officer’s current salary is $49,400, not counting benefits.
Moran said that the other urban districts he knows—such as Providence and Pawtucket—have SROs in their schools.
One teacher claimed that the officer is really being removed so that the district can ensure that information does not leak out about increased violence at the schools. “It’s all about discrediting the concerns of teachers over discipline and safety,” the teacher said. “It’s the teachers’ word vs. Gallo and when that happens, Gallo wins.”
Asked if he believed there is any connection between the middle school incident and the letter about the resource officer, Moran responded: “You could assume that. Do I think so? It’s tough to say. They’re telling me it’s a funding issue, so I have to believe the letter.”
From late 2004 to 2007, there were two resource officers in the Central Falls schools, funded by a federal COPS grant worth a total of $157,231, according to Moran. When federal funding ran out, the Police Department and district split the cost of the two officers. Then, last year, staffing shortages forced the department to cut its share of the funding.
That left one officer to handle both the middle and high schools at the beginning of this year. Last November, Gallo requested that the officer move to the middle school, according to Moran.
Moran questioned whether the absence of the officer would affect safety at the schools—especially in light of the incident last week, in which the officer found out only after the fact from a tip. “If the school resource officer is not getting information from within the district, then what is the difference?” Moran said.
New discipline methods questioned
At the center of the debate between the teachers and the administration is a new disciplinary program at the high and middle schools. Known as restorative practices, it focuses less on punishing students for misbehavior, then on encouraging them to understand how their actions impact the community around them.
For example: In a traditional approach to discipline, a student who gets into an altercation with another student might face a suspension.
Under the new approach, the two students instead are summoned to a “Restoration Circle.” Each student can bring an “ally” to the discussion, which is moderated by two “keepers,” who can be administrators or other staff. The students discuss what led to the incident, who was affected, and what can be done to avoid it in the future. The middle and high schools also have “Restoration Rooms”—built on the same idea of discussion—for students who have to be removed from class because of behavioral issues.
Moran disagrees with the “restorative” approach to discipline. “My philosophy is more punitive,” Moran said. “If somebody does something wrong, there should be consequences for that.”
‘Singing kumbaya in a war zone’
Critics blame restorative practices for many of the discipline issues at Central Falls High School. But one of the chief advocates of the program, Julia Steiny, says the new method hasn’t even been fully implemented. “It is only very partially implemented—much better at the middle school and only barely visible at the high school,” Steiny said.
One teacher at Central Falls High School faults the administration for not fully implementing the program. He said there simply are not enough staff available to run Restoration Circles for students who misbehave during the school day.
But one source who is familiar with the program says it isn’t working because the school community has not bought into it. The source cited the lingering bitterness over the firing—and eventual rehiring—of all teachers at the high school last year. When fall 2010 rolled around, the battle lines had been drawn between angry teachers and the administration, undermining the new disciplinary program, according to the source.
“By that time, it was like singing kumbaya in a war zone,” the source said.
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