3 assaults spark discussions at school board meeting
Parents, staff ask that action be taken by administration

by COURTNEY LAMDIN | Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

The November 9 School Board meeting was more attended than usual, as a half-dozen parents and staff gathered to raise concerns about three separate assaults at the elementary school that occurred Wednesday, Nov. 4, as well as an ongoing dispute on the school bus that runs to and from Birchwood Trailer Park.

Parents came to the school board with complaints that their concerns had not been addressed by the school’s three principals, Jen Wood, Mary Jane Stinson and Paula Brouillette. The Milton Independent was not at the meeting but it was broadcast on LCATV television and online.

Neither school board members nor superintendent Marty Waldron would comment specifically on any disciplinary actions, but Waldron said the school is investigating
the incidents. Board chair Doug Stout spoke generically on the board’s plan.

“We’re going to need to figure out how to build more capacity in the district for dealing with kids who are involved in more aggressive or more serious behaviors,” he said.

The incidents

The first incident was in Mary Ladabouche’s first grade classroom. According to Dave McGranaghan, whose 7-year-old daughter is in the class, a student became unruly, causing the teacher to evacuate the classroom.

“The class[room] was totally destroyed,” McGranaghan said. “There were things thrown, and it just missed students. My daughter tells me all these things had happened, and if a 7-year-old remembers this, then there’s other people that know about it.”

The second and third incidents occurred in the fifth-sixth grade portion of the school, according to Stout. Although unrelated, they were 10 minutes apart, said board member Jim Lyons.

Other parents raised concerns about a female student taunting and threatening their children on the school bus.

Melissa Beaupre has two sets of twins at the elementary school, first and fourth graders. She told the board that the student threatened her children, one day even bringing a “club” on the bus.

“I have to fight with [my children] in the morning to get on that bus,” Beaupre said. “When school first started, they couldn’t wait to go. They couldn’t wait, they were so excited.”

The same girl hit Patricia Ladd’s son, she said. This October 29 incident was confirmed by Sergeant John Palasik of the Milton Police, who filed a report but could not release it because it contained names of juveniles. Ladd told the board that her son got a CAT scan and was out of school for four days due to injury.

Jessica Sawyer, who said her son has been assaulted three times by a female student, demanded that something be done and questioned if the school and bus are safe.

“Is there not a safe place?” she asked. “Can he not sit on the bus without being assaulted? He’s come home with his face all red. He’s not going to turn around and fight back. He knows better.”

Complaints raised against principals

Both Melissa Beaupre and Patricia Ladd, whose children were taunted on the bus, said despite reports to the principals, nothing was done, so they brought their complaints to the board. Board member Darren Carner informed these parents as to the proper “chain of command” in which the school board is the last resort in resolving conflicts, after teachers, principals and the superintendent.

In a later interview, both Waldron and board chair Doug Stout affirmed the complaint procedure, saying those people closest to the incidents can solve the conflicts more easily. Stout also said consequences for unruly students are not always visible because of confidentiality.

However, that these parents went straight to the school board was an indication “they were not confident that the issues would be addressed by going through that process,” Stout said. “The fact that they have [come to us] means that there’s an issue, and we need to deal with it.”

Board member Jim Lyons had mixed opinions on why these issues were not resolved. He said it could be a problem with the administration or with the state’s discipline statutes.

Lyons wishes to seek legal counsel not just after these three incidents but because he has seen other reports of Milton teachers being kicked, punched and bitten, he said.

Nancy Reynolds is one of those staffers. Reynolds is a paraeducator who works with the school’s Student Services program for special education and said she has been assaulted twice. She said she has not received support from the school district.

“It seems like they’d rather disrupt everyone else than deal with one child,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds was also involved in an incident in a first grade classroom October 6. She was not assigned to the student who acted out but had to handle him, resulting in him ripping her identification badge from her neck. She said this student had a history of unruly behavior.

“That’s when I said, ‘I don’t go to work to get hit, kicked, punched,’” Reynolds said of her conversation with Student Services and the administration. “I said I’d work with any child, but I won’t take the abuse.”

In the November 4 incident, a staff member photographed the damage in the classroom and was subsequently ordered, by the school’s three principals, to delete the photos.

When asked to comment, superintendent Marty Waldron said that any assertions made against the administration regarding verbal reprimands and the alleged photos would be responded to during the board’s November 23 meeting.

Wood, Stinson and Brouillette reiterated Waldron’s statement via email.

“Our response to the allegations is that we did not take those actions,” they wrote. “We understand there are concerns, but we cannot speak specifically about the individual students involved in the three incidents you are referring to.”

Promoting a safe environment is an ongoing focus, they added.

“We have systems in place to respond to students who come to school with personal development needs and will continue to refine those systems in our effort to support all students in their learning at MES,” the email said.

Reynolds, however, is concerned that these issues could escalate and the school could face a lawsuit.

“There is a lot of pressure going on here where people are saying things, and then they’re called on it not to speak,” she said to the board. “It’s not okay, because if you are a taxpayer of this community, you have a right. The community needs to know what’s going on in this community. The school is for all of us.”

Dealing with the issues

After spending two hours discussing the assaults in executive session, the school board plans to review its policies on student conduct and discipline in school and on school buses, Stout said.

Although specific penalties for the unruly students could not be discussed, both Waldron and Stout cited the existing policies.

Milton School District’s behavioral expectations and consequences are outlined in its student handbook. This guide distinguishes minor behaviors like disruption and property damage from major behaviors like bullying and serious physical aggression. According to Waldron, the in-school incidents were all characterized as major.

Stout added, “It’s pretty clear that somebody who’s misbehaving in the classroom is on a completely different level than someone who had the temerity to assault a teacher.”

Possible responses and consequences are listed in the plan, but Waldron said school discipline is situational.

“Typically, any serious physical aggression would be reviewed, and the action that would be taken would be based on that review,” Waldron said, explaining that students can be referred to the school’s Planning Room where their case is reviewed by guidance staff, teachers or special education staff, if needed.

In cases like taunting on a school bus, Waldron said students could be removed from the bus, or their seats could be changed.

For children who pose immediate threats to a classroom setting, the school district has, in the past, removed those children and called in psychologists to perform risk assessments and interviews.

According to Milton’s Student Conduct and Discipline policy, a student with a learning disability may be removed from a classroom for 10 cumulative days in a school year, in accordance with Vermont Department of Education statutes, which sets the policies for students with disabilities.

At the end of the day, the district’s goal is to educate all students, not just the well-behaved ones, Stout said.

When approached for this article about discipline at the school, teachers’ union president Karen Vallancourt said the union has begun conducting a survey of school staff and has planned a meeting with the three principals in December.

Asked if this was in response to the assaults on November 4, Vallancourt had no comment, explaining that discussing these issues would be a violation of the union’s agreement made with elementary school principals.

“We’re concentrating on the safety of students and staff,” she said.

This sentiment was echoed by all members of the school board and the superintendent.

“I think our kids and the parents of the kids have a reasonable expectation that their kids can go to their classrooms without fear,” board member Jim Lyons said. “I think our teachers had a reasonable expectation to work in a combat-free environment.”

Board member Mary Knight agreed, adding, “I just hope that if nothing else, it causes a closer look at the system to make sure that everything’s working the way it’s supposed to be.” She wouldn’t comment much more, saying she didn’t know what she could and could not speak about.

Fellow board member Michael Boisjoli said the assaults did concern him but didn’t raise any alarms because there are always problems at schools, he said.

“The administration is making every effort to prevent future incidents from happening,” Boisjoli said. “It’s unfortunate there were three in one day.”

Board member Darren Carner could not be reached for comment.

Both Stout and Waldron noted that there probably would be less alarm surrounding these incidents had they been more spread out. They both noted that these incidents need to be examined in a broader context.

Waldron pointed to the rest of the school district, which functioned normally on the day of the assaults, he said.

“Our students are a mirror of what our society is,” he said. “We all hope for it to be better in some instances, and we all celebrate when it is, but it is a reflection of a larger context, and I don’t hear that conversation at all coming through this.”

Without deflecting importance from these specific incidents, Stout said this is an opportunity to focus on the entire district’s discipline and behavior policies and procedures.

“I’d like to tell you there’s a simple solution,” Stout said. “I do believe that the board, with the support of the superintendent and the administration, is going to try to figure out how to work through this.”



Editor’s note: The Milton Independent made every attempt to contact every party involved in these issues, via phone and email. Mary Ladabouche, Darren Carner and parents present at the November 9 School Board meeting did not respond to interview requests by press time. If readers want to see the meeting, click on to LCATV’s Web site at http://www.lcatv.org, go to Online Video and find Milton School Board Meeting for 11.9.09.