photo by: W.Va. Legislative Photography

West Virginia lawmakers wrapped up December interim meetings at the Capitol in Charleston on Tuesday.

CHARLESTON — The testimony of teachers and school principals about growing instances of physically violent behavior by children toward fellow students and school staff Monday was still on the minds of lawmakers Tuesday morning after hearing an annual report on bullying and harassment.

The Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability met Tuesday on the final day of December legislative interim meetings at the State Capitol Building.

The commission received an annual report from the state Department of Education regarding harassment, intimidation and/or bullying student behaviors. The report covers data from the 2023-24 school year.

According to the report, of the 170,721 discipline referrals for students, 3,453 or 2% were for incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying.

Of these referrals, 14% were for race or physical appearance; 6% were for mental, physical, developmental and/or sensory disabilities; 4% were for sexual orientation; 3% were for gender; and 45% of incidents were categorized as “other characteristic.”

“When we get this information, we’re trying to find a way to fix the problem. Is there a way we could get a more specific reasoning than ‘other characteristic’ for 45%?” asked Delegate Jimmy Willis, R-Brooke. “When we’re trying to find ways to fix some of these problems when roughly half is just a bland ‘other characteristic,’ it makes it tough to identify some of the key factors that are leading to this.”

“When a report is sent to a principal or a student comes in or a parent comes in or teacher comes in and says a student has been harassed or bullied, the principal has to do an investigation trying to determine what the reason or rationale is,” explained Drew McClanahan, director of District and Leadership Support with the Department of Education.

“As you can imagine, sometimes there’s some subjectivity in that we have situations where a student may say ‘I’m being bullied,’ it may meet the definition of bullying, harassment or intimidation pursuant to what is written in code or it may not,” McClanahan continued. “It may be a disagreement, so really what has to happen there is the principal has to collect the information and make sure that they are trying to fit what is in there.”

Most of the reports statewide for harassment, intimidation and bullying – or 55% – occurred at the middle school level, followed by 28% at the high school level and 17% at the elementary school level. According to the report, 38% of incidents happened at the hands of seventh- and eighth-graders.

Students referred for disciplinary action were also often referred for other inappropriate behaviors, with 47% also referred for disrespectful and inappropriate conduct, 24% for failure to obey rules and authority, 13% for truancy or tardiness and 8% for aggressive conduct. The disciplinary interventions most used in response to harassment, intimidation and bullying included out-of-school suspensions (46%) and in-school suspensions (27%).

Talk among commission members turned to a presentation made Monday afternoon in the Joint Standing Committee on Education by two principals and two classroom teachers raising issues about violent student behavior directed at fellow students or teachers and administrators.

Stephanie Haynes, a principal at Bridgeview Elementary School in South Charleston, told lawmakers about once incident in which a student physically attacked her.

“I spent 38 minutes — because I hit my watch — being actively and violently attacked by him … I actually called the police, and if you don’t know this, the police cannot help me,” Haynes said. “So, myself, my assistant principal and another staff member are currently covered in bruises because of this child.”

“Behaviors in the classroom are unfortunately getting more and more disruptive, aggressive and out of control,” said Morgan Elmore, a preschool teacher in Randolph County. “As a parent myself, I understand that children who have trauma often act out. But it does not give them an excuse to come to our classrooms and beat other children, beat teachers and beat their friends.”

“I’m really disturbed at the actions of children so young,” said Delegate Patrick Lucas, R-Cabell, during Tuesday’s commission meeting. “I know there’s issues at home and whatnot, and I want these children to get the help they need. But to hear that teachers can’t teach and students can’t learn and principals can’t do their jobs because these children act the way they do, I don’t know why they’re not expelled.

“If I had that job, I’d quit,” Lucas continued. “I wouldn’t take that. I wouldn’t be a teacher or principal.”

During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed House Bill 2890, modifying student discipline. The bill allows teachers in grades six through 12 to exclude students from the classroom who are disorderly, interfering in the educational process or obstructing a teacher for the remainder of the school day. The principal must be informed by the teacher within 24 hours of the disciplinary action, with the teacher required to submit an electronic record of the incident within 24 hours.

A similar bill dealing with student discipline in kindergarten through fifth grade was considered during the 2024 legislative session, but it never passed due to disagreements between the House of Delegates and Senate.

Over the summer, State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt launched S.T.R.I.V.E., which stands for Strengthened behavior response through Targeted assistance to promote Regular attendance, Increased achievement, Validated practices and Empowered support teams. S.T.R.I.V.E. is meant to address multiple issues facing county school systems, including chronic absenteeism, school discipline, and low academic achievement.

Deputy State Superintendent Sonya White told commission members Tuesday that the Department of Education is piloting an alternative elementary discipline program in eight counties.

The teachers and administrators said lawmakers need to consider expanding options for educators, such as funding for alternative education centers or additional behavior interventionists.

“I think if we deal with this early and we have a consequence for their action as a 4-year-old or a 5-year-old, then when they become 15, they’re going to know, ‘There’s consequences for my actions. I am going to have a consequence,” Elmore said. “If they keep doing the same things over and over without consequence, they’re going to keep doing it.”

Another issue is the funding needed to provide schools with enough social workers, psychologists, counselors, special education teachers and nurses to take the burden off teachers when it comes to interventions for troubled students. According to the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, the estimated cost for hiring these positions at the recommended ratios would be approximately $120.4 million.

“It’s going to take very special teachers to work in those classrooms, but that’s going to require extra funding to have that extra staff because you’re not going to want to pull the administrators or other teachers out of classrooms to put them in there,” said Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha. “In the long term, we have to look at what’s feeding into this problem.”

Pushkin also said the department or school systems could consider approaching the West Virginia First Foundation, the private foundation tasked with distributing a portion of the nearly $1 billion settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors, given that many of the student discipline problems are symptoms of the substance abuse crises that has plagued the state.

“Maybe (the West Virginia First Foundation) would be willing to look at that with some of the money they have, to provide these alternative learning centers or something,” Pushkin said. “What is fueling this problem is the drug problems in this state. It’s not just a Department of Education problem, but it’s a problem we all were sent here to help alleviate. It’s a way bigger problem than just this committee or an education problem.”