Over the past few weeks, we asked the FHSD community to provide their thoughts on two important subjects: classroom behavior and discipline issues, along with student cell phone usage in the schools. We had hundreds of people respond to these questions, and we are grateful for everyone’s time. Today we will be sharing the results of our first survey, which asked open-ended questions about student behavior and discipline.
Some of the common themes we received regarding behavior issues are as follows:
- The most common feedback about misbehavior student had experienced was bullying (both verbal and physical). Parents feel the district does not urgently address bullying and behavior issues.
- Teachers and staff feel like they are being micromanaged by administration and are not getting the support they need to properly address these issues.
- Teachers and staff desire more parental involvement and responsibility when addressing student behavior issues.
- Concerns about behavior issues are not only limited to incidents inside the school buildings. Another common complaint was student behavior issues on school buses.
- Multiple comments were made about aggressive behavior in Elementary schools which required the clearing of classrooms to allow a child to finish acting out. The effects these disruptions cause to general learning and the burden placed on teachers to clean up their own rooms afterwards were mentioned.
Francis Howell Families has always been about academic excellence, and excessive discipline issues are detrimental to our children’s education. Addressing this problem in our district will require a multifaceted approach that involves collaboration among parents, teachers, administrators, and students. Administrators need to step up to enforce the student code of conduct and support classroom teachers.
Here’s how you can help:
- Please contact us to find out more, or to share your concerns and experiences
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