“It has become very clear that staff and student safety are not a priority for the school district in a lot of ways,” a teacher who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told Our Town Reno today, following a Thursday lockdown at the school.
The teacher was among those who called in sick Friday forcing the cancelation of classes at Dilworth Middle School in Sparks. They said they talked to 25 of their colleagues who all called out as well.
A meeting this week with an employee from the Washoe County School District didn’t lead to any promised change or reassurances to keep staff feeling safe, the teacher said.
Then the teacher said a coworker was injured Thursday after being pushed into a locker. The sick out the teacher said is “their only bargaining token” as they can’t legally strike.
“We're sort of all at our wits end at this point. We don't know what else to do,” the teacher said.
There have been repeated sightings of students wearing gang colors, and school fights which are broadcast publicly such as in screen grabs above and below on multiple Instagram accounts with variations of Dilworth Fights in their names.
The teacher said there are two to three fights every day, and Dilworth’s school administration, who they wholeheartedly support, is overwhelmed.
“Even things that would be considered major behaviors previously, like continued disrespect toward a staff member, that kind of thing, are not being reported and documented at this point because our Dean's office is too overwhelmed to deal with that,” the teacher said.
School Board Trustee Joe Rodriguez said on his Facebook he plans on addressing the recurring violence as soon as possible.
“I’m glad that he's backing the teachers and that he didn't try to just make this seem as if we're doing this for nothing. I really appreciate that he is standing behind us and that he understands that this is an issue that we're going to continue to try to solve no matter what,” the teacher who spoke to us said in reaction to that statement.
The teacher explained the school has been having difficulties with students in a specialized program called SIP, for students with past trauma who require higher support for their behaviors. The teacher said there are 22 students on site in the program with only one certified teacher in the classroom with them, where they said the ratio should be one teacher for every 13 students.
More and more of these students have been brought back into regular classes due to their high number, whereas it used to be only based on when they met certain criteria, and earned enough special points to get back into the regular curriculum.
“It's supposed to be a privilege. Right now, that's not happening,” the teacher said.
The teacher also said just a few of the Dilworth SIP students are zoned for Dilworth and that that’s a problem that could be fixed as well.
“Even if we can't get a teacher at our school, having 22 students in a classroom where the ratio is supposed to be one to 13 is ridiculous. We're denying them their services. So we're being put in this position where the district just keeps saying, you have to just keep them there. You have to keep them there. And we keep asking, can we just move them back to a different school? That way there's not 22 of them. And even if we get half of them to a different school, that would be success.”
Many of the repeat offenders the teacher said are also children in transition, often unhoused, who have different rules apply to them, such as just one day suspensions rather than three day suspensions for other students, they said.
There are also different rules for troubled students who qualify for what are known as Individualized Education Plans.
“Some of our students qualify for an IEP under emotional disturbance, which is solely a trauma background,” the teacher explained.
“Some of them qualify under educational disability, medical disability, all of that kind of stuff. It's essentially a plan to help them succeed,” they said.
“However, one of the limitations of that is that they can only be suspended for ten days because otherwise they're denied those educational services that they qualify for. And I'm not saying that we should be denying our students their services. Obviously, I am all for students receiving whatever they need at school. I think that school should be a safe place for everyone, though,” the teacher said.
Ideas the teacher suggests include having a school police officer stationed at the school and different treatment of repeat offenders.
“It's the same people every day who are trying to cause violence and havoc in our school. So I think that there needs to be a plan beyond just that to possibly remove these students from our school and put them in a more specialized school where they can get their services still,” they said.
“Another solution that was brought up is potentially moving these students to fully remote learning and giving them a device and WiFi that they can take with them so that they can still access school, but are not in the building to cause those issues,” the teacher said.
The teacher said colleagues with 20-plus years experience say it’s been the worst behaviors they have seen and that they themselves spent three quarters of their time on behavioral issues rather than teaching.
“I got into this profession because I love teaching. And so when I'm just babysitting and trying to fix behaviors, I can't do that. I can't do what I love,” the teacher said. They said they were reconsidering their career at this point as our other many colleagues despite loving their school community.