More students are misbehaving at Framingham schools. How the district is responding

FRAMINGHAM — School suspensions in Framingham Public Schools have more than doubled this year from last year, as behavior issues are leaving educators frustrated about dealing with a small percentage of students who require an inordinate amount of resources.

“We have behaviors in our schools that include biting, fighting, kicking, punching, swearing at staff — all of the things that make us wonder why we do what we do, and how this could possibly happen in our schools,” Superintendent of Schools Robert Tremblay said during last week's City Council meeting.

Tremblay spoke to city councilors after they had expressed frustration at their previous meeting with violence taking place at Framingham High School, as depicted by videos shared online.

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“Has there been a survey done to see if students feel safe at school?” City Council Chair Phil Ottaviani asked during last week's meeting. “My daughter is a recent graduate (of Framingham High), and I have never had so many messages and videos on my phone about fights and violence. It’s not a good look for Framingham — nobody should have to go to school and not feel safe.”

District 4 City Councilor Michael Cannon added that he would like more communication between the Framingham Public Schools and the council about violent incidents.

“I’d like to get a better sense of violent incidents, and what we should know, because I think we should know more than we do,” he said.

Tremblay says school district has 121 staff members 'dedicated toward social-emotional health'

Tremblay said poor behavior can lead some people to think that “bad kids” need to be removed from school. But what he said needs to be understood is that many students who are engaging in unruly behavior come from troubled backgrounds and/or are experiencing some form of trauma.

In more recent years, Tremblay said Framingham has added staff dedicated to dealing with those challenges.

“We have 121 staff members across FPS that are dedicated toward social-emotional health,” he said. “That is a significant increase over the last seven or eight years, and that has worked as we continue to refine what we are doing.”

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Tremblay said 1% of all Framingham students — 2% at Framingham High School — are taking up 90% of the resources dedicated toward student improvement. While he said administrators are working on ways to better handle those resources, the issue is national in scope.

“We have a serious mental health challenge in front of us," Tremblay said. "We need to acknowledge that we have that issue and I’m not sure what I can ask (the City Council) to fix that. We have nearly 10,000 students and about 1% to 2% are creating challenges for ourselves at work, and there are kids crying for support.”

Teachers raise concerns about in-school violence

Several teachers attending Tuesday's meeting raised concerns about student behavior.

"This year, students have displayed more unsafe behavior than we have ever seen," said Samantha Snyder, a math teacher at Cameron Middle School. "Yelling, swearing and physical aggression at both students and staff."

She said students exhibiting that behavior have struggled to change it.

"Teachers feel like they have used every tool in their tool box with no success," Snyder said. "Other students are feeling unsafe and sensing the stress of their teachers."

Tina Miller, a fifth grade teacher at King Elementary School, said the uptick in violence and negative behavior has been frustrating.

"The upticks in behavior have been incredible — including, but not limited to, staff needing to go to urgent care multiple times due to physical aggression, two instances of staying in place due to unsafe student behavior, staff being sworn at and threatened on a daily basis," she said. "The teachers feel unheard, unsupported and unsafe."

At-Large City Councilor Janet Leombruno sympathized with teachers.

"I’ve seen some things going on and I have seen several troubling things going on at the schools firsthand," she said. "I understand there are limits, based on state law, on what we can do with these teachers, (but) if we want to keep them here and they feel like they're not being listened to, that is my concern.”

Tremblay suggests improving intervention, separating students

Tremblay said administrators are seeking to expedite putting some students on programs like an Individualized Education Program (IEP), saying it can curb potentially troubling behavior.

“If we see a student acting out on the first day of school, and it takes 45 days to get significant intervention for the student, that becomes problematic,” he said.

Tremblay said a potential solution would be to divide different aspects of the student body, which would put all students in a better position to succeed.

Framingham High School runs Thayer Campus, a drop-out prevention program. Tremblay said that program will move next year from Lawrence Street to the Farley Building on Flagg Drive, using space formerly occupied by MassBay Community College and providing more space for at-risk students.

The superintendent also said the district should explore alternative programs in the main high school building that may be a better fit for students who are lashing out during traditional school hours.

“We have a very large building that is basically empty after 3 p.m.," Tremblay said. "What are we doing about alternative evening school opportunities?”

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham Public Schools are hiring staff to improve student behavior