Can SPS fix its discipline issue? Leaders say plan is in place but change will take time

Student behavior has become an issue in Springfield Public Schools — on that, there appears to be widespread agreement between top district officials, the teachers union and school board members and candidates.

"Clearly, there is a problem," said board candidate Kyler Sherman-Wilkins. "If you don't acknowledge the problem, then you are living under a rock."

At issue is whether the state's largest district is doing enough — and taking the right steps — to fix the problem.

The leader of the Springfield National Education Association has repeatedly said the district is failing to take action, calling on administrators to do more to safeguard students and employees in public meetings, social media posts and a December protest in front of the central office.

"Safety has to be first and foremost or students will quit coming to school and staff will leave, as we have continued to see them do," said Laura Mullins, president of Springfield NEA, in a November board meeting. "The safety of our students and staff cannot be subordinate to other goals like making our numbers look good."

Board candidate Landon McCarter, who joined the December protest along with fellow candidates Chad Rollins and Sherman-Wilkins, said the time for change is now.

"This has hit a real boiling point," he said.

Superintendent Grenita Lathan said addressing discipline and protecting the learning environment is "at the top of my priority list." It was part of the "entry plan" she presented after a listening tour with teachers, staff, parents and community members.

Asked to respond to comments the district is not doing enough to address student behavior, Lathan said "look at the discipline reports" that have been presented to the board.

"That shows an increase over the past three years in the number of referrals, an increase in the number of out-of-school suspensions and in-school suspensions and how it has been handled," Lathan said. "I would take them back to our scope and sequence, looking at our student handbook. I'd ask them to review all the facts and information that has been shared."

Lathan said principals are the "people on the ground, making those decisions" and they know what expectations have been set by the district.

"They have the autonomy to run their schools and make the decisions that are in the best interests of their staff members and their students," she said.

"There are times we overruled the principal and said there should a greater or stiffer consequence for some situations. And mainly those have been at the high school (level)."

'It will not be an overnight fix'

In public schools, the safety of students and employees is a perennial topic and discipline is an important piece of the ongoing conversation.

In Springfield, issues surrounding discipline have been discussed with more frequency and intensity in the past 10 or so years and spurred two separate work groups, four years apart, by different superintendents.

A slew of pandemic-related disruptions — the shutdown in spring 2020, a period of virtual or hybrid learning, and many families opting to keep young children out of preschool — have placed a national spotlight on poor student behavior.

Springfield parents and teachers noted the uptick in behavior issues in a sweeping survey 1 1/2 years ago, which helped shape the district's new strategic plan approved in late 2022.

Recently, two January incidents heightened concerns. An assault at Hickory Hills Middle School sent one girl to the hospital and three girls to juvenile detention and a fight in the cafeteria at Parkview High School left one employee with a minor injury.

Videos of both incidents have circulated on social media.

Lathan said work to safeguard classrooms and the people in them has been a priority but the work has intensified in the past year. She said progress is being made.

In the past two years, Lathan and her leadership team — with support from the school board — expanded training and programs, beefed up mental health and behavior support, and revamped and added alternative programs to serve students who have struggled in traditional classroom settings.

That ongoing work was accelerated during the current school year based on a 15-point discipline plan that Lathan provided to the board during a May 2023 retreat.

It included training principals, teachers, paraprofessionals and even substitutes on the expectations; gathering and reviewing discipline data; auditing what disciplinary steps are taken; and tweaking the plan as needed.

The plan called for the creation of a guide that outlined a consistent sequence of progressive discipline, based on the infraction and the circumstances — for example, an elementary student breaking a rule for the first time will, in most cases, face a less serious consequence than an older student who is a repeat offender.

The district used federal pandemic relief funds to add temporary staffing to help address learning loss and behavior issues. However, the funding will end this school year, meaning many of the temporary positions will go away. Final decisions about the budget will be made this spring.

Board president Danielle Kincaid described discipline as "a major issue, a pressing issue."

"There are steps being taken to address it," she said. "But it will not be an overnight fix. It will take time."

'Take those infractions very seriously'

At the start of the 2023-24 year, a copy of the student handbook went home to all parents. It includes the code of conduct and "scope and sequence," which spells out behavior expectations and the consequences of breaking the rules.

Nicole Holt, deputy superintendent of academics, said said the said the guide was written in "exact alignment" with the handbook, principals and site leaders still have flexibility in the discipline they impose.

"They are the ones who know the most about the unique student. They know the most about the situation. They know the most about the classroom environment and the context. They know the most about that student's home environment, the things they would be bringing with them into the situation," Holt said. "... They are the best-equipped to make that in-time decision."

In November comments to the board, Mullins of Springfield NEA said programs the district put in place to help improve behavior have lowered expectations for students and replaced consequences in certain situation.

She alleged the district has required staff to start ignoring "infractions they deem as minor" and that a series of serious incidents — such as bullying and threats of violence — did not result in consequences in the weeks before Thanksgiving.

She added that when a "student's behavior rises to the point where a referral is finally allowed, in many cases they are not getting processed or staff is told not to write them at all," especially if the student has special needs.

In a recent interview, Mullins said teachers and staff want the changes to come more quickly.

"They're going to say on discipline that this can't change overnight. It actually can. It actually can change overnight," she said. "They changed the rules overnight and now we're in this situation. I don't buy it."

Mullins said there is a lot riding on the district getting this right.

"I have members waiting for the election to decide if they stay or leave," she said.

The district issued a lengthy response saying it holds students accountable for unacceptable behavior and alleging the union was "misleading to advance narratives that are either untrue or lacking in context."

As part of the response, the district said "statements that incorrectly represent the record" or "falsely assign blame" are counter-productive to the shared goal of improving student behavior.

Bret Range, chief human resources officer, said the revamped "code of conduct" offers little or no flexibility in how the most serious infractions are handled. Those include assaults, weapons and threats of violence.

"Those codes given the principal the autonomy to suspend students and to take those infractions very seriously and we continue to do that," said Range, who has been heavily involved in discipline oversight in prior district roles. "We do take those infractions seriously and we expect principals to take those infractions seriously."

Holt also noted there is no wiggle room in how the district handles the most serious incidents, which violate the Missouri Safe Schools Act, first approved in 1996.

State statute requires suspension or expulsion of a student who commit certain types of assault, sexual offenses, and drugs and weapons violations.

'Treating offenses fairly and equitably'

The district-level rules regarding student behavior expectations and discipline were fairly stable for years.

A series of changes made by former superintendent John Jungmann — whom Lathan replaced in 2021 — were aimed at reducing suspensions and keeping students in school whenever possible.

During that period, the district also scaled back its alternative programs for students in K-8 who committed various offenses or struggled with behavior and academic issues.

Range said a discipline work team convened in 2018 led to streamlining and reworking parts of the code of conduct. "It had been a long time since a review had taken place."

He said, among other things, the changes allowed for the district to once again assign students to detention before and after the school day.

"When Dr. Lathan came in and asked us to redo that or relook at the code of conduct, it was to make sure that we are treating offenses fairly and equitably — that we are taking discipline seriously," Range said.

Lathan convened a new discipline work team in 2022 that included a range of stakeholders, including parents and community members.

Range said part of the role was to take a "deeper dive into bullying" and how it was being addressed. He said that was not part of the earlier review under Jungmann.

"That was in her entry plan to look at how we're handling bullying," he said.

Lathan said there are times where students need to be removed from their classroom or school building and placed in an alternative program.

"We have tried to strengthen that," she said. "But we still have some work to do to ensure we have a continuum from K-12 of alternative education options for our students."

She said programs will look different based on the needs and ages of the students. Study Alternative Center mostly serves older students.

"What we've heard from principals ... and staff members is for elementary students, they prefer to have them on their campus but maybe in a separate setting," she said.

The district also is exploring a way to better serve students who qualify for special education services who have behavior issues that need to be addressed.

One model the district piloted for younger students, the RISE pullout program, is going away. Lathan said feedback showed it was not working.

She said the district is looking at different models to provide a "truly alternative setting" for younger students who "need to be in seated instruction versus virtual."

'Keep students and staff safe'

As the district works to address student behavior and put changes into place, Lathan said it also struggles with public perception.

"The biggest challenge we are dealing with ... is the misinformation that is put out there about how discipline is being handled across the district and in our buildings," she said.

"Along those lines, is people not understanding that principals have the autonomy to make a decision that is the best interest for their building and it may not be the same from building to building."

She said the principals and behavior interventionists working in schools are best equipped to explain what is going on in their buildings.

"My teachers usually are removed from the discipline scope and sequence, per se, that falls on me," said Watkins Elementary Principal Joanna Brockwell. "If they have a student who is exhibiting an upset or negative behaviors, we have a protocol here at Watkins that teachers just call for support."

She said when a "call for support" goes out over the two-way radio, she responds. She is often joined by Jodi Grable, lead teacher interventionist, a paraprofessional or two, and sometimes the counselor.

"Those are the ... first-responders," Brockwell said. "They might just sit with the child if the child is exhibiting an upset but it's not causing a class disruption or it's not unsafe."

She said if the student is calm and can get back on track, they remain in the classroom. If not, the student is usually placed in the "focus room" — a designated space in each building — where they may do a breathing exercise, talk to a staffer and calm down.

Brockwell said if all goes well, the expectation is for the student to return to the classroom within 30 minutes. But if the student is disruptive or the situation is more severe, a discipline referral is made. She refers to the guide and the circumstances to decide which consequence the child faces.

"I take into account a lot of things ... how many times this offense has occurred and then build from there," she said.

The school tracks calls for supports, visits to the focus room, and discipline referrals. If they notice a pattern with a student or a classroom, they may provide extra support proactively.

"Maybe I'll go in and do a whole class lesson on a missing executive skill like self-control or organization," Grable said. "If we're noticing it's just a student ... we might have scheduled breaks where they come to the (focus) room with one of the staffers and they might play a game or ... just have a chat."

Brockwell and Grable listed off other strategies they use, including giving a student a "school job" or responsibility so they can bond with an adult mentor, as a way to foster belonging.

They said students communicate through their behavior and may act out because they need a connection, skills and support, love or care.

"Everywhere we go, we're implementing these calming strategies and connection opportunities," Brockwell said.

She said there are times when the proactive steps and extra support do not work. She said disruptive students will be removed from a classroom and may face other consequences, depending on the behavior.

"I sent one home last week for assaulting a student and a staff member," Brockwell said. "... It's my job to keep students and staff safe here."

Brockwell said if a student is exhibiting the same behavior over and over, applying the same consequence may not be the answer. "I want to see some change. I want to see some shifting in behaviors."

Grable said many of the students with chronic behavior issues have unmet mental health needs, which takes a toll on them, their families, and the school community.

"We're navigating the best we can every day and people ... don't realize how difficult this is for the other students, for the families that are struggling with this and your coworkers, to keep the morale up. We're going to get through this and we're in this together," she said. "And people think we're not doing enough? That is disheartening because we are trying our absolute best every day."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield school leaders say discipline issue will take time to fix