The Board of Education (BoE) meeting on April 23 was the most packed in the last year, with parents and educators from around the district gathered to talk about a rise in disciplinary challenges throughout the district. They attribute this uptick to a shortage of Educational Support Professionals (ESPs) in ICSD schools, and parents and ESPs alike spoke about the need for more support staff, as well as the increasingly difficult job of ESPs currently in the district.
The first speaker, a parent of a child at DeWitt Middle School, set the tone with shocking accounts of disciplinary issues. She said that her child had overheard the N-word, the display of white power gestures, homophobic and racist statements, and upperclassmen harrassing underclassmen, particularly girls and LGBTQ+ students. She noted that DeWitt’s ESP staff has shrunk, and commented that teachers don’t have support because staff aren’t being replaced and are being paid better elsewhere. She closed her remarks by stating, “Our children deserve better,” and implored the BoE to act with the stern declaration, “This is a crisis—please listen and respond.”
The second speaker, a parent of a neurodiverse child at DeWitt, provided context to the situation. She noted that the district has cut 38 ESPs and teacher aides district-wide in the last year, and that the incoming 6th grade class at DeWitt is 224 students, nearly double the 8th grade class of 120. She also mentioned an alarming statistic from ICSD’s equity report card: special-needs students are suspended at rates over six times greater than other students, and that this strategy has huge negative consequences over the long term.
Other parents told stories of specific discipline violations. One mother, who is an ESP at Cayuga Heights Elementary, commented that an ESP fell onto her child while being tackled by other children in the class, and that the teacher hadn’t been able to react because she was preoccupied physically restraining another child—she noted that “this is not a learning environment in any way.” Another Cayuga Heights parent noted that one teacher’s arm is currently in a cast due to a student-inflicted injury, and that parents weren’t alerted after a second grader brought in a hammer to school with the intent of injuring a peer in the cafeteria.
After the tense public comment period, the members of the BoE had the opportunity to respond to concerned community members. BoE Member Bradley Grainger spoke first, mentioning that only 4.5 ESP staff members have been cut at DeWitt, and that these changes result from the specific Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of special-needs students. He also told parents “you need to be speaking to your state legislators,” noting that ICSD is capped in terms of taxing households to increase funding.
The next few Board members to speak were empathetic with their remarks, reminding parents that they are or were parents of ICSD students, and that student welfare is that the forefront of their priorities. That said, many spoke about changes to teaching social-emotional wellbeing as a solution, with BoE Member Eldred Harris noting that children should have the tools to moderate their own emotions so they are able to participate in the classroom. Perhaps the most contentious moment of the night was when Harris stated that the solution to discipline issues isn’t having ESPs “police” special-needs students; an ESP in attendance objected to that language, and mentioned that ESPs play a role not only in enhancing the education of special-needs students, but all students in a classroom with them.
Interestingly, this meeting also happened to be the one at which the DeWitt administration, Principal Mac Knight and Associate Principal Donna Lucy-Lender, presented about changes at DeWitt over the past year. Given the tone of the public comment period, Knight chose to focus on advances in social-emotional learning over the past year. To replace in-school suspension rooms, DeWitt now has “Restore and Relax” rooms, in which students who are unable to regulate their emotions can collect their thoughts and reflect on what caused their outburst. Knight stated that this change has led to increased engagement, stemming from the fact that students may re-enter classrooms when they’re ready to learn. He also spoke about DeWitt’s new Student Voice Council, which allows students elected in homerooms to bring and discuss issues they face—so far, these have included mental health resources, sanitizer and wipes to clean desks, and a quiet zone in the lunchroom.
The night ended on a positive note, with it being clear that DeWitt administration is trying hard to make positive changes within their means. Nonetheless, it was concerning to parents and ICSD staff members that the BoE doesn’t have any clear answers about recent ESP cuts. Superintendent Luvelle Brown said in his remarks that the district hasn’t been “cutting” funding for ESPs, and that it’s simply been “relocated” to other sources. With disciplinary violations on the rise throughout the district and with ESPs continuing to leave the district, a re-evaluation of these priorities may be necessary in the coming months.