By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Lawmakers in West Virginia could take another look addressing school discipline issues as state education officials continue to look at new policies to reduce disparities and deal with issues caused by a bill passed earlier this year.
Speaking by phone Tuesday, Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Amy Grady, R-Mason, said she is working with Senate leadership and other lawmakers to have a bill ready for the 2024 regular session of the Legislature to address concerns teachers have with increasing incidents in schools requiring discipline, including violence against students and teachers.
“When I was a kid, acting out was just not following the teacher’s directions, not sitting correctly, not sitting when you’re supposed to, just doing little ornery things that kids would do. I’m not talking about those things,” Grady said. “When we talk about acting out, we’re talking about threatening behaviors where students are actually threatening teachers, threatening to kill them, threatening to punch them in the face, threatening to do things to them, threatening their peers.”
“They’re actually doing violent things as throwing their computers across the room, flipping desks a lot of times, just grabbing hold of anything they can to throw,” Grady continued. “It’s a dangerous situation in many cases.”