Op-Ed: SLP Board Member Offers Ideas On School Violence

BY: Tiffany Nolan <tiffany@elbertguillorysamerica.org>

Today, one of the topics of concern within St. Landry Parish is the violence and disregard for
authority among our youth. This has been a growing and festering problem for years and no real
solutions or conversations have been initiated to address the elephant in the room, which plagues not
only our streets but the public school system within the parish.

As a newly elected board member, during my campaigning and up until the present, I have
spent an extensive amount of time speaking to members of the community and hearing their concerns.
The violence and behavioral issues within our schools are at the very top of the list of concerns, among
all groups to whom I had the opportunity to speak. I spoke to parents (and students), teachers (present
and past), and bus drivers (present and past).

Parents were concerned that their children might be harmed, with few, if any consequences falling
on the disruptive students. A few parents were even concerned because their children began to dread
going to school due to fear of being “beat up,” to the point of having to move schools.

In a single subdivision that I visited, I spoke to THREE teachers who have left the St. Landry Parish
School System, two who have left the parish in the last few years, and one who just completed her final
day the day prior to our conversation and would be moving on an adjoining parish school system. The
number one reason for their exodus was the behavior of the children and the failure to hold them
accountable for their actions, the violent threats some with physical violence, that became regular with
no removal or punishment for the threats.

To bring this full circle, the start of the day and the end of the day take place on the bus. After being
invited to a Bus Drivers Association meeting, I attended and heard their very real and desperate pleas
for help. The bus drivers feel as though their hands are tied and their problems have been passed off to
never-ending and never addressed replies from administration to the tune of “write a report” as the
solution. While at a single meeting, I listened to stories of bus drivers being hit with a backpack while
driving, students completely disregarding the authority of the drivers and parents allowing the
misbehavior, students using drugs while on the bus, students bullying and being bullied, and many other
stories and concerns which the drivers feel have not been properly addressed or are occurring more
than one occasion. Having no real answers or solutions to offer as a single board member, I asked if any
of the drivers would allow me to ride along to see, firsthand, their struggle, so I could bring these
concerns before the board. The drivers overwhelmingly welcomed me to ride along, any route, any day,
any time, with the hope of having their cries heard. I had the privilege of riding along with a veteran bus
driver, but the experience left me wondering how we expect a person to show up each day to make sure
our students make it to the schools, which in turn keeps our schools running. If we don’t have students,
we don’t have a school system. The drivers are in between a rock and a hard place. The love of the job
has kept them going back, but in recent years, they say things have gotten so out of control they don’t
know how to justify continuing to go back to a dangerous situation. Their sole focus should be on the
road, to get our children to and from school safely… Fights and lack of control hinder that and have
become a real risk and worry for drivers.

The teachers and bus drivers I spoke to are in the profession for the love of teaching and being a
part of the contribution to the lives of the children; not even one mentioned pay as their top reason for
leaving or their top issue with the system. VIOLENCE AND BEHAVIOR WERE.

The St. Landry Parish School System faces a major disaster. Teachers and students are being
assaulted and attacked to the point where teachers are leaving the system, staff and students fear
becoming a victim, and the hosting of athletic events was reconsidered and reviewed for cancellation.
These dire circumstances require an immediate and dramatic response. For too long this situation
has been permitted to grow and fester. Now action must be taken. As discussed at the March School
Board Committee Meeting, I am proposing a five-point Violence Policy. The policy advocates
coordination between the Sheriff, the District Attorney, Marshals, and the Police Chiefs of the Parish.
The policy insists upon strict enforcement of existing laws, removal of disruptive children, and calls for
an active role of law enforcement.

The policy, as proposed follows:
Problem: Violence in the school system
Solution:
A. Propose a meeting with the District Attorney, Sheriff, all Chiefs of Police, and Marshals in St.
Landry Parish to discuss the implementation of the policy, set forth below.

B. Proposed Violence Policy
1) Each Parish school should have at least one uniformed officer for every 400 students.
2) Remove children that are disruptive from the classroom and put them into a place where
their specific needs can be better addressed.
3) All assaults and gun violations committed by persons under the age of 16 years old should
be prosecuted and should receive the maximum statutory penalty.
4) All assaults and gun violations committed by persons 16 years or older should be prosecuted
as adult crimes and should receive the maximum statutory penalty.
5) Parents: The mother and father of any child convicted of any of the above offenses shall be
required to attend an approved parenting class as a condition of reenrolling their child into
the parish school system. In addition, the District Attorney’s Office will review the
circumstances of each crime listed, for evidence of parental negligence or involvement.
Upon such a finding, the parents will be prosecuted vigorously.