Dozens of demonstrators lined St. Louis Street outside Springfield Public Schools’ Kraft Administrative building Tuesday evening, ahead of the district’s regular Board of Education meeting. They were there for an event organized by Springfield’s chapter of the National Education Association.
The local educator's union has been at odds with the school district over discipline and behavior. Union President Laura Mullins has spoken at several board meetings about the issue, claiming the district is not enforcing its current polices and creating a lax and unsafe environment. Mullins said she felt that her speaking out, her examples and a past formal grievance hadn’t gotten results, so the union organized the event.
Mullins said “her heart was overjoyed" with the turnout. She said she had spoken with community members, parents, students and retired and current employees.
In a written statement to KSMU, the school district said they “acknowledge that challenges remain, and we are committed to supporting our staff in educating all students. We are listening and responding accordingly. Collaboration is needed now more than ever.”
Mullins said the district could show a good faith effort through committing a committee of diverse stakeholders to the issue and by getting rid of what she calls “major and minors."
Mullins described it as a chart that allows for multiple infractions before an official referral. As an example, she said, in the current system a school may “wait till a child has cussed at a teacher three time" before referring for discipline. She said she’d like that child referred the first time.
Student reporters from Kickapoo were on hand to cover the event. They said they were there because they knew it was important and they wanted to know what the union was asking for.
Lizzy Eike said she has felt unsafe in school, and many of her peers just don’t know what proper behavior looks like. She said one concern she has is that verbal violence is not taken seriously. She said she feels, “if a threat is made, it isn’t taken very seriously.”
More than anything Mullins said her goal is to solve this problem — for the educators she represents and for the students they teach.