Return to classes beset by violence
After a year of COVID-19 restrictions, New Britain High School has reported an uptick in disruptions
The return to full-time learning at New Britain High School after a year of COVID-19 restrictions has been marked by vandalism and a string of violent episodes.
In the first two weeks of classes, New Britain police were called for 14 incidents or complaints — up from nine calls during the same two-week period in 2019, the last year when all students attended in-person classes. Among the calls this year were three fights, an assault, three thefts from parked cars and lesser incidents.
During those first two weeks, fixtures in some bathrooms were heavily damaged, fights broke out on several days, and some students reported that others — mostly freshmen and sophomores — were wandering through hallways during classes and cursing teachers who questioned them. School was briefly suspended.
The situation got so bad that someone created an Instagram account soliciting images of fights at the school. It posted at least six short videos purporting to be student fights in the lobby, on the fields and outside the bus pickup area; the account has since been closed.
More recently, a video was posted to YouTube showing a young man being handcuffed outside the school while another young man shouts obscenities, prompting scores of comments on the New Britain Talks page on Facebook. The city has said the man being handcuffed was a 19-year-old who isn’t a student at the school, but instead a repeat trespasser who had been warned before to stay away.
In the video, officers wrestle the 19-year-old to the floor and a staffer is seen repeatedly pushing
the younger teen as he appears to try to intervene, prompting criticism on social media of the rough treatment. Administrators said they are conducting an internal
investigation into the incident.
“Our students deserve to learn in a safe environment, our parents deserve the comfort of knowing their child is safe in school, and our teachers deserve a safe space to educate.”
— New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart
Mayor Erin Stewart said Tuesday that administrators need to enforce disciplinary measures to keep everyone else safe.
“Our students deserve to learn in a safe environment, our parents deserve the comfort of knowing their child is safe in school, and our teachers deserve a safe space to educate,” Stewart said.
Administrators say they believe this year’s disruptions were partly fallout from the pandemic. Schools were closed for much of the past year and a half, so this year’s freshmen and sophomores had either little or no experience of in-person high school classes — or discipline expectations.
New Britain High School already has two police officers assigned full time, security staffers, guidance counselors and a student assistance center staffed with a counselor and assistants.
In addition, the district used federal aid to hire dozens of social workers, special education teachers and teaching assistants to help students readjust to in-person classes after a year and a half of on and off virtual learning. Superintendent Nancy Sarra said resources are sufficient; instead, the problem is that a few dozen students haven’t adapted to in-person classes.
Calming the violence
The incident on YouTube was a setback for educators who had hoped that several weeks of turmoil were over.
They had blamed the vandalism at the beginning of the school year on a global social media challenge called #DeviousLicks, and recently issued a warning to parents that students would be disciplined if they took part in a new challenge: #Slapateacher.
In mid-September, Principal Damon Pearce announced classes would go all-virtual for three days to “reset” attitudes and give staff a chance to plan how to deal with 60 to 70 students with the most disruptive behavior. After community backlash, the school reduced the shutdown to one day, and administrators transferred more than a dozen students to other buildings or programs.
“We’ve had an uptick of behaviors — of our bathrooms being vandalized, of students acting out,” Sarra acknowledged at the time.
She has heard from parents at two virtual forums this year, with many urging the schools adopt a get-tough approach to discipline. But she and other administrators have said while they won’t tolerate misconduct, they have a commitment to teach all students — including those who aren’t adapting well to school this year.
“Every student matters here in New Britain, and we have to have a plan specific to that student to help them grow. That’s our job,” she told parents.
Sarra plans another forum later this year.
Despite the most recent incident, educators say they’ve made substantial progress addressing behavioral issues that gripped the 2,200-student school in the first few weeks of the semester.
New Britain High School is operating a peer mediation group that lets a student volunteer work with two classmates who are in conflict. Also, Pearce, the principal, is having students talk with an administrator after they’re caught skipping classes, causing fights, disrespecting staff or violating other significant rules. Educators want to stress counseling and mentoring rather than suspensions or other punitive measures, Sarra said.
But the schools also are beefing up security, with plans to replace outdated surveillance equipment with a new system costing more than $400,000 and employing about 200 cameras in and out of the building.