Bullying down as teachers oversee playgrounds
HAMILTON » Student suspensions and incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying have sharply decreased in Hamilton’s public schools ever since the Board of Education forced teachers to serve as de facto playground aides.
Hamilton school board member Susan Ferrara also disclosed that “the number of kids who have been injured on the playground has been significantly reduced” since teachers have been on the playground.
Ferrara delivered those statistical revelations at the April 25 school board meeting after board member Cameron Cardinale talked about the downside of forcing teachers to work as playground referees.
The Hamilton Township Board of Education last year passed a 2017-18 school budget that eliminated dozens of lunchroom and playground aides, saving the district $740,000. Cardinale won election last November on a platform that advocated the restoration of those positions.
A man of his word, Cardinale said he could not support the district’s $210 million spending plan for the 2018-19 schoolyear if the budget was not amended to include the restoration of dedicated playground aides.
“As Board of Education members, it is our responsibility to do the best that we can to make the budget beneficial for the students, the staff and the taxpayers,” he said at the April 25 school board meeting. “Elementary school teachers and classroom assistants are having trouble with prep and lunchtime because they have to work lunch and recess duties. This is not representative of our values that we profess throughout the district. So fellow board members, what do you want this district to be known for?”
Although Cardinale has consistently demanded the restoration of playground aides, he ultimately lacked the power to make it happen.
“I have been informed tonight that I cannot make a motion to restore or rehire a position,” Cardinale said at the April 25 school board meeting. “Rather, it needs to be placed on the agenda by the superintendent. Tonight I am not able to vote ‘Yes’ on the final budget without an amendment for the addition of at least elementary school lunchroom/playground aides.”
After Cardinale’s comments, Ferrara revealed that the number of student suspensions and the number of so-called HIB problems have been “reduced significantly since teachers have been on the playground.”
The tradeoff of putting teachers on the playground to monitor students during recess is that teachers get less prep time but kids are now safer, Ferrara said.
“Maybe they just needed better training,” Cardinale said of the laid-off aides.
The comments from Ferrara and Cardinale sparked a wider debate among the ninemember Board of Education. Board member Jessica Young said bullying mostly occurs in playgrounds, buses and lunchrooms but “very rarely happens in the classroom.”
Students feel a greater sense of accountability when a classroom teacher is present, Young suggested. She said incident reports on harassment, intimidation and bullying document where the HIB incident occurred. An analysis of HIB data would show that bullying mostly occurs in areas where teachers are not present, Young said.
All of the school board members voted to adopt the tax-hiking 2018-19 budget except Cardinale, who abstained from voting on the $210 million spending plan that fails to restore playground aides.
For the average Hamilton Township homeowner who lives in a property assessed at $214,050, the average homeowner will pay about $76 more in annual school taxes this year as a result of the 2018-19 budget impact and the previously approved school-improvements referendum, according to district officials.
The budget calls for the reduction of eight to 11 staff positions through attrition but also adds 11 new staff members comprising two additional ESL or English as a Second Language teachers, three additional special education teachers, three additional special education aides, one additional elementary teacher, the creation of a new chief security position and the creation of a dedicated grant-writing position.
Superintendent of Schools Scott Rocco theoretically could have recommended the restoration of playground aides in the 2018-19 budget, but the schools chief had different priorities in mind.
In outlining the main highlights of the budget, “We are maintaining and growing our programs,” Rocco said at the April 25 school board meeting. “We are promoting the equity across our schools; we are improving safety and security; we are committed to maintaining our buildings; we will continue with the infrastructure improvements for our technology; we are promoting long-term budget stability; we are reducing our reliance on surplus and increasing our revenues, and we are continuing to find efficiencies in our district and reducing our spending.”
Project Veritas
At a time when bullying incidents have decreased districtwide, Hamilton Township Education Association President Dave Perry, a longtime teacher in the district, was suspended Wednesday when video emerged of him making eyebrow-raising statements on how he can “bend the truth” to protect teachers who hit students.
Susan Lombardo, president of the Hamilton Township Board of Education, said the controversial statements Perry made do not reflect district policy.
“As board president, the statements made in this video go against everything we stand for as a school district,” she said Thursday in a text message. “Our students’ safety is the paramount concern of the Board.”
Lombardo also complimented Superintendent Rocco’s handling of the ordeal, saying, “The administration promptly took action necessary to ensure the safety of students and staff and the administration has opened an investigation. Even the comments made on this video acknowledge that the Board follows procedures and protocols regarding any and all incidents that were suggested.”
Project Veritas, an undercover news organization, used deceit and bogus plotlines to bait Perry into making controversial and indefensible statements during a secretly recorded encounter.