WV Senate passes elementary student discipline bill, state teachers union calls measure ‘great step'
The West Virginia Senate unanimously signed off on a high-profile education bill that would give elementary teachers more authority to remove disruptive or violent students from their classroom.
The measure would also mandate that school counselors and social workers work to determine any underlying cause of the child's behavior. Many educators have tied children's dangerous behavior or outbursts — occurring frequently in kindergarten classrooms — to the state's ongoing substance abuse crisis and high rate of kids in foster care.
Katherine Skidmore, president of American Federation of Teachers in West Virginia, said it was 'encouraging to see the legislative interest in addressing the root causes of this disruptive behavior.'
Addressing student discipline has been a top ask from teachers across the state as they say student behavior is worsening and data shows suspensions are increasing. Some lawmakers have said they must address the issue to protect teachers and boost the state's struggling test scores.
The bill is the brain child of Sen. Amy Grady, an elementary school teacher, who last year sponsored a similar measure that failed to pass in the final hours of the 2024 Legislative Session.
'I worked really hard on that bill. I was upset that it didn't pass,' said Grady, R-Mason. 'But, then, hindsight is 20/20, here we are, and this is much better. It gives a little more clarification in what we need to do with students in particular situations. It's not a cookie cutter approach.'
The measure, Senate Bill 199, would permit teachers in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms to remove students who are violent, threatening or intimidating toward staff or peers or students' whose behavior is impeding on other students' ability to learn.
The removed student would be referred to a school counselor, social worker or behavioral interventionist to determine if there's an underlying cause of the student's behavior. Staff would be required to create a behavioral plan for the student for a two-week period. If the student is not making progress, then the behavioral plan could be changed and enacted for another two weeks.
'It kind of individualizes what they need before we move forward,' said Grady, who worked with the state Department of Education on the legislation.
Not every school has a full-time counselor or social worker, but Grady, who worked with the state Department of Education on the legislation, felt confident that schools would be able to carry out the bill's requirements by utilizing staff from central offices or state social workers when foster children are involved.
Removed elementary students would return to school on a provisional basis for five to 10 days. If another incident occurs in that time frame, the child would be subject to expulsion, including being placed in an alternative learning center.
Additionally, if students are removed from a classroom for disruptive or violent behaviors a total of three times in one month, the student would be subject to in- or out-of-school suspension or to be placed in alternative learning centers or with a licensed behavioral health agency if one is available within the school district.
Fewer than half of the state's 55 counties have alternate learning centers, and critics of the measure have said that it could result in too many children forced to learn through virtual school.
The House of Delegates approved its version of an elementary school discipline measure March 3. Grady is hopeful House members will accept her legislation, which made minor tweaks to their bill, including that a child's disruptive or violent behavior would have to occur more than once before expulsion.
'I'm very hopeful that it will be fine,' Grady said.
Skidmore said it was 'great to have both chambers focusing on student behavior.'
'While no bill is perfect, these bills are a great step in the right direction,' she said. 'Hopefully the two chambers can come together to pass a version that addresses the behavioral issues disrupting our classes and provides the mental health resources and funding needed for these students.'
If the House accepts Grady's version of the bill, the measure would next go to the governor's desk for approval.
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The Hill
14 minutes ago
- The Hill
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Politico
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- Politico
Jenkins talks ‘26 Senate race
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Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Vote-by-fail?
Good Wednesday morning! Two years ago, New Jersey Republicans were talking about retaking one or both houses of the state Legislature for the first time since the early 2000s. They were coming off big pickups in 2021 and a near miss of the governor's office. The issues appeared to be in their favor. The voter registration trends were in their favor. And then Republicans lost six seats in the Assembly and one in the Senate. There's never just one factor that explains election results, but most agreed at the time that Republican mistrust of vote-by-mail played a role. Now, with less than three months to go before New Jersey's gubernatorial election, President Trump isn't helping on that front. On Monday he pledged to 'lead a movement' to end mail-in voting altogether in time for the 2026 midterms. 'ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS,' he wrote on Truth Social. 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State investigators allege that Rogers then asked the owner for an $800 cash bribe in exchange for waiving the required fines, reinstating the license and reopening the store. When the store owner turned down the offer, Rogers said she would settle for taking some free merchandise, authorities alleged.' —'Six Flags defends keeping elderly elephant after animal rights group calls her captivity 'harmful' —'After 3% raises, Paterson school district now pays 12 officials over $200K' —'[Edison] judge denies ethics charge that he lied about having only one drink before crash' —'Bergen man who put swastikas on his car loses EMT license plates' —'Katie Brennan backs Solomon for Jersey City mayor' —'Hackensack calls on NJ Transit to improve safety at crossings after recent fatalities' —'How a new Tony Soprano mural ended up in a historic [Montclair] hub. See the renovation' —'Egg Harbor Township to spend $600K to restore West Jersey Avenue after Atlantic Shores pullout' EVERYTHING ELSE SHOCCKER — 'N.J. soccer mom demanded justice for daughter after violent foul. Her team got banned instead,' by NJ Advance Media's Patrick Lanni: 'The video tells an undeniable story. Amid a highly contested youth girls soccer match, a player grabs her opponent by the back of the neck, yanking her back and forth before throwing her to the grass face-first. The girl's spontaneous fit of anger is clearly a foul and draws a swift yellow card from the referee … Woodstown Borough, the team with the player who committed the hard foul, was welcomed back to the South Jersey Girls Soccer League for the upcoming 2025 fall season. Monroe Township, the team on the receiving end of the penalty, was not. The ugly foul and the ensuing fallout have now thrust two communities and a volunteer-driven soccer organization into the center of a raging debate over conduct at games, parental involvement in on-field disputes and social media's role in magnifying youth sports incidents and fanning them into viral clips. Lauren Astore, the parent of the Monroe girl who was thrown to the turf, claims her persistent complaints about the incident — and pursuit of accountability from league officials — led to her daughter's team being banned from the league this fall … Online comments, reviewed by NJ Advance Media, show Monroe parents, including Astore, calling the Woodstown player 'trash' and 'evil' as well as other expletives on various Facebook threads' —'U.S. News public high school rankings are out. How did your NJ school do?' —'This South Jersey educator has been named national high school principal of the year: 'I love what I am doing'' —'Study ranks women's equality across all 50 states. Here's where New Jersey stands' —'More Jersey Shore beaches may ban swimming as Hurricane Erin strengthens, creates dangerous surf conditions'
