Blackboard Jungle, grade school edition.
At the Springfield school board meeting Monday, teacher Sarah Peterman said the school year is thirty days old:
“And in those thirty days, my students have been hit, kicked, chased, evacuated from the classroom, and subjected to verbal threats,” said Peterman. “I personally have been scratched and knocked to the ground.
“School safety is not an issue that is limited to middle and high school; not one-time immediately traumatizing events.”
Peterman was just one of more than a dozen red-shirted union members turning out at the meeting, after which superintendent Jennifer Gill said the pandemic is partly to blame, disrupting in-class learning.
Gill said she wrote down the complaints of Peterman and the many other teachers who spoke to the board. Contract talks with the Springfield Education Association resume Tuesday morning.