NMUSD outlines plan for handling fifth-grade bullies
Responding to concerns raised by California Elementary School parents about a group of fifth-grade bullies accused of continuously tormenting teachers and students on the Costa Mesa campus, district officials are speaking out about what’s being done to address the problem.
A handful of parents spoke Tuesday during a meeting of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Governing Board, claiming a cohort of troublemakers and their ongoing bad behavior, from last school year to this year, has been making life miserable for students, instructors and school staff.
“There are children being bullied on a daily basis,” fifth-grade mom Amber Sides said in a public comment. The unruly kids were reportedly throwing objects across the room, bothering students, cursing out loud and leaving class without permission.
“Our teachers need support,” Sides continued. “They can’t teach with this disruption. We can’t just let this keep going on.”
NMUSD Supt. Wes Smith assured speakers officials were aware of and working on the issue. That message was reiterated Thursday in a letter to California School families issued by Principal Linda Kim.
“We have taken multiple actions and implemented a variety of supports to promote positive student behavior and improve overall classroom environments,” Kim wrote.
A new behavior technician and two intervention aides were placed this year into fifth-grade classrooms to prevent disruptions, provide teacher training and help lessons go more smoothly, while a school counselor is making weekly rounds to help students identify feelings, make responsible decisions and better regulate their actions.
“While these measures have gradually improved classroom disruptions, there is still more for us to do,” Kim continued, promising to keep an open line of communication with families.
Speaking in an interview Friday, Sarah Coley, NMUSD’s director of Student and Community Services, and Assistant Supt. of Elementary Instruction John Drake elaborated on steps taken so far, not only at California Elementary School, but districtwide.
An effort has been made across schools, especially since the return to classrooms following pandemic closures, to focus on the social and emotional needs of all students, including disrupters, the officials said.
California Elementary School parents are asking NMUSD to discipline a group of students whose behavior is so unchecked that a teacher reportedly took a mental health leave last year.
“We really try to do everything we can before we suspend a student,” Coley said. “They can’t be suspended for only being disruptive and defiant. Legally, we cannot suspend a student just for that.”
When it comes to traditional punishments for willful defiance or disruption in the classroom — such as suspending a child from school temporarily or permanent expulsion — administrators’ hands are tied by California education laws precluding such practices.
Passed in 2013, Assembly Bill 420 prohibited the suspension of children in kindergarten through third grade on such grounds. In 2019, the law was amended under Senate Bill 419 to extend the prohibition from the fourth through eighth grades.
Defiance or disruption has to be coupled with a more serious violation, such as causing physical harm or the destruction of property, Coley clarified, before a child can face suspension.
Along with the additional staffing placed in fifth-grade classrooms, the district has in place a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support plan that outlines when outside agencies, parenting classes or group counseling might be offered to families in need.
The plan also lays out expectations and identifies reinforcements and consequences that may take place in certain incidents.
“When appropriate, we’ve had students who may be working with a counselor,” Coley said Friday. “It could be there’s a loss of privileges; for instance, they may not be able to participate in a certain activity. We really believe in progressive discipline, and that’s the guidance from the state.”
Drake and Coley said administrators plan to review the findings and potential progress made by the addition of the behavioral technician and aides sometime next week and determine how to proceed next semester, when students return from winter break. They said future communications will go out to families regarding any continuations or changes.
Michelle Cusumano — mother of a fifth-grade daughter and kindergarten son at California Elementary who, she says, have both been picked on by the students in question — said Friday she and others are skeptical the district’s efforts would yield the desired results.
“I understand you can’t really expel somebody unless it’s egregious. I just don’t understand why [problem students] are not forced out of the classroom,” she said. “Stop sweeping this under the rug and come up with real, normal disciplinary protocol.”
Cusumano said parents would be happy to help develop an alternative solution, such as creating a program to help families that may be struggling, but something must be done to end the harassment.
“You can’t go through life behaving this way and getting away with it,” she said. “I don’t want my kids to see that.”
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