The academic school year is just a little over a month in, but the Saugus Union School District continues to face the challenge of student behavior in the classroom. One governing board member even stated her frustration and said that when she’s brought it to light, she’s been accused of lying.
Four people gave public comment at the start of Tuesday’s governing board meeting, all touching on the same topic: student behavior.
District Superintendent Colleen Hawkins was not present during the governing board meeting and could not be reached for comment Thursday or Friday. Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Jennifer Stevenson was present for the meeting on her behalf.
Teacher Ingrid Boydston has been calling attention to student behavior issues, having spoken publicly in the past. At the Sept. 2 meeting, she asked teachers to come forward if they continue to experience challenges in relation to children’s behavior in the classroom, and they did.
“Children are hitting, kicking, screaming, scratching, pulling hair, throwing things, tearing bulletin boards, exposing themselves, using the F-word, climbing on (and) swinging on the furniture, running around the room to evade adults, and running out of the classroom on a daily basis,” Boydston said Tuesday on behalf of the teachers. “Some teachers are still being cautioned not to communicate with parents everything that happens. And some teachers are told just to let those kids do what they want to do, so that they don’t get upset and disrupt, but obviously that doesn’t work.”
Some teachers have even stated through tears, according to Boydston, that the well-behaved students are developing bad habits, which has created a domino effect with no positive solution. One student even told a teacher they don’t feel safe in the classroom.
According to Boydston, the students causing problems in the class have been identified with extreme behavior problems in the past. She spoke quickly to ensure to meet her three-minute allotted time.
Local resident Tammy Messina and TimBen Boydston — Ingrid’s husband and a former Santa Clarita City Council member — also addressed student behavior and the recent lawsuit from a former Cedarcreek Elementary School first-grade teacher that alleges she was injured by a special needs student and then fired in retaliation for raising concern about her safety. Boydston read excerpts of The Signal’s article about the lawsuit.
Krystal Huber began working at the school in 2022 and endured a series of incidents involving a “high social/emotional needs” student that was displaying “extreme violent tendencies,” according to her complaint. Huber even developed a mental condition, making her job difficult, according to the “general allegations” section in the lawsuit.
“You have a job to do. Things are dangerous for some teachers,” Messina said, addressing the governing board. “How many teachers do we have to expose to trauma before the district takes these issues seriously? … There has to be a way to put a stop to the trauma for both the students and the teachers. Current methods of measures are still not working.”
“We all have a right to have a say in this, and honestly that’s kind of why we put you guys there to oversee that. You’re supposed to do something about it and prevent the lawsuits before they happen and protect the teachers,” Messina added. “It’s creating a hostile work environment, and this isn’t just the first year or the second year.”
Karen Frost also touched on the topic of the lawsuit during public comment and formally asked the board to agendize an item to discuss an update on where the district stands in relation to student behavior.
As a parent to a special needs child, “I know that these are challenging cases and we have to balance the needs of the students, but we also have to balance the needs of the teachers,” she said. “We have to create a work environment where they can do their job.”
“Where are we? Where are we on the behaviors? Where are we making progress, or are we not?” she added. “This is an issue that when I read this article, I found it deeply troubling.”
Comments from concerned community members drew a response from governing board members Anna Griese and Matthew Watson during cabinet reports.
“I’ve been on this board almost three years. I have been talking about it since February, where I reported on an incident at an elementary school. I was called a liar,” Griese said. “I was accused of making it up, of writing the letter myself, of communicating it to the public and nothing has changed.”
Griese apologized to the public over a lack of progress and said she felt there was no persistence from the board or acknowledgement that student behavior wasn’t the district’s priority.
“We do a really good job about reporting data out about closing the achievement gap. Really good. We have really good results over the last couple of years and that is amazing,” she added. “But what about the data regarding behaviors? Where is that? I keep asking for it. I keep asking for an update almost every single meeting and there isn’t one.”
She encouraged the community to continue bringing attention to the issue, emphasizing the importance of having students, teachers, the district, and the union on the same page.
“It’s the community’s recognition that we are all responsible for the upbringing of the community’s children.” Watson said during his cabinet report. “It is also the recognition of the ultimate accountability that we recognize the status of the student, predict the outcomes of the future.”
“The academic status of our children is but one measure of how our children are doing. We continue to hear that there are other areas that need our attention, our continued attention and more in-depth attention,” he said, adding he looks forward to seeking solutions for all involved because “these issues, as we see, are not short-term, they’re long-term.”