West Virginia bill letting teachers remove ‘threatening’ students from class heads to governor

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia bill that would provide a framework for public school teachers on removing kindergarten and elementary school students from the classroom for severe misbehavior is headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Jim Justice.

The measure cleared the final hurdle to its passage Saturday in the state Senate, approved almost unanimously after years of back-and-forth between lawmakers and the Department of Education about school discipline and behavioral issues among children with trauma and adverse experiences at home. It was passed by the House Friday.

One in four children live below the poverty line in West Virginia, the state with the highest rate of opioid overdoses. In some school districts, more than 70% are being raised by grandparents, other family members or guardians because their parents are unable to take care of them.

A study from the state Department of Education found that during the 2021-2022 school year, one in four students in foster care were suspended from school. The study also found that students with disabilities and Black students were disproportionately disciplined compared with their white peers, with one in five Black children being suspended from school that year.

Under the bill, a teacher can remove students from a classroom if their behavior is “violent, threatening or intimidating toward staff or peers, creates an unsafe learning environment or impedes on other students ability to learn in a safe environment.”

The students will then be placed in a behavioral intervention program where they can get extra support and supervision. If no such program is available, they will be sent home and a parent or guardian must pick them up. If nobody responds, and after all emergency contacts are exhausted, law enforcement can be called.

Currently disruptive students are sent to the principal, who decides on potential disciplinary action. The bill gives more power to teachers and sets clearer standards on how to handle…

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