ROCK SPRINGS — Representatives of the Sweetwater Education Association (SEA) shared teacher concerns with student behavior during Monday night’s Sweetwater County School District No. 1 board of trustees meeting.

Cheryl Notman, SEA president and ESSER interventionist for the district, and Marty Albert, SEA vice president and third-grade teacher, spoke on behalf of a number of teachers in the district who have reported a lack of respect from students.

“Many students are apathetic towards education … students’ mental health and ability to learn is being negatively impacted by the behaviors they endure on a daily basis in many classrooms in the district,” Albert said.

Albert said that while she sees behavioral issues such as incessant talking and throwing things in the elementary school grade levels, the issue only worsens the older the kids get. Teachers have reported students refusing to do any work, refusing to comply with safety drills, cursing at teachers and classmates, walking out of classes, making sexual comments about classmates and staff, incessantly talking, making rude comments about the content of the course, and more. She said that while many people outside the field of education have the opinion that children have not changed, she and many teachers believe this is wrong.

“This is simply not true. Families have changed, society has changed, and these changes are reflected in student behavior,” she said.

Notman said the SEA supports the district’s decision to join the lawsuit filed by the Wyoming Education Association against the State of Wyoming for violating its state constitutional duties by failing to adequately fund public schools. The WEA suit was filed in August 2022 and SCSD No. 1 joined the lawsuit in September 2022. Notman and Albert believe that with more adequate funding, the district would be able to address behavioral issues more effectively.

They said that administrators are so busy with behavioral issues that they can only address the worst offenses, and counselors are overwhelmed with the increased needs of students.

“If the teachers of Sweetwater 1 could have what they need, we would ask for support for the students we have today, not the students of 25 years ago. We would ask for a behavior teacher in every school for general education students. We would ask for more counselors to support all students. We would ask for more social workers to work with general education students as well as special education students. We would ask for parent education specialists to assist the parents of students having behavior issues at school so that home and school can truly work together,” Notman said.

Responsibility of Test Scores

Albert said she loses teaching time due to classroom behaviors, and that 15 years ago there would be two behavioral issues that would stand out and now it’s constant. She added the situation often doesn’t change when parents do speak to their kids about behavior issues, and that in many cases parents make excuses for the kids or don’t care.

A lot of concern revolves around test scores, and how low test scores will be blamed on the teachers. Albert said that is an unfair assessment of teachers, as this does not consider worsening student behaviors.

“Next year when my WYTOPP scores are displayed and I’m asked why the students did not score higher, you will not take into account student behavior. That will be seen as an excuse. I like teaching… but this makes me want to leave teaching. The job has become untenable,” she said.

Notman said that the pressure to increase test scores in a student population that is uninterested in learning is intense. She said it is unfair to put test scores on teachers when they don’t have proper resources for classroom management.

“Why bring this information to the board? We know Sweetwater 1 has retention problems. We know that a large number of people on our insurance are taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication,” Notman said. “The teaching job in many areas has become nonviable.”

Other Business

The board of trustees unanimously voted to retain the current slate of officers during the board reorganization. This means the board will continue to operate with Carol Jelaco as chairman, Stephanie Thompson as vice-chairman, Cole Wright as clerk, and Andrea Summers as treasurer.

The district also proposed to add new aviation courses next year at Rock Springs High School, which would make them the second high school in Wyoming to offer these courses.

The board also unanimously approved a one-time workforce stabilization incentive for eligible employees of the district. The one-time payment will be added to the June 5, 2024, payroll. For all eligible employees, the gross amount will be based on $1,000 plus an additional amount to be determined for each year of service as noted by an employee’s most recent first day of work for their permanent position. The incentive is funded through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III American Rescue Plan grant and the Head Start grant.