The Calvert County school board heard an amplified message from several teachers and a student from Calvert High School that immediate action is needed to stop the out of control behavior of some teens who are starting fights, recording the incidents with their phones and commandeering school restrooms for vaping and alleged drug use.
The remarks were delivered during the board’s April 11 meeting.
“Excuses will not be accepted,” teacher Erin Hammett said as she explained to the board that close to 50 staff members drafted a long list of complaints about the alleged behavior.
Hammett also revealed an administrator was recently assaulted by a student, causing others attending classes to be afraid to walk the halls and use the bathrooms.
“Fear is not what should come to mind when entering a school building,” Hammett said.
“Calvert [High] is a great school, but we are falling apart,” Page Aguilar, a sophomore, told the school board, adding there is a group of students who have created an unsafe environment within the building.
Aguilar said these students “can’t stop using drugs and smoking marijuana.”
“What does it take for a student to be removed from the school setting?” teacher Kathryn Wolber asked. She added that the school system’s alternative education program, which is located on the Calvert High campus, “no longer meets the needs of our student population.”
Wolber added she doesn’t believe “more police” in the building is the solution to the problem.
The Calvert High group had the attention of the school board.
Noting that the group had collected data related to behavioral problems within the school’s walls, Jordan Hayes, student board member, suggested administrators should collect the same data from each of the high schools to “improve the safety and the environment.”
In praising Aguilar for bravely speaking out, Hayes added, “We need help from the adults.”
“Our teachers, parents and students who want to learn have had enough,” school board member Lisa Grenis said. “We have a code of conduct for a reason.”
Grenis cited “a relaxed cellphone policy” as a factor in the school’s reported discipline problems and called for a ban on cellphones in the classroom.
“Meetings, letters, emails, etc. are a waste of time if nothing happens,” Grenis said.
“If we continue to fail to act, greater things will happen,” school board member Jana Post said.
“It’s a problem we haven’t gotten to the root cause of yet,” school board member Inez Claggett said.
Of the students creating the mayhem, Claggett added, “We need to realize these are students who will grow up and become adults in society, so I think it’s incumbent upon us, while we have the opportunity to make an impression upon them, to ensure that we provide them the resources they need to heal themselves, so that when they grow older they do not feel that this is something they can continue. We never want our students to leave our system and feel like they can continue to be menaces and not be productive citizens.”
Antoine White, board president, called the comments from the Calvert High teachers and student “an eye-opener for us.” He assured attendees that “collaborative efforts” will take place to address the issues.
Administrative movesCalvert public schools’ Superintendent Andraé Townsel announced Anthony Navarro, the school system’s chief operations officer, will be retiring on July 1. Almost 12 years ago, Navarro was a retired principal after stints at the helm of Mount Harmony Elementary School and later the Career and Technology Academy when he agreed to serve as an administrator after Nancy Highsmith was named acting superintendent. Navarro has remained as a top administrator during the tenures of Daniel Curry, a former superintendent, and Townsel.
Regarding another administrative position, by unanimous vote, the school board approved the appointment of Kevin Hook as the new director of transportation. Hook succeeds Edward Cassidy, who retired last year.
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