Ray Elementary Nightmare Ends After Expulsion
By Jim Vail
The child who physically and verbally assaulted students and staff and forced the principal to take a leave of absence was finally expelled from Ray Elementary School.
"It was uncontrollable behavior in which students and the principal were attacked and the teachers experienced such stress that they had to take a leave of absence," said one teacher at the school who wished to remain anonymous.
This teacher told Second City Teachers in a phone interview that the staff banded together to raise the issue at the Local School Council and the publicity it generated in the media helped to move the Chicago Public Schools to solve a serious security problem that is being felt by teachers and staff across the city.
The Hyde Park Herald wrote about the problem at Ray Elementary School, 5631 S. Kimbark Ave., in an article entitled "Ray Elementary LSC Alleges Physical Assaults Against Staff and Students in the School."
"Incidents involving a student and said student's family (have) caused a great disruption in the learning environment and continuity of care and leadership inside the school," the LSC Chair was quoted as saying. "The principal of Ray Elementary, Gayle (Harris)-Neely, as well as several teachers, were physically and verbally assaulted inside the school, during the school day."
After the principal was physically assaulted by the student last November, she took a short leave of absence, but when she returned she was verbally threatened by the student and then took an indefinite leave of absence on Dec. 19.
What was even more frustrating for the school was that the CPS Chief for Network 9 Alene Mason did little to "bring all survivors of the assaults back to work in a safe, supportive environment that centers their mental and physical well-being."
"CPS sent in seven people from the Office of Social and Emotional Learning and the Office of Safety and Security and sat in a circle to hear different teachers talk about the trauma they experienced," the teacher said. "They recommended de-escalation training and promised other solutions, but they never returned to the school."
The student, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, would even chase teachers down the hallway in a violent and threatening manner, the teacher said. The student threatened to rape one teacher and hurled obscenities at students and staff. A restraining order was even filed against the student from one of his teachers.
"There were multiple staff leaving in tears every day and the security was upset," the teacher said. "People were really afraid to come to work."
The problem, according to the Ray teacher, was Covid when kids were traumatized during the pandemic because many were left at home with no supervision and did not receive the attention they needed to develop not only academically, but socially as well.
It appeared CPS preferred to coverup the problem rather than deal with it head on. The interim principal told the staff everything was under control, when it was not. How many teachers and staff at schools throughout the district are also experiencing such trauma, resulting in more teachers quitting.
The focus on restorative justice at the expense of suspending or expelling students who pose serious security risks in the school has also made dire situations like this untenable.
"His homeroom teacher had a restraining order on him," the teacher said. "His peers then see that there are no consequences for these actions so their behavior problems escalate."
The child's father threatened the school stating that they cannot deny his child's education and sent him to school even though he was supposed to be at home serving a suspension. The child accosted the security guard on the way to the school, the teacher said. He would then wander the hallways and attacked students and faculty alike.
Teachers can file a grievance against the Chicgo Board of Education if they feel the school is not safe to teach in. The Chicago Teachers Union stepped in and met with the administration to try to alleviate the problem. However, the teacher said trying to restore sick days that were taken because of the unsafe environment was not the solution to the problem.
The problem was solved when the teachers united with the LSC and the parents, and raised the issue in the media to finally force CPS to remove a serious challenge to a safe environment.
As a result, CPS expelled the student because he punched a wall in the principal's office.