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***Alpena, MI: School principal tells board about VIOLENT ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

June 14, 2019, Alpena (MI) News: Alpena seeks help with student behavior https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2019/06/alpena-seeks-help-with-student-behavior/ Wilson Elementary School Principal Lisa Hilberg on Thursday asked the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District Board of Education for help dealing with behavior issues in her school and other schools in the region. Hilberg spoke during public comment about how some children with trauma struggle with the demands of coping in a regular classroom. “Their struggle comes out in their behaviors,”Hilberg said to the board. “They involve hitting, biting, kicking, running off, throwing objects, knocking over desks, and throwing chairs. Classrooms are evacuated.” Hilberg said elementary schools nationwide are dealing with those issues, including local school districts. She said there needs to be resources at schools to help students who are struggling with trauma with the end goal of getting those students back into the regular education classroom. Three ideas were suggested to the ESD board by Hilberg: update the ESD strategic plan to reflect the need of a behavior room where students experiencing trauma and behavior issues can go so they don’t disturb their peers, consider opening a special education plan to reflect the need for a room, and consider what the ESD would be able to offer for a behavior room. “I understand that our ESD does not have the funding that other ISDs (intermediate school district) have, but perhaps you can contribute something,” Hilberg said. “Other school districts in our ESD have a need for this room, so I think our ESD should have some involvement.” Hilberg spoke to the board because she wanted to create public awareness of what’s going on in the schools and to get a behavior room to support those children. Alpena Public Schools Superintendent John VanWagoner said in an interview with The News that, across the region, resources are not available to handle the type of trauma that students experience. He said the district is struggling to have the resources to have a few social workers or school psychologists. The hope is to create a behavior room within Alpena schools soon….
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