MENTONE -ÊIs Mentone Elementary becoming too violent?

Several parents of Mentone Elementary students think it may be. And they said an alternative school for disruptive students may be the solution.

Sherrill Hamman, a parent representing a small group of parents, told the school board, "We would like to share with you some of the concerns we have about our children's safety and their right to an optimal learning environment."

First, she said, the problems in no way reflect on retiring Mentone Elementary principal Jack Fisher and that she respects him and will miss him as a principal once he retires.

She said she believes part of the reason he is retiring is because "of the stress he has been under this year. Part of that stress is dealing with some severe behavioral problems in our school. It has been a real struggle for our students, our staff and our principal, and even for me as a parent.

"These troubled students have disrupted our class, physically attacked students and the principal and verbally abused our teachers and our classmates. These students are robbing our children of their education."

She said she hopes the board will think "long and hard" about an alternative school. Even though it may mean money, everything means money these days, she said, but something has to be done.

The disruptive students don't seem to be able to handle a normal classroom situation and suspension isn't always the answer, as the students need to continue learning.

In April, Hamman said, her family had to deal with a "situation" at Mentone that was "very stressful."

"My 10-year-old went through a horrible ordeal and we're still trying to get him back on track to want to come to school," she said. "He fears for his life and that is not fair to my son or anyone else's child."

Hamman said that over a four-week period, her son had been bullied. It started out as pinching behind the neck, escalated to twisting her son's arm behind his back and then it went to a choke hold in the bathroom, where the child had to be taken off her son.

"The final straw that broke the camel's back was that he threatened to kill him," Hamman said. "Basically saying, right to his face, '... I'm going to blow your head off. If I have a gun, I'm going to kill you. If I get a gun, I'm going to kill you.'"

The problem her son is having with other students is not the fault of the teacher, Hamman said. The problem, she said, lies with everyone and a solution must be found.

"School violence is continuing to rise and we don't want our Mentone School to be part of a statistic," she said. Many of the problems, she said, aren't school-based but home-based, and are brought into the schools where they become everyone's problem.

She said she is scared to send her kids to school and wants the school board to think of a way to get disruptive students to begin to care about school. She doesn't hate them, she said, but rather feels sorry for them and wants them to have an education, too. However, they are robbing her children of an education and something needs to be done.

Hamman said, "I've never been a home-schooling advocate ... but when it comes to the safety of my child, I would think long and hard if I felt my child was physically going to be threatened and hurt. I would keep my child at home. And I hate to say that."

Angie Swihart, a parent, said it may be difficult for the school board members to understand parents' concerns. However, if the school board members could walk through the school, they would see how it is and would hear the foul language. "There's still a handful of teachers that teach our kids morals and want our kids to do right. And it only takes a few kids in a classroom to totally disrupt them and cause confusion with our kids," she said.

Superintendent Dr. Karen Boling told the parents she hopes they knew their concerns did not fall on deaf ears.

Hamman said she knows that and she is happy with the way the situation has been handled "so far," but her son is scared to go to school and that's not the way it is supposed to be.

Parent Kim Long said there are more disruptive students than the one that has caused grief for Hamman's son. "My child is in the fourth grade and there, around Christmas, he didn't want to come to school anymore. ... It was a particular child getting everyone against him and things like that."

"We are talking about violent, very physically violent, 10-year-olds," said Hamman. "We're talking about verbally abusive 10-year-olds. I mean, that's what we're dealing with."

Despite the teacher's best efforts, her son's teacher has to spend the majority of her time "on those bad kids," and the good ones are the ones who have to "go by the wayside," she said.

Swihart said that at her house, they give their children one chance and when they find out they did something wrong, "they're in deep doo-doo. They know it. These (disruptive) kids get chance after chance after chance. And if you are wanting to do any heroic measures for our school system ... find a program or alternative school ..."

TVSC board members are Mark Wise, Bruce Andrews, Fred McSherry, Tom Weaver and Rod Eaton. [[In-content Ad]]