GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Multiple people the Green Bay Area Public School District invited to East High School Thursday night to discuss ways to bolster community support for the district say they’ve witnessed firsthand the unsafe conditions described by former Washington Middle School teacher Kerstin Westcott when she publicly submitted her resignation in June.
A woman, who chose to remain anonymous when speaking with WTAQ, says she has subbed for Westcott at Washington.
“It was terrible. A lot of (the students) have a huge victim mentality, and that’s not saying that they don’t come from bad environments and terrible homes, but we can’t reinforce that.”
To fix that mentality, the substitute teacher believes students need to be taught values like respecting oneself and setting goals.
“We’re always trying to fix them, instead of empowering them.”
She believes students would benefit from getting out into the community through school-led initiatives like volunteering.
Dean Raasch, who graduated from Washington and now volunteers at the school, recalls one instance.
“After a student was physically removed from the class because of an outburst, I asked the students ‘why is that acceptable?’ They told me that ‘it’s not acceptable, but we have no way to stop it, we have no way to change it, we have no way to control it. The teachers are at a loss. We just need to deal with it.’ That kid will come back again and do the same thing again.”
Raasch belives teachers need to be given more power to discipline students.
He thinks its possible that educators throughout the county are afraid of ‘lawsuits or the political correct police’ coming after any teacher who tries to discipline in the classroom.
Meanwhile, Ron Pulak is a retired GBAPSD teacher and feels the district doesn’t have to look far to correct the alleged troubles at Washington.
“There’s schools in our district that are functioning very, very well. They have the same problems. What are they doing that, not eliminates the problems, but controls the problems?”
Pulak notes schools like Edison Middle School that have a much better reputation and should be replicated.
Betty Kossik of Green Bay Adocates for Public Education feels changes need to start at the top.
“A lot of teachers know that sometimes the behavior problems are taken to administration and there’s not the follow through all the way. Some of the programs that we’re using right now on behaviors aren’t the best.”
Kossik wants district administrators to take a hands-on role in addressing any problems.
“I think that the response (from district leaders) could be better.”
Roughly 20 people were invited to take part in the discussion, which lasted an hour.
It was part of a volunteer fair the district held, where community members could learn more about opportunities to help out at Washington and other district schools, through programs like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and a reading initiative.”
