2022 EDUCATION EDITION
Supporting students The district has 309 sta members dedicated to providing guidance and counseling services for more than 118,000 students. Cy-Fair ISD’s board approved a $6 million budget item
While all students are expected to abide by the student code of conduct, campuses approach discipline di er- ently depending on grade levels and other factors, according to Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Ify Ogwumike. “Each campus has its own unique needs regarding discipline, so what we’ve done this year is try to tailor our support,” Ogwumike said. “What we provide is support and guidance; the principals ultimately make the nal decision regarding discipline, and we support and guide them.” Reimers said she believes students may have become more comfortable with misbehaving due to their knowl- edge of teachers’ limited ability to directly discipline them. According to the student code of conduct, teachers can issue verbal and written warn- ings, tardies, or send students to the principal or assistant principal. O ering support Peterson said she encourages school districts to ensure they approach behavioral issues with an understand- ing of the circumstances children face. “I think it’s important that there is a comprehensive and holistic approach to behavioral issues and to discipline,” Peterson said. “But to also really emphasize that we need to do what’s best for each student, each individual, because what’s best for one student may not be what’s best for the other.” CFISD has 309 employees dedicated to counseling and support for more than 118,000 students. This includes the four-person Mental Health Inter- vention Team, which works at all dis- trict levels to promote and support the mental health of students and sta through prevention, interven- tion and safety.
CFISD Chief of Sta Teresa Hull said o cials are working to provide teach- ers with more enforcement power. “At the beginning of the year, we were hopeful that we were going to be able to allow that transition of getting kids back into structured environ- ments and work with them and keep them in school. That was our goal: keep them in school; keep them in class. But the disruptive behavior was just not being e ective, not improv- ing learning,” Hull said during the June 9 board work session. “And so we modi ed that approach and really supported [the teachers] in being able to remove those disruptive students.” Peterson said consistency in disci- pline can be helpful but emphasized the importance of addressing each student as an individual. Two di erent kinds of discipline can be used together to create a structured and nurturing learning environment. According to Peterson, restorative dis- cipline focuses on teaching children whether behaviors are acceptable in a nurturing way, while punitive disci- pline is a punishment for doing some- thing against the rules. Priska said she believes it will take society years to overcome the e ects of the pandemic, and adults should empathize with youth who have dealt with that hardship. “I think we need to expect di erent things from kids than we expected two or three years ago,” she said. “They just aren’t as mature and they just aren’t as able to communicate their feelings, so we should also teach them about emotions and how to express emotions appropriately.”
epidemic to students even prior to COVID-19,” Peterson said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2019 more than 1 in 3 high school students expe- rienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. With high levels of stress already present, children of all ages saw their stress levels rise exponentially as the pandemic upended their social and personal lives, Peterson said. Stu- dents lost a sense of security as the constant of school was stripped away, and some experienced the loss of fam- ily members or friends to the virus. “And this means that for some of these young people, they’re experi- encing real trauma,” Peterson said. “And so then you add in ... the poten- tial learning loss and skill de cit—they may be behind where everybody else is and feeling overwhelmed and not even know how to ask for help or believe they can catch up academically.” Mental health intervention counselors Administrative support sta Youth service specialists Middle school counselors 4 5 18 59 108 115 SOURCE: CY FAIR ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
for 2022-23 to add behavioral specialists to campuses that request them.
High school counselors Elementary school counselors
Reimers said she believes the inse- curities and fears she and her peers faced during the pandemic left them isolated and unaware of how to ask for help or resolve issues in a healthy manner, which may have contributed to more students acting out at school. Priska said these e ects trickle down to younger children as well. “We are now seeing kids who are struggling with social anxiety at a very young age,” Priska said. “They’re 3 and 4 and 5 years old, and they are experiencing social anxiety, some of them still co-sleeping with their par- ents and not even wanting to sleep in their own room because they are so attached to their family because they grew into that.” Handling discipline District o cials said disciplinary issues are handled according to pro- cedures outlined in the CFISD student code of conduct.
“STRESS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS AN EPIDEMIC TO STUDENTS EVEN PRIOR TO COVID 19.” STEPHANIE PETERSON, TRAINING AND EDUCATION SPECIALIST AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY’S TEXAS SCHOOL SAFETY CENTER
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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CYPRESS EDITION • AUGUST 2022
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