Teachers say Florida suspects problems started in middle school, and the system tried to help him

[FarCenter]

PARKLAND, Fla. — The real problems started at least as early as middle school and quickly intensified. There were the vocal outbursts, disturbing drawings of stick figures with guns, constant disciplinary issues. There were threatening statements written on his homework and scrap paper, including a reference to killing President Barack Obama, saying he should be “burned alive and eaten.”

Some teachers banned Nikolas Cruz from their classrooms at Westglades Middle School because of his erratic behavior. One teacher said he was barred from bringing a backpack to the school and that security personnel had to search him to ensure he didn’t have weapons. Teachers were very concerned about him and were working to get him help.

...

“I can say I was so uncomfortable around him, I did not want to be alone with him in my classroom,” said one former teacher, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “That is how disruptive his behavior was.”

...

His middle school and high school teachers referred him to individual and family counseling, the records show. They held parent conferences and called social workers. They sent him to in-school suspension, and they sent him off campus. For a time, they sent him to a school for emotionally disturbed youth. Finally, after he was disciplined for an assault at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, they asked for an assessment of the threat he posed to his school, and ultimately he was expelled, about a year before he returned with a gun.


A person familiar with the records confirmed their authenticity, and interviews with teachers, administrators and those who knew Cruz — along with other records and accounts — show that he was well-known to school and mental health authorities and was entrenched in the process for getting students help rather than referring them to law enforcement.

...

Broward County schools once recorded more in-school arrests than any other Florida school system. But that harsh approach fell out of favor amid concerns that it was funneling too many young people — and particularly black and Hispanic students — into the juvenile justice system. Cruz is listed on official documents as being white.

In recent years, Broward schools became a leader in the national move toward a different kind of discipline — one that would not just punish students, but also would help them address the root causes of their misbehavior. Such policies aim to combat what is known as the “school-to-prison pipeline,” giving teenagers a chance to stick with their education rather than get derailed, often permanently, by criminal charges.

Beginning in 2013, Broward stopped referring students to police for about a dozen infractions ranging from alcohol and drug use to bullying, harassment and assault. Instead, students who get in trouble for those infractions are offered an alternative program that emphasizes counseling, conflict resolution skills and referral to community social service agencies.

Jonathon Fishman, spokesman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, said last week that he had no record of deputies arresting Cruz before Wednesday.

As a result, Broward has seen a dramatic decline in the number of students who are arrested at school. In 2011-2012, Broward recorded 1,056 school-based arrests; by 2015-2016, that number had fallen 63 percent to 392 school-based arrests.

The Obama administration held up Broward’s transformed discipline system as a national model, inviting Runcie to speak about the district’s approach in 2015.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-say-florida-shooters-problems-started-in-middle-school-and-the-system-tried-to-help-him/2018/02/18/cdff7aa6-1413-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html

[bitterross]

1. Oh Shit, Now this will become an idictment on the method the school system used.

Now the Sessions of the world will push for "tough on crime" treatment of kids again. That will be a huge mistake!

[B2G]

2. Well there were obviously cracks a mile wide here.

Trying to gloss over that will solve nothing.

[bitterross]

3. The GOP is not good at nuance. They won't care about what works vs what doesn't.

Clearly, something different needs to be done. About that you are correct. The GOP is far too black and white though and they will be unable to see how the methods Broward County use are probably good overall. You don't throw out the whole thing for one failure or slip. You analyze and adjust.

When it comes to this sort of thing the GOP only wants to go one way most of the time. LOCK THEM UP!

That is not a great way to handle it.

[B2G]

5. The left can be equally black and white.

Please point me to any solutions that don't involve gun control.

[FarCenter]

4. It pretty obvious that he should have been turned over to law enforcement for assault and battery

It is not the school's job to protect the perpetrators, since they cannot also protect the victims.

[elehhhhna]

6. Yep. Agreed.