Educators' union urges urgent action after staff assaults; calls for state law, county policy and consistent discipline enforcement

At the Feb. 11 board meeting Sean Heil, president of the Education Association of Charles County (EACC), told the Board of Education that educators in the system are experiencing repeated assaults and traumatic incidents and urged urgent action to protect staff.

"Educators can't educate from the emergency room," Heil told the board, describing recent incidents that included a high school educator who fractured a knee trying to protect students and a pregnant elementary teacher who was chased around her classroom by a student with a pencil. Heil said those examples come from reports EACC used to compile recommended changes.

Heil outlined a multi-part plan for reducing severe student behavior and protecting staff. It included asking the board to support the Davis Martinez Public Safety and Health Act (HB176 / SB26), state legislation that would require the state to develop plans and programs aimed at protecting public workers against workplace violence. Heil said the EACC will lobby in Annapolis on Feb. 24 for the bill.

Heil also urged the board to prepare a countywide policy on student cell-phone use if the state adopts measures such as Senate Bill 368 or House Bill 192 (both referenced by the EACC). The union's concerns about cell phones included cheating, the proliferation of recorded videos of incidents, and social-media-fueled altercations that can interrupt the school day.

On discipline, Heil called for consistent enforcement of the county code of conduct and discipline matrix across all schools, additional training for administrators on consistent responses to behavior, and in-service training for teachers on writing effective referrals. He asked the district to clarify how long removals to Sedum (SETAM) should count when students are chronically absent or when behavior recurs while assigned there, and to use the Virtual Academy as an option in some cases.

Heil recommended a tighter rein on placement and readmission processes: students assigned to an intervention program should complete the full intervention period and, if behavior reoccurs while assigned, the clock should reset. He also urged consideration of legal accountability for parents in severe cases when parents are not participating in readmit conferences or otherwise engaging with the district.

Heil concluded by saying the EACC is prepared to work with the district and the board but insisted: "Everything was on the table, policies, procedures, and laws. Let's start with laws." He said the union wants to see systemic changes quickly to keep educators safe.

Why it matters: Heil described injuries to staff and frequent urgent-care visits among educators, raising workplace-safety and retention concerns. The union presented a mix of legal (state bill), policy (countywide cell-phone rules), procedural (referral training, consistent discipline enforcement) and programmatic (Sedum/Virtual Academy processing) recommendations to reduce violence and disruption.

Speakers and attribution are based on the public meeting record.