Three parents addressed the Caswell County Board of Education during public comment, detailing what they described as persistent and sometimes violent disruptive behavior in an Oakwood Elementary classroom and urging the board to support the teacher and protect students’ emotional and physical safety.

Jen Sparks, a member of a SHAC subcommittee working on alternative classroom environments, said the group is in a diagnostic phase and is willing to meet with board members and staff to share observations. Parent Heather Vaughn said her child “told her that that was the scariest day of his life” after a classroom incident that led the child to seek the nurse. Allison Bernard described frequent incidents she said included scratching, biting and throwing objects and said the behaviors were becoming normalized for other students.

District staff and board members responded that the issue had been raised at the SHAC meeting and that some recommended supports are beyond the committee’s scope. The superintendent and student-services staff said the SHAC’s work would be redirected to a staff-led subcommittee that will include district student-services personnel, the director of pupil services (Calla Wilson), and other partners. Board members said the matter may require confidential follow-up in closed session because some actions may involve protected student information.

Board members emphasized two parallel priorities: protecting students and supporting classroom teachers. Staff said they are exploring partnerships with outside agencies and will bring recommendations to the board; no formal board action was taken during the public session beyond the direction to staff to pursue those next steps.

The board’s discussion of behavior supports also touched on related topics raised earlier in the meeting, including metal-detector compliance at secondary sites and broader behavior-intervention staffing needs.