Attorney Mary Kelm tells Chippewa Falls school board she was attacked, urges audits and safety reforms

Attorney Mary Kelm addressed the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District Board of Education and said she was attacked by a student in April, described persistent, severe student behavior across campus, and urged the board to take data-driven steps to protect staff and students.

Kelm told the board she was still recovering from the April incident and said it ‘‘consumes most of my day.’’ She said the district’s problems ‘‘are not confined to classrooms’’ but ‘‘permeate hallways in all areas of our school property,’’ affecting ‘‘classmates, teachers, educational assistants, and administrators alike.’’

Kelm listed types of behavior she said staff are facing, including ‘‘verbal and physical threats, fighting, spitting, pinching, hitting and kicking, throwing objects and swearing,’’ and cited ‘‘intentional urination, defecation, and smearing of feces, damage to school and personal property.’’ She said support staff are expected to manage violent and aggressive behaviors without adequate training or compensation.

Kelm also raised concerns about special education students, saying teachers are ‘‘often unprepared to handle emotional and behavioral disorders’’ and reporting that mandated 1-on-1 support is sometimes not provided: ‘‘When new students with extreme behaviors join our schools, we are frequently told to try it out and see if we can manage without the 1 on 1 support staff mandated in their individualized educational plan.’’

To address the problems, Kelm proposed specific audits and data collection: audits of staff injury calls related to student incidents, an audit of office discipline referrals (with attention to special education students), an audit of the types and severity of referrals, an audit of classroom evacuations and the time staff spend managing behaviors, and a staff survey ‘‘to gather comprehensive data.’’ She called on the board to ‘‘invest in and identify real solutions’’ and said she was ‘‘recommended for termination’’ while also asking the district to ‘‘address my situation fairly.’’

The board did not take action on Kelm’s requests in open session; following her remarks, the board voted to convene a closed session to consider an employment matter related to the discussion.

Kelm closed her remarks by saying, ‘‘Every member of our school community deserves a safe and consistent learning environment,’’ and urged the board to act to prevent future incidents.

The board will consider the employment matter in closed session; no further public action was recorded in open session at the meeting’s close.