LOWER POTTSGROVE, Pa. (WPVI) — Concerns over violent and disruptive behavior among young students at Ringing Rocks Elementary School were discussed at Tuesday night’s Pottsgrove School District Board meeting, where parents and teachers called for stronger action to address safety issues.
The reported incidents involve kindergartners, first graders, and second graders. The school district says most students are doing well, but acknowledges the issues.
Some parents say the situation has become so severe that they have decided to remove their children from the school.
“I have since pulled my son from Ringing Rocks Elementary, and he has started at a new school,” said LeeAnn Gravinese of Lower Pottsgrove.
Teachers at the school have reported serious incidents, including a student allegedly strangling a peer and another causing a concussion to a teacher.
The Pottsgrove Education Association (PGEA) also cited cases of pushing, kicking, punching, biting, throwing objects, and hair-pulling. Educators are urging the district to take more decisive steps to curb the behavior.
“We walked into this year feeling great, we really did,” said Pottsgrove School District Superintendent Dr. David Finnerty. “We saw some behaviors that were unexpected. We had some students who moved in that were not what we planned for, we had some students who were bubbling last year but were not – the behaviors that we’re seeing this year are drastically different than the end of the last year, so we recognized early that we needed to pivot.”
District officials say the students involved are part of a group experiencing behavioral issues or conditions. While the concerns are not new, the school board presented its latest plan to address them during the meeting.
The plan includes hiring additional special education teachers and registered behavioral technicians, bringing in onsite clinicians to support students in crisis, and providing more staff training.
The district says it is using both restorative responses and appropriate disciplinary measures. The PGEA emphasized the importance of safety for everyone in the school community.
“We just want to make sure that we’re all working together to find the solutions where everyone wants to come to school to work and thrive,” said Andrew Clark of the Pottsgrove Education Association.
The district also partnered with the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety to conduct a school safety audit. However, the teachers’ union expressed concerns about the accuracy of the audit, noting that the visits were scheduled, some students were absent, and additional support staff were present during the evaluations.
Union representatives said that random teacher interviews and unannounced visits would provide a more accurate picture of the school’s environment.
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