Trouble for teachers

Behavior problems on rise in Mat-Su schools

May 2, 2006

By JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Students who kick, bite, self mutilate, and pose safety threats to teachers and fellow classmates are rapidly increasing in the Mat-Su Borough School District. Answers to why these student populations are expanding, however, are difficult to come by.

According to school district officials, total school enrollment in the Mat-Su Borough increased by 22 percent over the last 10 years. During that same time frame, however, students with autism rose by 1,233 percent, while kids with emotional handicaps more than doubled. Other health-impaired students rose by 653 percent.

Students with related problems are only expected to increase next year, as the district welcomes back 50 troubled youth who were previously housed in residential treatment centers in the Lower 48. Those students are returning as part of a statewide initiative to bring home and provide treatment services for these youth in their home state.

According to a recent school district report, the dramatic rise in students who pose health and safety risks has led to increasing reports of staff injuries as teachers struggle to deal with a host of behavior problems.

&#8220I'm not sure why our district is seeing this increase,” said Safe School Coordinator Kevin Koechlein. &#8220What we are trying to do now is provide some skills for teachers and parents to prevent these problems.”

In an effort to equip teachers for these new realities, the Mat-Su School Board recently approved a contract with Communities in Schools, a national organization that focuses on helping troubled youth succeed in school. Communities in Schools- Alaska agreed to give the district $25,000 a year for the next two years to help train teachers in how to deal with classroom disturbances.

Dennis Boyer currently works part time with Mat-Su teachers to provide Mandt training, a technique that focuses on de-escalating volatile situations, so they don't turn violent or abusive.

Boyer provides Mandt training for an average of 200 teachers and school staff personnel each year. The training, however, is administered outside actual class situations, which means teachers do not receive much hands-on training. With the new contract, Boyer will begin visiting individual classrooms to evaluate problems as they arise.

In volatile situations everyone tends to get defensive and prepare for battle, Boyer explained last month. The challenge is to respond to aggression as calmly and respectfully as possible.

&#8220We have some students who actually have to be dealt with very carefully because they are very volatile,” Boyer said. &#8220They may get emotionally or physically aggressive, but we want to keep them from escalating.”

The very last line of defense is to physically restrain student through techniques that Boyer also teaches.

&#8220The prime focus is to never get to the point of physical restraint,” he said. &#8220We would like to believe that if we get to the point of physical restraint, our treatment has failed.”

Pam Fenstamaker is the director of special education for the Mat-Su School District. She confessed to being perplexed as to why so many students exhibit behavioral and emotional disorders.

&#8220There is a lot of speculation as to why,” she said. &#8220We don't really know why.”

Autism is one of the fastest growing disorders, both locally and nationwide. Its causes, however, remain a mystery. Possible reasons for increased autism cases have ranged from childhood immunizations and computer screen usage, to environmental factors and poor parenting. Other explanations include increased awareness of the disorder as well as possible overdiagnosing of actual cases.

According to the Alaska Autism Resource Center, no definitive cause is identified for autism or the spectrum of autistic disorders. Autism Spectrum Disorder produces a wide variety of symptoms or characteristics, ranging from very mild to severe. Symptoms can include impaired communication skills, inability to regulate one's behavior, and many other social disorders.

Often, the school district will contact the Juvenile Assessment Center in Wasilla to help troubled students and their parents find treatment and counseling services. In fiscal year 2005, JAC received 182 referrals from high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. These students suffered from a host of ills, including family crisis, aggressive behavior, anger problems, depression, anxiety and others.

&#8220We provide free behavioral health assessments for all school-age children,” said Janice Stormer, who works as an administrative support staff at JAC. &#8220Everyone here is stretched to the max. Regular counseling appointments are sometimes backed up a month or two - it's been that way for a long time.”

Finding root causes for these problems is key, Boyer said, but much of his energy is focused on simply helping teachers deal with issues as they surface.

&#8220What causes these problems is separate from what to do with it once we got it,” he said. &#8220I don't know what's causing them, but I do know that having a relationship with someone who cares gives a kid the best chance.”

Laurine Domke, the Mat-Su district's director of federal programs, works on securing funding sources for programs like the Mandt training. The Mandt training will help, but ultimately she said the solution involves much more than a single grant.

&#8220We are only talking about one person providing more training,” she said. &#8220The problems go way beyond that.”

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.