Urbana Middle School Violence and Gunfire Damage

Dangers from outside and within the middle school have been in the news. From the News-Gazette yesterday and today:

Probe underway after bullet holes found on front of Urbana Middle School
An employee found damage at Urbana Middle School on Sunday, apparently from gunfire.

An Urbana police report said police were sent to the 1200 block of South Vine Street just after 1 a.m. Sunday for reports of shots that had been heard by several people.

Police could find no one responsible and no damage at the time of the call.

However, about 4:45 p.m. Sunday, a school employee found three bullet holes in the front of the middle school on the east side of the building at 1201 S. Vine St. and reported the damage to police.

Full blurb here. And a lot of people are confused and/or unhappy with the new restorative discipline system that replaced the dean system in hopes of reducing racial disparities at the middle and high schools:

Urbana parents, staff unsatisfied with district's approach to discipline
Nearly a month into the school year, parents and staff are still looking to district administrators for solutions to discipline issues raised earlier this year.

After deciding to eliminate deans from the middle and high schools in March, administrators spent months providing reassurance to staff and parents who wondered if a new system — one focused on restorative practices — could be ready by August, or if it was the correct solution to problems of increased fighting and discipline issues.

Public comment during Tuesday's school board meeting reflected a community still grappling with that question.

"I don't feel safe sending my kid to UHS anymore," Angela Lusk told the board. "My child has come home with more reports of fights at the high school — it's becoming greater and more frequent."

...

Middle school teacher Chuck Koplinski echoed her comments, describing to the board a building plagued with violence despite the efforts of the support staff hired to replace the deans.

"I am hear to tell you these new people you hired are working very hard, and they are very confused because they don't know what their role is," he said. "Students are ignoring them."

Kolpinsky detailed incident after incident, saying some middle school staffers who have attempted to break up fights have suffered broken bones.

"The middle school is no longer safe," he said. "We do not have an atmosphere of learning right now. We are waiting for the first fight to occur every day."

Full article on that school board meeting here.