Ind. School Board Pushes for Reform after Teacher Hurt on Job by Students

Safety at Work

Columbus, IN (WorkersCompensation.com) – School board members with the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation are pushing for change to how their schools report employee injuries.

The move comes after an investigation by WRTV into a teacher who resigned from the school district after being hurt by students.

WRTV reported BCSC school board members Logan Schulz and Jason Major have brought the investigation to their most recent board meeting. They’re proposing that the district hold a meeting with teachers and parents on how to improve safety in their schools.

According to Indiana’s School Employee Injury Report, Indiana schools reported that 4,133 school employees were injured in incidents that involved students. Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation listed 20 total incidents for the 2024-2025 school year. That’s down from the 142 incidents for the 2023-2024 school year.

BCSC’s reporting flies in the face of the statewide numbers. The report showed statewide, the number of school employee injuries increased 36 percent, up from 3,032.

A 2023 state law required public and charter schools to report when a school employee is injured by a student to the Indiana Department of Education. The injuries needed to include those that were reported to workers’ compensation, caused the employee to miss all or part of one or more workdays, and were reported to the school because of the school’s reporting policy.

Melissa Streeval questioned BCSC’s numbers. She told WRTV she left teaching at BCSC because of student-centered injuries.

“I never signed up for being scared to go to work,” Streeval said.

She said she was injured by students while she was working. Two times she was forced to seek medical attention. Both of those times, she said, were the result of trying to stop one student from hurting others.

“He was stomping on my feet, kicking my legs,” she said. “The bottom half of my legs were completely red and swollen. I just couldn’t calm him."

Because teachers are not allowed to put their hands on students, Streeval requested cameras in her room for protection.

She questions BCSC’s total incident number of 20. She reported 10 incidents in the 2024-2025 school year alone. BCSC requires accidents to be reported and evaluated, and that injured employees complete a form detailing what happened. She said she knew of others who had numerous reports as well. Additionally, the school district reported there were no incidents where an injured employee missed at least part of a workday. She said she was sent home after one incident.

“I was told to stay home and rest and elevate the next day,” Streeval said. “So, to me that would have qualified."

BCSC Superintendent Chad Phillips told the school board at the meeting that the decline in the number of incidents was due to which incidents were reported. Previously, the district reported every incident that a teacher reported. Now, he said, the district only reports to the state those incidents that involve workers’ compensation.

"This year we flipped it around so there was a dramatic decline in our reported number of incidents because we reported them consistently with what other districts did last year,” Phillips said.

He blamed the discrepancy and the new reporting method on the state reporting requirements. The district, he said, is reporting accurate information.

“Our guidance from the state continues to be poor,” said Phillips. “We continue to do the very best we can and be very transparent about exactly what that data means."

School board member Jason Majors said that a report given to board members shows a much higher number

“Our for-information-only reports went up significantly from last year, and I think it is imperative that we begin to have more discussion around this,” said Major. “The student-on-teacher incident rate is mind-boggling."

Major and Schulz said more needs to be done to protect school employees.

“I think we need to take this seriously,” said Major. “Even the Army gives hazard pay. I think we really need to start considering safety.”

Schulz said the district can do better.

"I don’t think it’s bad to go above what the state says,” he said. “The state sets the minimum bar. We can lead that bar."

There is no penalty currently for school districts that do not report to the state’s Department of Education, or that give inaccurate reports. Last year, the first year of the new law, only 166 school districts of the more than 400 in the state filed reports. This year, 235 school corporations and charters reported injuries, while 190 school districts did not report. The Indiana State Teachers Association proposed that school districts that don’t comply with the law should face financial penalties. However, no bill to codify the proposal was introduced in the last legislative session.

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