Participant Summary

27 individuals participated in the UCISD Needs Assessment Survey.

Barriers & Challenges

What challenges or barriers, if any, are you encountering when working with students who were impacted by the incident in May of 2022?

Summary:
The responses to this question highlight several challenges faced by staff when working with students affected by the incident of May 2022. Students are struggling with emotional regulation, heightened sensitivity to loud noises and drills, and other trauma reminders, such as panic attacks during safety exercises. Behavioral concerns are also prevalent, including lack of focus, accountability, and respect, as well as frequent use of cell phones. Some staff reported difficulty navigating interactions with parents, who may also be processing their own trauma and occasionally attribute all academic and behavioral issues to the incident. Additionally, there is a perceived gap in support for teachers and staff who were directly impacted and continue to carry emotional burdens while supporting their students. Note that 6 staff said there were no barriers.

Key Themes:

Trauma-Related Sensitivities
Staff report that students display heightened emotional responses and anxiety related to trauma reminders such as loud noises, safety drills, and reminders of the incident.
- “They are very sensitive to loud noises, alarms, pep rallies.”
- “Students are frightened by sudden loud noises and any school safety drill.”
- “I have a couple of students who do not like the safety drills we implement. They cause extreme anxiety.”
Perceived Entitlement and Lack of Accountability
Some staff perceive entitlement, resistance to expectations, and a lack of accountability as potential barriers to working with students.
- “Entitlement”
- “These students think they are privileged and that expectations nor grades (class work) applies to them.”
- “Unpreparedness for class, no accountability, disrespectful behaviors such as not following instructions, challenging the teacher’s authority, constantly using their cell phones, not wanting to participate in class lessons or do any work.”
Parent Challenges and Communication Barriers
Staff perceive parents as a potential barrier, noting that parents often attribute student behavior to trauma and may respond defensively when addressed by staff.
- “When contacting parents they have often defended their child’s behavior and academics on the incident.”
- “I have been verbally abused for not knowing the details of what their child went through.”
- “I would like approaches on communicating with parents and how to suggest that perhaps not all of these events are directly related to the trauma.”
Need for Counseling and Mental Health Resources
Staff expressed a need for more mental health resources to support recovery and well-being for both students and staff.
- “I wish we could have more counseling resources for them.”
- “Staff, student, and parents are still very hypersensitive to when we are needing to conduct holds, drills etc.”
Overemphasis on Incident Anniversaries
Some staff feel that public commemorations of the incident, such as the “21 days of tribute,” may hinder student emotional recovery.
- “The 21 days of tribute is not good for our children. They do fine until we draw attention to the situation.”
- “Our children in their own way are moving forward and I think as adults we need to move forward with them.”
Neglect of Staff Well-Being
Teachers and staff report feeling overlooked in terms of trauma support and resources despite their direct experiences of the incident.
- “Students weren’t the only ones impacted by 524. There seems to be a huge gap in the care of teachers and staff that were affected.”
- “The district is not holding the proper space and care for the adults that show up every day.”
Classroom Disruption and Behavioral Issues
Staff describe behavioral challenges exhibited by students such as lack of focus, disrespect, and misuse of cell phones.
- “Many students are struggling with focus and often speak out of turn.”
- “Cell phones/watches are a HUGE problem.”
- “A large majority of the students lack empathy.”

Specific Behavioral Challenges

What specific behaviors, if any, are you having difficulty managing with students on campus?

Summary:
Students are exhibiting a range of behavioral challenges, from minor disruptions to significant concerns. Common issues include defiance, disrespect, and difficulties following classroom rules and expectations. Many students struggle with focus and emotional regulation, contributing to increased outbursts, inappropriate behavior, and challenges in maintaining a productive learning environment. While some staff attribute these behaviors to broader developmental or social factors, others point to a perceived lack of accountability and empathy among students. These challenges highlight the need for consistent behavioral support strategies and interventions that address both academic engagement and students’ social-emotional needs.

Behavior Examples

Social & Emotional Needs:
- “We see a lot of social emotional needs in students. They are making violent threats when they are angry. The students do not know how to regulate their emotions and use appropriate wording to explain how they feel.”
- “I am having difficulty managing outbursts from some students that involve throwing small objects and sometimes chairs when they get upset, hitting their desk when frustrated, and crying.”
Classroom Disruptions:
- “The most challenging behaviors are silly behaviors such as not staying seated, the excessive talking, stealing, and defiant behavior.”
- “Students are walking out of class and sending themselves to the office when redirected.”
- “Most of what we deal with in our classroom is students who cannot stay quiet or focused or have a lack of manners.”
- “While I am not always in a classroom, I am right across from one. The students are loud, disruptive to others, acting out.”
Defiance and Disrespect:
- “They are insubordinate and rude to each other and teachers.”
- “Unpreparedness for class, no accountability, disrespectful behaviors such as not following instructions, challenging the teacher’s authority.”
- “These kids are sassy and snarky with their comments. They like to have the ultimate word.”
- “They are often absent from class and when they are present often will sit there and do nothing. They don’t see adults as authority.”
Behavioral Management Issues:
- “Struggling with getting off task and following classroom rules and expectations.”
- “Unpreparedness for class, no accountability, disrespectful behaviors such as not following instructions, challenging the teacher’s authority, constantly using their cell phones, not wanting to participate in class lessons or do any work.”
- “Threatening behaviors have increased over the last three years, and there is no consistency within the district to implement consequences that teach lessons. We’re stuck in a cycle and it’s terrifying.”
- “Beyond the classroom, such as when I have pick up duty, when students are asked to get quiet, surprisingly many don’t listen and will show a lack of respect for adults. They even lack empathy or manners toward one another. It is not empathy necessarily towards May 24th just empathy in general.”

Perceived Support For Staff

Do you feel like you are receiving the support (counseling, peer support, educational resources, etc.) you need to manage your own feelings and reactions related to the incident in May of 2022?

If answered “no”, what type of support would be helpful? (Check all that apply)

Other types of support listed included the following:


On PD or staff days let the staff that were at tragedy have a day together to talk about our feelings, what we did, how we are doing……. We have NEVER had a day together just to talk about 5/24/22.
I feel that we are provided the resource that are needed, BUT I do not feel that we are allotted the time to use these resources. BIG feelings + limited staff= quick burn out

Tools & Strategies Needed

What tools or strategies do you feel are missing from your current toolkit that would help you better manage trauma- or grief-related issues on your campus?
For each category below, please identify any gaps or needs you have experienced:
With students
With parents
With other school staff
With other community partners or stakeholders

Themes Across Missing Tools

With Students

Social-Emotional Support
Staff report needing tools and strategies to help manage students’ emotions, anxiety, and trauma effectively.
- “They don’t have a platform to watch or listen to for a few minutes to calm or relax them.”
- “How to approach students when they feel emotional.”
- “Tools/Strategies are needed to help students experiencing anxiety.”
Counseling and Relationship Building
Increased counseling services and efforts to build meaningful relationships between students and staff are common missing tools described by staff.
- “MORE counseling for each and every student, relationship building student-student and student-teacher.”
- “Strategies for working with defensive children that know they can use this trauma to defend their actions.”
Behavior Management
Staff report needing tools and strategies to help address behavioral challenges, such as teaching students to manage conflicts and reduce threatening behaviors.
- “How do we teach our students to react in a non-violent way when they are upset?”
- “How do we teach the students not to threaten others?”
Perceived Lack of Motivation
Some staff mention perceiving a lack of consistency, empathy, and motivation among some students.
- “They know what to say and do. There are some that I understand have trouble but some students didn’t act like this last year and now taking advantage.”
- “Lack of consistency and consequences. Lack of empathy. Lack of motivation.”
- “The desire to be at school to learn.”
Exposure to Community Support Systems
Some staff suggest providing students opportunities to interact with community helpers (e.g., police, firefighters, EMTs) to alleviate fears and build trust.
- “Allowing the students to interact with Police, fireman, EMTs. These students hear a siren go off and automatically think the worst is happening.”
Trauma & Loss Education
Others suggest incorporating assemblies and expert-led discussions to address trauma, loss, and coping strategies.
- “How do we teach the students not to use this trauma to defend their actions?”
- “Unsure about gaps, perhaps providing assemblies or experts come in to classrooms and talk about loss.”

With Parents

Parental Support and Engagement in Education
Staff feel some parents are not sufficiently supporting their child’s education or showing involvement.
- “We need parent support in their child’s education.”
- “How can we teach our parents to become involved in their child’s life?”
- “Parents seem to use that as an excuse to not send their children to school.”
Communication Challenges
Staff report experiencing difficulty communicating effectively with parents.
- “Better communication with parents.”
- “How to communicate with parents that often defend their child’s actions and communicate with a traumatized parent.”
- “How to deal with upset parents.”
Parental Accountability
Staff report perceiving parents as blaming the school and avoiding responsibility for their child’s behavior or education.
- “Parents need to be parents. Quit blaming everything on the school.”
- “Lack of accountability, constantly blaming the tragedy for their child’s lack of respect.”
- “I see that parents don’t really care about their kids’ education any more.”
Attendance Issues
Staff mention parental influence on attendance, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic and traumatic events.
- “Attendance has been an issue since Covid and the May 2022 incident.”
- “Parents seem to use that as an excuse to not send their children to school.”

With Other School Staff

Administrative Support
Staff feel a lack of adequate administrative support in addressing behavioral and academic challenges with students.
- “Admins support in behavior and academic with these students.”
- “We need admin to understand that some days are just hard for us to come to work when memories of May 24th take over.”
Counseling and Specialized Training
Staff report needing additional counseling for students and specialized staff training (e.g., trauma-informed care, ADHD support).
- “MORE counseling for students, BETTER communication from admin to staff, relationship building staff-admin, staff-staff.”
- “Trainings on supporting students with ADHD.”
- “Trauma informed care specifically for victims of gun violence. The required training does not discuss this.”
Consistency and Transparency
Staff report a lack of consistent leadership and transparency in communication and decision-making.
- “Lack of consistency, over the last three years we’ve fallen into a deeper hole of self-serving ‘leaders.’”
- “Communication…total transparency.”
Emotional Support for Staff
Staff report a lack of tools and strategies to help staff manage their own emotional well-being while supporting students.
- “How can we help our staff that have been affected by the tragedy not have an emotional reaction to basic requests and requirements of the job?”
- “Those of us that were on the Robb campus have forever changed and admin and above need to be aware that sometimes we are scared, very down, and always confused as to why it happened.”
Team Unity and Connection
Staff feel that strengthening relationships and creating opportunities for staff collaboration and emotional connection are vital.
- “I wish all staff would be on the same page.”
- “Group meetings.”
- “Loss of connection.”

With Community

Community Support & Understanding
Staff feel there is a need for greater understanding, support, and transparency from the broader community, including the school board and media.
- “Our school board needs to understand that some people may still need mental health days. I know money is tight, but something needs to be done for those who need a day here or there.”
- “Transparency and communication.”
Media Interference
Staff expressed challenges in navigating their own trauma, managing mental health needs, and dealing with community dynamics that can impede healing and progress.**
- “I went through a trauma too and I am expected to function but everyone else is allowed to excuse their behavior.”
- “The community needs to stop going to media for every little thing. We try to move on and then something else happens and media is there, it’s on tv.”

What’s Working Well

What do you feel is currently working well on your campus to support students and staff with trauma- or grief-related needs?

Themes:

Counseling Support
- “Our counselors are very helpful and supportive.”
- “The counseling available to them on campus.”
- “Having counseling support for them.”
Peer Support
- “Fortunately, we have each other and some days that is all we have.”
- “We have found strength with our peers that were there that day.”
External Resources
- “Outside counseling sources”
- “Visits from counselors help the students calm down.”

Uvalde CISD Needs Assessment

The TAG Center

December 2024