Teachers complain of poor behavior at school BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN - Thorne Middle School teachers complained to school officials last week about a chaotic atmosphere at the school, describing incidents of students threatening teachers, frequent classroom disturbances and parts of the school being trashed by unruly students. Middletown Township Education Association (MTEA) President Diane Swaim described some of the incidents at last week's Board of Education meeting. "There have been disruptions going on at Thorne for some time now and it really has turned into a problem," Swaim said. "The principal's conference room has been trashed, lockers are getting kicked in, and foul language has been used toward parents at the school, and this all needs to stop." Swaim went on to mention that female staffers have been called derogatory names by students as they walked the halls. Then she invited some of the affected teachers to step up to the microphone. "People need to know that bad things are occurring and that there are issues," Jacqueline Pfennig, a science teacher at the school, said. "And does a secretary need to have a chair thrown at them as well? I've put my whole career into this school and I hate to see this kind of activity going on." Schools Superintendent Karen Bilbao, during and after the meeting, said that appropriate measures are being taken and that the board and administration are being proactive in its response to the matter. "We are certainly aware of what is going on at Thorne Middle School," Bilbao said. "Even before the board meeting, plans were in place to already discuss these items, but they do take time. Perhaps some teachers were not privy to the fact that this was occurring. Overall, the teachers are concerned, and they just wanted to know what the status is concerning this matter." The day after the board meeting, Bilbao said she had a meeting that lasted more than an hour with school Principal Victa McKenzie and the school's staff to apprise them of what was going on. "There are plans in place to ensure that the students' needs are met at all times," Bilbao said. "The issues at the school are only related to a few students. This is not a widespread problem." McKenzie said after the board meeting that appropriate discipline measures have been taken against those students involved in the incidents. "I've had the full support of the superintendent since day one, and I have no doubt that we will receive that as time goes on," McKenzie said.