Justice by Grievances

I'm in the process of filing the first grievance of my teaching career. I've worked at this school for three years, and I've pleaded with administrators to make the school a better place by holding students accountable for their actions. I've gotten nowhere with that strategy. After experiencing my third unfortunate situation this year, I've decided enough is enough, and I am proceeding to file a grievance.

The situation: At the beginning of class, I saw two students in the back of the room who were paying very close attention to a purple canister, so I confiscated it. I was 99 percent sure it contained marijuana because it smelled like marijuana, and the students were EXTREMELY nervous when I asked for it. I placed the canister in a cabinet behind my desk that isn't easily accessible to students, then continued class. While I was helping a student across the room, the student who owned the purple canister went to the cabinet and took it back. He removed the marijuana and dropped it into my T.A.'s backpack (who sits at a table in my desk area). Another adult in the class witnessed the event. Administrators caught my T.A. with the marijuana and did nothing. They also did nothing to the student who stole the canister. As a result, I am forced to file a grievance because administrators are putting me in an unsafe working environment, which violates my contract.

I know what you must be thinking: "Why didn't you call for security or administrators right when you suspected it was marijuana?" Teachers have a protocol they are to follow when they suspect drugs or illegal substances in the classrooms; however, I experienced a similar situation a couple of years ago, and the administration did not uphold its end of the protocol. I called for an administrator immediately, but it took 30 minutes for someone to arrive to my room. I had to stop instruction and watch the students so they didn't pass the drugs back and forth. This time, I figured that since I can't rely on administration to get here in a timely manner, I would take care of it on my time without sacrificing the education of 35 other students in my class.

Here's how the grievance process works:

Level 0: An informal conference is held with the principal to give him/her a chance to resolve the situation. If there is no response (or an inappropriate response from the principal), it moves to a...

Level 1: The grievance is put in writing and the principal has 10 days to get a written response to the grievant (me, in this case). If there is no response (or an inappropriate response from the principal), it moves to a...

Level 2: The grievance goes to the grievance committee and district office, and they have a chance to resolve the situation. If there is no response (or an inappropriate response from the district office), it moves to a...

Level 3: The grievance is taken to the board of education, and they have a chance to resolve the situation. If there is no response (or an inappropriate response from the board of education), it moves to a...

Level 4: The grievance is taken to a mediator for resolution. If there is still no resolution, it moves to a...

Level 5: Arbitration, where we battle it out in court.

In my case, the grievance is moving to Level 1. I have not received a response from the principal, so she'll explain to the district office why she's allowing students to steal from my classroom and pass around drugs without consequences. I am requesting:

1. My T.A. be removed from my class.
2. The student who I confiscated the canister from be removed from my class.
3. My T.A. be suspended for 5 days for possession of marijuana.
4. The student who I confiscated the canister from be suspended for 5 days for possession of marijuana.
5. The student who stole from my cabinet be suspended from my class for 2 days for theft.
6. The student who I confiscated the canister from have "suspicious activity with marijuana" recorded in his referral log report.
7. My principal and all administrators follow their discipline matrix from this point on.

The bottom line is that I want justice. There have been other situations at my school that are worse than this, yet administrators continue to do nothing, which puts students and teachers in an unsafe environment. I want to make this school a better place for students and teachers. If grievances are the only way I'm able to do it, so be it. Our students deserve the best education, and I refuse to let students and teachers suffer because of inaction from administrators.