RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — School employees across the state will now receive their full salary and benefits if they are assaulted by a student on the job.
Monday night, during a Rutherford County Board of Education meeting, Rutherford County Schools approved a policy that aligns with the state law that went into effect earlier this month.
“The student pushed me in my chest, knocked me off my feet…landed on my back,” Mark Hayes, a former Middle Tennessee teacher, said in a 2023 interview . Hayes said he walked away from teaching after 31 years because of the incident.
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In 2023, a bill was passed giving a teacher their full salary and benefits if assaulted on the job. Now a law applies to all school employees.
“We started talking to our legislators years ago about trying to protect our teachers,” said Tammy Sharp, Rutherford County School Board member.
Sharp said those conversations started after she saw insurance rates going up for teachers in the county. However, it’s not just bad behavior in the classroom that is a cause for concern.
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“Back in early May, before school was out, I rode all the morning buses and all the afternoon buses in La Vergne,” Sharp said.
She came across a damaged seat with sharpie marks and giant holes cut into it.
“The elementary kids were worse than the high school kids,” Sharp said Monday night. “These seats are expensive, and it shouldn’t be on the system and when it’s on the system it’s on the taxpayer and it costs a lot.”
It’s a concern she brought up Monday night and something she would like to address in the fall on how to better discipline students who are acting out.
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“We have to protect our people, our bus drivers and our teachers are tired of the discipline issues, quite frankly,” Sharp said.
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