Põltsamaa school hires security amid ongoing student disruptions
Põltsamaa Basic School is bringing in security patrols and equipping staff with panic buttons after repeated disruptions by a small group of students.
The school's Põltsamaa campus has 603 students, but a small handful of sixth- and seventh-graders has been causing ongoing problems with their conduct, said principal Henry Kallaste.
"They skip school, and when they do show up, they disrupt classes, run through the halls and kick trash cans," Kallaste said. This in turn distracts other students, even leaving some classmates frightened.
The final straw, he said, was when the students in question broke into the school building one evening.
Starting Monday, the school and municipality will bring in security guards and give staff panic buttons to summon security when needed. The goal, Kallaste explained, is to allow students to learn and teachers to teach in peace, while giving parents confidence that their children are safe.
Mayor Taavi Aas said the municipality had contacted police, but patrols are not always readily available in smaller towns. For now, Põltsamaa Municipality has hired private security through the end of the year, at a cost of a few thousand euros a month.
"It's not prohibitively expensive, but of course it will depend on how often staff use the panic buttons and how many calls security responds to," he added.
Mayor: Current measures 'don't work on everyone'
Aas said officials are continuing to work with the students to change their behavior, but the process can be a lengthy one, particularly for kids under 14. Seeking a court order for placement in a secure educational facility is a multi-step process requiring extensive evidence, he explained.
The municipal mayor added that the situation in Põltsamaa reflects a broader nationwide problem, arguing that a sense of impunity among kids under 14 can breed trouble in other municipalities as well.
"The only measures we can use to guide them are persuasion, talking to them and social programs," Aas said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't work on everyone."
He argued that some sort of disciplinary measure should be easier to impose, warning that delays in the current process allow disruptive behavior to continue and affect others.
--
Editor: Aili Vahtla
