INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana school districts could soon take a hit to the pocketbook if they fail to report teacher injuries.
The Indiana State Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is asking lawmakers to look at financial penalties for school districts that don’t comply with the law.
WRTV Investigates has reported on the growing problem of teacher injuries.
We found all kinds of injuries — teachers hit, punched, kicked, hair pulled, headbutted and some suffering from concussions.
“We are proposing a financial penalty for (not reporting to the state), but we are certainly open to discussing with lawmakers what that would look like,” said Jennifer Smith-Margraf, ISTA Vice President. “Our goal is to make sure that data is reported so that we have good data with which to make those decisions.”
House Enrolled Act 1591 took effect July 1, 2023.
The law requires schools to track teacher injuries and report the data to the Indiana Department of Education.
IDOE just released a first-of-its-kind report on how often teachers are hurt on the job.
Indiana school districts reported 3,032 incidents of school employees physically injured on the job by a student during the 2023-2024 school year.
Read the full report here.
IDOE also reported 485 incidents in which an employee had to miss work because of an injury.
However, only 166 school districts reported out of more than 400 in the state.
“Schools not listed in the spreadsheet did not complete the data submission,” said Courtney Crown, a spokesperson for IDOE. “The next data collection will take place in July 2025 for incidents occurring during the 2024-2025 school year.”
WRTV Investigates found hundreds of school districts are not included in the report including Indianapolis Public Schools, MSD Washington Township, MSD Warren Township and Perry Township Schools.
Both Perry Township and IPS experienced technical problems when trying to upload their data. We have not heard back from the other districts.
WRTV Investigates asked ISTA what they’re hearing from school districts who did not report.
“Many of them have said they were not clear that this was something they are required to report on and others were just not reporting it,” said Smith-Margraf. “We just want to make sure it gets reported so that we can make these good public policy decisions.”
In September, a student at George Washington High School was arrested and charged with battery resulting in bodily injury after he allegedly attacked a special education teacher.
19-year-old Aziz Mahamadou is charged with a felony for battery resulting in moderate bodily injury.
According to court documents, Mahamadou attacked a teacher in class on Sept. 10.
Mahamadou allegedly stood up from his desk, walked up to the teacher and struck him in the mouth. After the punch, Mahamadou allegedly kicked the teacher multiple times in the ribs.
The teacher, according to court documents, suffered a cracked rib and a concussion from the attack.
During the attack, Mahamadou allegedly said "You don't think I don't speak English."
IPS schools are not listed in the teacher injury report.
WRTV Investigates reached out to IPS for an update on Tuesday and we are still waiting for a response.
