Iowa City schools’ new district support team aims to reduce physical aggression in schools

IOWA CITY — A new district support team is reviewing instance of student physical aggression, office referrals, academic performance and other data in an effort to more closely monitor trends and provide support for schools in the Iowa City Community School District.

The creation of the district support team follows a meeting last month where a dozen people spoke on behalf of Aspen Lohman, a teacher who says she was harmed by a student.

Lohman went on leave in February after she was repeatedly injured by a student, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder, acute panic attacks and depression.

There were 139 reported instances of students injuring staff members during the 2024-25 school year, according to data presented to the Iowa City school board Tuesday during a work session.

Almost all of the staff injuries were by students with individualized education plans, or IEPs, which are legal documents for a students with disabilities that outline their educational goals and the services, support and accommodations they need to succeed in school.

The majority of these injuries happened at the elementary school level and 22 injuries happened at the secondary level. There were 106 staff members injured across those incidents.

Seventy-five percent of staff injured are in special education positions. About 18 of the events happened in second grade classrooms. More than 25 percent of major office referrals are for kindergartners.

Eleven of the injuries required outside medical attention and six biting incidents required outside medical attention.

“By the time students get to secondary school, we’re successful for the most part in determining a plan that works,” said Superintendent Matt Degner. “The struggle with our earliest learners is we have the least amount of information on what is successful. We’re still in the process of creating that plan. That lack of success, unfortunately, results in injury for others.”

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Deputy Superintendent Chace Ramey said staff are reporting more incidents resulting in injury this year, which is resulting in more accurate information regarding physical aggression toward staff in schools.

Outside medical attention is being recommended for bites that break the skin, which will cause an increase in incidents needing outside medical attention for the 2025-26 school year.

Changes this year include:

Increase in students with ‘more complex needs’

The Iowa City school board work session Tuesday was one of possibly five that will be held over the next few months to discuss how the district is putting supports in place to reduce physical aggression in schools and better meet the needs of students.

Degner said in an organization with about 15,000 students, it’s “likely” that there will be instances of physical aggression. “I don’t think it’s abnormal to think that’s possibly going to happen,” he said.

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Eliza Proctor, the district’s executive director of elementary schools, said there has been an increase in the number of elementary-aged students who have “more complex needs,” or limited English fluency to be able to communicate, resulting in more behavior at those grade levels.

In kindergarten, there’s a large number of students with no medical diagnosis who are not potty trained, Proctor said.

“We need to provide more professional development with kindergarten to third grade teachers on how we support students with more complex needs,” Proctor said.

Laura Cottrell-Atekwana, executive director of Educational Services & Student Success, said she does have testimonies of student behavior changing.

“There are so many cases where I’m sure families and students would come and thank our special education program,” she said.

The district team is monitoring several data points this year. They include:

Proctor said by tracking this data, they already have identified one school with a “significantly higher” number of office referrals.

Proctor said she was able to reach out first to ask the principal how district officials could better support the school.

Social emotional learning surveys for students in grades third through eighth grade are helping district officials identify more supports that might be needed in each school.

Recognizing patterns of students with failing grades can help school officials course correct earlier in the school year, Proctor said.

“Kids only get ninth grade one time,” Proctor said as an example. She added it’s important to support them, monitor the effectiveness of classroom materials and make corrections along the way instead of correcting for the next year of students.

The district support team has about 10 members, including the deputy superintendent, executive director of elementary and secondary schools, executive director of educational services and student success, the chief human resources officer, director of special education and the social emotional behavioral health curriculum coordinator.

District officials are reviewing their comprehensive behavior approach plan and will add a section that addresses consequences for physical aggression toward staff.

A draft of this is expected to be brought to the Iowa City school board this winter.

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