How common is it for school employees to be harassed by parents, and what is the Hawaii Department of Education’s obligation to protect employees?

Nearly 1 in every 3 teachers — 29% — reported experiencing at least one incident of verbal harassment or threatening behavior from a parent of a student in a nationwide survey reported in March by the American Psychological Association.

School administrators, such as principals and vice principals, reported being caught in the verbal crossfire even more often, with 42% reporting harassment and/or threats from a parent.

Meanwhile, verbal aggression from students were reported by 33% of teachers and 37% of administrators.

>> RELATED: Former employee says DOE hasn’t done enough to protect against threats

The association surveyed nearly 15,000 teachers, administrators, school staff and counselors in all 50 states, serving prekindergarten through 12th grade students, from March 2020 to June 2021.

The Hawaii DOE did not respond to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for data on harassed employees. However, when a measure at this year’s Legislature proposed to make threatening school employees a misdemeanor, dozens of DOE employees testified they had received or witnessed undue harassment and/or threats. They said more protection specifically for school workers is needed, above the existing general state law that already makes harassment a misdemeanor.

More than 130 DOE principals signed a position letter supporting the measure because “principals from the various islands have experienced both the increase in threats directed at school representatives and the severity of those threats.”

Meanwhile, many parents testified their worry that the rights of parents to advocate for their children were being eroded.

Cynthia Bartlett of the Hawaii Autism Foundation said that while there is “complete agreement from all parents that all education workers, students and families should feel safe in all interactions during their school day and activities,” the proposal would have had a chilling effect on parent communications with schools.

State Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi said the DOE supported the measure, describing a “growing problem of continuous and threatening harassment of educational workers by parents and members of the public. The polarization of society and overt disrespect for our government institutions that are fostered by social media have emboldened certain persons to harass and intimidate school officials with demeaning swear words and threats to their personal safety as well as job security when they have issues with the school.”

Hayashi said existing laws “do not address educational workers who have become victimized by irrational and uncompromising parents and individuals whose goal is to taunt, harass, and intimidate school officials so that they give in to their unreasonable demands through coercion or by intentional delay tactics.”

A DOE spokesperson last week said the department will seek to get the bill reintroduced in the 2023 legislative session.

Still, the unions for Hawaii public school teachers and administrators say the DOE has a duty to fulfill its existing responsibility to provide clear, strong protection and direction so that employees can safely to do their jobs.

A state Board of Education policy says the DOE “is responsible for providing a safe and harmonious workplace” and that workplace violence “will not be tolerated under any circumstance.”

The BOE’s Policy 1110-7, Safe Workplace Policy, says workplace violence “includes but is not limited to acts involving physical attack, property damage, as well as verbal statements that a reasonable person would perceive as expressing or suggesting intent to cause physical or mental harm to another person.”

Randy Perreira, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, which represents education officers such as principals, said the union is helping multiple DOE employees who have been harassed.

“In every instance, we have found the Department of Education’s reaction to be lacking. … The department has failed its employees in that respect and in ensuring that they have a safe workplace where they can make decisions and do what they have to do without the threat or fear of some kind of harm.”

Catherine Payne, a former state Board of Education chair who retired in July after decades as an administrator and teacher in the DOE, said she recognizes that “employees who must connect on the phone or in person with the public are facing more emotional and abusive interactions than we had in previous years. School staff in offices and classrooms are often confronted by angry individuals who want their concerns addressed immediately and in specific ways.”

Most cases usually can be resolved, Payne said, but “sometimes, however, outside help is needed both for immediate and long-term safety of the staff and students.” She added that training for DOE staff on “how to address these difficult situations” would be beneficial.