Former assistant urges North Penn to address hallway disorder in middle schools

Jeff Eshelman, a resident of Colmar and a recent district employee, told the board on July 17 that he saw “severe” hallway disorder in middle schools and urged the district to act. “The disorderliness I saw in the hallways was severe enough that I was concerned for the safety of students who were just trying to get to class,” Eshelman said.

Eshelman said he observed students gathering in large groups between classes, pushing and shoving, use of inappropriate language, and little consistent enforcement for tardiness. He said some students ignored teacher directives and that the behavior sometimes carried into classrooms, disrupting instruction.

Nut graf: Eshelman framed the issue as a barrier to learning and recommended low-cost, time-based interventions rather than new spending. He suggested regular assemblies to teach comportment and said the district’s climate coordinators, whom he expects should handle behavior education, have not been evident in his observations.

Board and staff reaction
Eshelman said he does not have a single solution but urged administrators to try interventions that require staff time rather than major funds. He added that while the district has PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), he believes PBIS “is not working” in the middle schools from his perspective.

Why this matters: Disruptive hallway behavior can affect instructional time and classroom management across multiple buildings; Eshelman said improving behavior would not require new funding, only time and effort.

Ending
Eshelman asked the district to address the issue quickly and said he made his comments “to help the district, not criticize.” No formal motion or board action followed from his remarks; board members acknowledged the concern and invited administrators to consider possible approaches.