COLUMBUS — Two school board members are pushing for change following a WRTV Investigation into school employee injuries and how schools report them.
Our investigation introduced you to Melissa Streeval, a teacher who resigned from the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation after she says she was hurt on the job by students.
BCSC school board members Logan Schulz and Jason Major both raised concerns about WRTV Investigates' findings at a board meeting on September 8.
“You could see her heartfelt desire to continue teaching, but she did not see that option in a safe environment,” Schulz told the school board.
“I think we need to take this seriously,” said Major. “Even the Army gives hazard pay. I think we really need to start considering safety.”
They’re asking the district to hold a meeting with teachers and parents on how to improve safety in BCSC schools.
During the 2024-25 school year, Indiana schools reported 4,133 school employee injury incidents involving students.
In the state’s new School Employee Injury Report, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation listed 20 total incidents for the 2024-25 school year.
For the 2023-24 school year, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation reported 142 total incidents of school employee injuries, which is 86% higher than the 2024-25 school year total of 20 incidents.
Per a 2023 state law, public schools and charter schools are required to report to the Indiana Department of Education when a school employee is hurt on the job by a student, including when the injury was:
- Reported to workers’ compensation
- Caused the employee to miss all or part of one or more workdays
- Required to be reported to the school pursuant to the school’s reporting policy
BCSC policy requires that accidents be reported and evaluated, and injured employees must complete a form detailing what happened.
BCSC superintendent explained the discrepancy between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years at the meeting on September 8.
Superintendent Chad Phillips said they previously reported every incident that a teacher reported.
“We reported all of those, whether it resulted in a workers’ comp claim or not,” said Phillips.
BCSC is now doing what other school districts are—reporting incidents that involve workers’ compensation.
"This year we flipped it around so there was a dramatic decline in our reported number of incidents because we reported them consistently with what other districts did last year,” said Phillips.
The district maintains that its school employee injury numbers are accurate.
“Our guidance from the state continues to be poor,” said Phillips. “We continue to do the very best we can and be very transparent about exactly what that data means."
School board member Jason Majors said the district shared an incident number with board members.
“Our for-information-only reports went up significantly from last year, and I think it is imperative that we begin to have more discussion around this,” said Major. “The student on teacher incident rate is mind-boggling."
WRTV Investigates contacted BCSC to see if we can get the numbers shared with board members, and we are still waiting to hear back.
WRTV Investigates also asked specifically about the huge decrease in reported incidents from 142 to 20.
"Following its 2024 report, BCSC reviewed the IDOE guidance, sought additional guidance, and discovered that it over-reported data in its 2024 report," read the district's written statement. "BCSC’s 2025 report reflects accurate data consistent with the IDOE’s guidance. Additionally, BCSC cannot and does not discuss specific individual employee incidents due to various privacy laws."
Board member Logan Schulz says the district can do better.
"I don’t think it’s bad to go above what the state says,” said Schulz. “The state sets the minimum bar. We can lead that bar."
Melissa Streeval now teaches online school in another district.
She urges BCSC to take action.
"I don’t want to see other teachers get hurt,” said Streeval. “Mine were minor in the grand scheme of life. I don’t want to see something worse happen."
WRTV Investigates sent the Indiana Department of Education a list of questions about school employee injury reporting, including clarity on what corporations should be reporting, and we are still waiting for answers.
Right now, there’s no penalty for school districts that do not report or report inaccurately.
Last legislative session, the Indiana State Teachers Association pushed for financial penalties for schools that fail to report.
However, no lawmaker filed a bill to make that happen.
