Woodland Hills administrators and school board members will meet with the district's teachers union Tuesday to discuss possible solutions to discipline problems at some schools.

That meeting was scheduled following a May 7 school board meeting at which more than 100 parents, students and teachers from the Woodland Hills Education Association packed the district's administration building to sound off about highly publicized acts of violence, some against teachers, during the school year.

"Over the course of the school year, we've dealt with problems we never thought we'd have to deal with," said Jocelyn Bell, 17, a student representative of the high school.

Noting various fights and a bomb threat in November, Ms. Bell said, "A lack of respect and general apathy has taken over the school body."

Ten teachers representing the WHEA spoke out about how administrative failures regarding discipline have contributed to disruptive student behavior.

"The staff feels the student handbook isn't being used to address the same or similar issues," said high school teacher Barbara Amick.

As an example, she cited a student receiving one day of in-school suspension for cutting class seven times when another received a three-day in-school suspension for cutting class three times.

"The question is," Ms. Amick asked, "what kind of message are we sending to our students, our staff and, most important, our community?"

Rankin Elementary teacher Ed Nestico pointed out that resources such as timeout rooms, behavioral specialists and School Resource Officers are not available at elementary schools even though teachers encounter violent situations comparable to those at the middle and high schools.

"There are 24 teachers at Rankin," he said. "Nine have been injured under violent circumstances involving students. There have been 12 injuries this year alone. The injuries range from minor bruises to a broken hip.

"Traditionally, we wouldn't see this kind of behavior at an intermediate level, and we have not constructed a behavior plan to address it."

WHEA President Michelle Sperduto said the school board meeting was a good opportunity for teachers to raise specific issues in public prior to meeting with administrators.

"It definitely had a positive effect," she said. "I think they are trying to meet with us to move along toward some kind of plan."

"We're looking forward to the meeting," said school board President Marilyn Messina. "I'm in full support of teachers, students and everyone involved in the building being safe."