COVID-19 hardships fuel increase in violent student behavior and threats in K-12 schools: ‘It breaks our hearts to see them in crisis.’

Thornwood High School special education English teacher Dwayne Bearden, the president of Thornton Township District 205 teachers union, stands for a portrait at Thornwood High School in South Holland on Dec. 15, 2021. Bearden told the district to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to invest in metal detectors at the district’s three high schools following a recent parking lot shootout between students left a teacher’s car riddled with bullets. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)