In Long Beach classrooms, teachers and aides say a regular workday now comes with a side of ice packs. They describe a steady rise in on-the-job injuries — bites, headbutts, bruises and other trauma — while supporting students with acute behavioral needs. Several educators told reporters those incidents range from routine bruises to a head injury that one teacher says permanently altered her eyesight. Union leaders and school staff are now pressing the district to put more trained support staff in classrooms.
An analysis by the Long Beach Post of 800 workers' compensation claims found that 72 Long Beach Unified School District employees were classified as being “severely” hurt by a child in the 2024–25 school year, up from 49 three years earlier, and that median costs for student-related claims are climbing. The outlet counted as “severe” only those claims with more than $2,577 in medical spending, the top 20 percent of cases, to zero in on injuries that required significant treatment or time off work.
Budget Memo: Behavior Supports Come With a Big Price Tag
In a Long Beach Unified School District 2025–26 budget memo, officials warned that the cost of behavior-intervention supports has quadrupled since 2021–22. The document estimates that a single one-to-one behavior aide now averages roughly $70,000 per year and projects nearly $60 million in 2025–26 spending on those services. The memo also sketches out multi-year staffing adjustments as declining enrollment squeezes individual school budgets.
Teachers Say Classroom Backup Is Thin
Educators told reporters that when crisis behaviors erupt, they are often badly outnumbered. Lisa Just, a veteran special education teacher, said a student's headbutt left her with an eye injury that “permanently changed her eyesight,” and that she frequently goes home with “major purple marks.” “No one's supporting us, keeping us safe,” she told the Long Beach Post. Other staff described being bitten, pinched or having their hair yanked, and said some agency aides assigned to schools arrive without enough training to handle high-need situations.
District Response
Long Beach Unified did not provide an official for an on-the-record interview about the reported increase in injuries. A district spokesperson told reporters that the system “is committed to providing a safe learning and working environment for students and staff” and said Long Beach has expanded training and supports since the pandemic. In reporting shared with LAist, the district noted that many temporary state and federal relief funds have expired and said it is building multi-tiered support systems that would reduce reliance on one-to-one aides while trying to maintain services for students.
How Long Beach Fits Into the National Picture
Data from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics School Pulse Panel and related surveys show many educators believe the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted students' social and behavioral development. Districts across the country have cited that shift as classroom management needs have grown. Those national findings track closely with what Long Beach teachers describe on the ground: incidents serious enough to send some staff to doctors and to force time off work.
What Teachers and Unions Say They Need
Union leaders and classroom staff argue that the solutions are not complicated, just expensive and overdue: more trained adults in classrooms, clearer behavior-support plans and stronger preparation for agency aides before they walk onto campus. Peder Larsen, vice president of the local teachers' association, told colleagues he was “a bit in shock” at how often educators are getting hurt. Teachers said straightforward fixes, from staffed intervention rooms to better equipment and crisis-response training, could lower risks for both students and adults, according to reporting by LAist. For now, they say they plan to keep pushing for those changes at school sites and during upcoming school board meetings.
