##VIDEO ID:ca-pctFyWwk## okay call to order this is a Safety and Security subcommittee meeting on January 29th uh before we start can we have ai flag United States of America and to rep one na thank you and before we start I want to acknowledge Chief davean and James C thank you for coming uh before we start I just like to say 2024 was very challenging for us the school committee was relatively very new four of us just come on and Miss Ellis and Mr Kingston was in their second term so six out of seven people were were relatively new we had five Union contracts we had school of violence and we lost Tony Mata and uh one of the biggest issues that came before us was when we were campaigning was student safety and then when we were pointed onto the board you know and we the three of us are working together for the first time we were in full agreement that we needed to start enforcing our discipline policies and I think that's what we did and then from there we we added a fourth SRO and we have a uh security consultant now that's going to be starting soon and even though I think we're going in the right direction I think we have still have a lot more work we need to do and from there I'm going to turn it over to Dr Kelly and Chris Bowen and then it's from what happened 25 the beginning to the end and where we are you know going on to 24 and then what we're going on to 25 great thanks um I want to stop by saying what incredible Partners we've had in the RF Police Department the re rfia Department I know um Mr kiano alluded to that but truly our ability to just pick up the phone and talk to these folks and say this is our issue can you help us they're here in a moment's notice um whether it's training of staff and students or training of our security Personnel or adding an SRO as you spoke of uh it's just incredible that we have such great Partnerships and are able to rely heavily on the other City agencies to help us make sure these schools are safe so very thankful for that um I asked Mr Bowen to put together some data uh so we could look at the disciplinary issues and incidents that have happened at the beginning of the year when we had a lot of problems and where we are now and hopefully that data will drive our discussion about what our next steps are going to be and then after we take a look at the data which Mr bone will take us through I wanted to share um the information from gu poost which is new partner um we have working with us on Safety and Security throughout the district and just talk a little bit about the actions they're going to take in the coming months um and then we can talk about which of the measures we've had in place from the beginning of this year we want to roll back or continue we can have that conversation uh at the end if that sounds okay with everybody um so Chris do you want to take us through this data that you just shared with us sure um so I basically pulled three pieces of information um the first table shows uh discipline that we report for desie um on a on a yearly basis over the past three school years um so that kind of is broken down in terms of out of school suspensions expulsions which is a removal for more than 90 days emergency removals and so forth um you'll know I just want to point out that some of these numbers are double counted because students have been they count into multiple categories um the second category i z the second table I zoomed in well do you want to talk about that data for a minute sure yeah yeah so the um the the point I'd like to highlight from this data is that we are um only halfway through the school year this year um and we are even if we were to you know double that number um in each of these categories we are well below where we were at the end of the school year in the past two um and I think that goes to show I just even if you look down at the next table I tried to break down the beginning of the school year where we had you know there were the 17 students that were involved in the start of school challenges that we had um I kind of closed out September with some additional unrelated challenges that we had and then the rest is um number of students who were you know uh disciplined some way out of school um from October through where we are today um you'll notice that there sort of the numbers these are numbers of students that had been impacted um versus number of instances um of removal from school so there those numbers they don't quite match up because we're talking number of students down here we're talking number of instances up top and those are a little different but the point I think I just want to make is that where we are right now is well um you know uh we are definitely on track to not be where we were in terms of student discipline by the end of this school year compared to the previous two and I think that's because of the response that we had at the beginning of the school year and the tone tone that was set Chris quick question are all of these um are there any instances that are not reported to Desi and not reflected in this chart so um a student being removed from a classroom because they refuse to give the cell phone up to the teacher and the kind of non-exclusionary discipline that we do as a school all of that's on the back of the table not I shouldn't say all that that this some of this is on the back of of the paper um so we for example if we have a conflict between two students that's a verbal altercation that doesn't require students being removed from school and we mediate that situation um which is a lot of the work that our restored practices intervention is due we've had year-to date 134 different sessions for different lengths of time that is not report to Desy because that's not exclusionary discipline that's alternative to suspension which is what the law requires us to do before considering suspension right so I think the point I'd like to make is that our exclusionary discipline so remov them from school suspensions so so forth um is down our alternative to suspension is up and the climate of the building is very different that it was at the beginning of the school year and at the end of last year does that answer your question it does thank you and I to me just that we are just over the halfway point in the year right the semester just started last week um and think we are well beyond or well well on track to not end up where we were in total numbers for the past two years just in general how is the T I mean compared to what it was last year because 2024 was very yeah there was a lot of VI I I mean I think what I because of some of the situations that we are not dealing with in school currently I would say that some of the more of the attention is going to what is typical high school behaviors right always going to have conflict we're going to have matter about something we're like and we are spending a lot more time on that and peely resolving that with the staff that we that we have to work with students who are not having the best day right and I think that um it's been to me it's been a different different field thank you we have I know Dr guchi sent out the mcia data um the survey for students and for Staff last week do you have a plan in place for when and how that's going to be administered yeah we start that in uh advisory next week okay um and we kind of follow up with students who aren't there for the we leading up the break so that will be telling um because it asks the kids about the climate of the school and it asks that the teachers do a separate survey so both teachers and kids will be able to talk about what how they feel the climate and the vibe in the school is and whether or not they feel safe included um in all of those pieces so I think that data will tell us a lot when we comp to last year data I scanned that survey I don't remember if it had questions um as far as like what types of what makes students feel safe does it ask them like what makes them feel safe as opposed to just generally whether they feel safe it asks a whole range of questions in terms of like what in terms of how they feel safe sort of like sharing about themselves in class about how they feel welcomed in different uh safety kind of broadly understood physical questions um there is an open response piece for for parts of it I'd have to go back and look at last year's to see worries respon but it's a quite comprehensive survey okay yeah and you'll be sharing all that data with with us okay yeah um so Chris overall you're thinking that the climate has improved and discipline issues have gone down is that a good summary that was a great summary okay that I'm here to share are you guys feeling the same way yes yes absolutely good good thank you either either Chief any commentary yeah I I would say that uh just some of the measures that were taken that have been taken in the beginning of the school year like you just mentioned dramatically changed the school environment and calm things down with what the action that the school took by removing certain students and as well with other students that were taken to court had court actions against them but you know Behavior those two efforts between the police and the school department and also help with the juvenile court in the court doing their intervention made a huge difference and I mean I can see it just from some of our number and our datas just like officer singer said s and aola you can see that the numbers have dropped we're not having you know I don't see the problems that we would have in incept the beginning in sedia so I think a lot of that is just the good collaborative relationship that the school department has with the police department as well as the fire department everyone gets along and I mean I was connected with the schools 30 years ago in the 90s even then with past superintendents there was always a good relationship and good communication and that has continued to this day now and that is something that makes a huge difference and can be very impactful and a positive white for everyone else in the school so in the sro's with the police department's going to continue to be committed with the sro's assigned to the schools we've added one more officer to help here at the high school and I you know we have the behavioral health unit as well if we need to have them come and help but now they've kind of been returned to their duties and I think we can maybe even adjust some of the stuff with the sro's that are working here and spend a lot of time at the high school of course that you know after we have a conversation maybe we can just uh move things around a little bit but it's definitely much better than it was how's how's the fororo working out how's she fitting in she's been great I I think I think for two particular reasons I think connection that she has made with um particulars particular students I think particularly um young Latino women has been um has been has been a great addition to our school staff um in a way that um you know there's a kind of identity connection there that helps helps kids connect and I think that's going to be very impactful I think both only not only just seeing student being able to see themselves in someone in that role um but also just the the relationships and the connections there so she's been an awesome team member to have on board we're also trying to add uh two or three more officers to the school staff here to assist or to fill in s niola has been involved with Ka oara trying to you know select more offices to come into the school so they can be Replacements and fillings when someone's out or there's training issues or stuff like that so we continue to have a presence yeah I know there were three who were interested and I was supposed to send an email and we never got that but with it do you think we could send the three of them to that training they approved two are going one already has it oh good that's going to be Revisited for like an up an update for um some of the requirements by the state now that he didn't have in the past he might have now but at least two are scheduled to go to the 40h hour class in February as alternates yeah in case um thank for thank Dr Kelly any um feedback from the state with respect to our disciplinary actions not yet that'll come at the end of the year when they um when we submit this data that's when they'll look at the summary of the Year data and we will most definitely get whacked uh for excessive suspensions but I think one of the things that that can be a challenge uh with the state is they're very and I don't mean to be overly critical but they're very um black and white with the data they literally just look at the data they don't consider the context behind it and I think that in our context the high number of suspensions we did after those two incidents at the beginning of the year are what has turned around the culture of the building and even though the state can just say that they literally want um suspensions to kept be kept low they are out contact when we have to think differently about that and I would stand behind that 100% yeah good so we might we might get a little ding on that but long as we anticipate it we'll be okay one thing I will say uh till we get on to 2025 a couple other communities reached out to me and they they're basically saying what are you guys doing right because we still have problem so other communities are seeing it and uh so that's a good thing so I think it's one of the places where the state law the state needs to revisit the laws um because it really has been difficult for us in the last few years to set any kind of a tone in terms of expectations of behavior because the law says that you have to try these different interventions before you can suspend and even in this case that we had at the beginning of the year many of the kids involved had been in incidents last year it was the same kids so we had done alternative interventions which enabled us to go straight to suspension this year um but I think that's a place where when I think about other communities the point you were just making Anthony they're a little bit handcuffed by the state laws if they're not able to respond in ways that we understand to be appropriate by all means go after districts that are showing racism in their data but if what you're doing is disciplining kids for actual misbehavior that places staff are the students in danger we should be empowered to make those decisions on our own and that's you know something I'm pushing at the state level but means more consideration repal that 37 H and three qus yeah excellent can I make a comment pleas on that I think another thing that we have done I think through the support you've given the building in terms of positions that we have um the incident at the beginning of the year and the response that we had I think kind of put a pause or a freeze out it definitely was a dramatic calm down after that which I think gave a lot of time for the many staff members that we have in different roles doing long challenging work with kids who need more support to kind of get to know a new tier of students I don't know if that makes sense um it's not that students who were involved in this incident were unknown we very much knew them and spent a lot of time working with them in the past I think the freeze so to speak that happened after that initial incident kind of allowed us to sort of plant our Our Roots in a different group of students and we had the staff to do that and when I talked to my colleagues in administrative roles or leadership roles in other districts and see the support structure that we have here and compared to what they like there's a jealousy that they have and I think it's not just the response at the beginning of the year I think that had an impact on the freeze I'll use that word I think what also in what that what we were allowed to do because of the staff that we have through the F that was received of instruction we we have here was take advantage of that free to sort of to deeper Roots into a different tier of students who were still in Conflict but perhaps maybe ones we weren't getting to as thoroughly because of maybe more significant situations I just want to make sure I understand what you so saying that there was a lot of time spent on on uh we'll say a group of kids that were maybe involved in these the altercations that occur at the beginning of the year and so we're they've now been removed those resources can be yeah and we have a lot haven't met that level yet but we're headed in that direction and could be petted off you know all all of those kids had um I'll say periphery friends friends who were on the periphery of those incidences who didn't get the same level of attention but now because the resources are there with the student support Specialists and the student engagement boaters and the house structure and the way we have you've staffed up the high school to give that now they can catch those kids before they go in that direction well and I'm sure seeing what happened to their would um exactly impact their their decisions as well agre okay joh I just had a question um I I guess we don't use in school suspension is that something maybe we should look at in school suspension is now illegal okay I didn't know that it was on the chat that's why it what yeah that first year it was and then it wasn't yeah no that's fine I I just didn't know yeah okay anything else on 2024 anybody have more questions no sir can we start with the S deployment of 2025 15 yeah I think you alluded to it the chief and I have had conversations about this and um we've spoken in our regular safety meetings with Dr vuchi the SRO have articulated that um they think it's time that that we're in position where officer brenis and Sergeant inter a Cola can return to their regular positions at the West R in the Garfield and I know um Mr Kingston articulated that he's heard from community members who are anxious for that to happen um Chief I don't know if you want to weigh in on I think you kind of weighed in before but yeah yeah we can try to uh adjust where they're spending their time and they can return back to their original assignments and I know there's a big demand for Charlie that's right anyone looks for Trav in office Apprentice but yeah no absolutely we can adjust that yeah and we'll still have officer singer and um officer J J up here at the high school uh on a daily basis so they'll both still be here okay Dr can I ask a question if that happens it will be full time all at once it will be aggressive right or um I think we I think we were think back they would go back but they all have their vehicles they all go everywhere all over the city anyway so if anything were to happen or until we have these three other um trained substitute SRO um if officer singer was going to be out it's been our routine that one of them would come and work out of this building for the day um so we do that routinely anyway thank you yeah I think it's going to work out yeah I think we're ready officers will transition them in they'll geted with the different schools yeah and I think we'll be able to you know use them that's great an effective ways that'll be a good next step for us is to stop bringing them in to just see the role and one of the things that we had talked about at our safety meeting was just bringing them in with the SRO and have a let's talk to each other and help you understand a little bit of what this job is like because there's some parts of it that are great but there's some parts of it that these guys will tell you are exhausting and taxing and emotional and all of those different things and we need I think the key thing and we've been very fortunate in the revia public schools is that we have SRO who can understand and meet kids where they are it's not the same as every other kind of police work that that police officers do it's a little bit different and so it takes a unique personality to be able to mediate that it's kind of the same thing I say about teachers you got to have a thick skin because sometimes kids can act up yeah right I all of you who are parents I'm sure have witnessed your own children in moments that you wished you could have avoided and um that's what teachers and others deal with all day long every day so um before we close out before I sh have a question I'm sorry so one will I see Brian at the honestly I have parents I have parents on a daily basis paring me Monday well I think we could probably see him yeah Monday at the latest okay I'm sorry it's just so that I can say something because um I thought I thought that after the break that that would happen and then I got some you know it's hard when someone's asking you a question and you try to give them an answer as honest as you can and you know I didn't say anything set in stone I said I hope for this but then you kind of lose a little credibility you know when you say something even if I I try to be as May and put as many um you know words that you know I I can't control control situation so I say I hope that he'll be back there when school resumes after the holiday break but then it's almost a month later so that's why at least if I can if someone reaches out the next day or so I can say you know he's expected to be there on Monday I think one of the things that was important was that we took the time to actually have a meeting like this and think it through and and talk and and maybe Anthony before we wrap up can I just run through quickly the um what's going forward with the guide post is that okay yep um I and I won't spend a lot of time on this you can all look at it but um as we've been talking about in our safety protocols for the last couple of months we have engaged a company called guidepost to do an audit of our Safety and Security Systems throughout the district and um there are three main pieces that they're going to look at if you look at the graphic on that first page it talks about the holistic project approach and they want to look at the physical the operational and the technology so they're going to look at all three of those aspects of what we have in place and then identify areas um and give us suggestions on ways that we could do better um so the first is a security assessment and you can read through the description here but they're going to look at our written documents but also go around visit all of the schools and see what um security Protocols are in place and whether or not they're working we do drills like that with the police department all the time anyway where they go and tug on doors to make sure they're actually locked when nobody knows that they're coming and um and pieces like that so but this will be it's good to have a second set of eyes on all of that work and then if you flip it over um the second step is the Safety and Security plan review that's where they're going to go through all of our documents um which I think are in pretty good shape they they meet the state requirements we have to submit them to desie each year anyway we work with our police and fire on those plans as well um and they give a sign off before we submit them but it'll again it'll be good to have a second set of eyes on those and then the training program um they're going to talk to us we've already shared with them that we are fortunate to have Sergeant Turner is Sant right um who works with us and is actually a national expert on um these kinds of drills uh but they're going to take a look at some of our protocols and then uh relay for things that might be happening in other parts of the country some of their staff are former FBI agents so they have some information on that piece um it's not about them coming in to just say to us you should do X Y and Z it's about them coming in and looking at what we do and then focusing on you're doing great on X and you're doing great on y but here's where we see you can strengthen z um and so we're excited for this partnership Dr guchi and I are going to be meeting with them on Monday to start to set out a calendar for school visits um and all of those pieces uh and I think that's a an important next step and again I want to emphasize that's for the whole District not just for the high school um and we're also going to talk to them about um engaging with us when it comes time to look at the safety plans for the new building as we do the design process so that we can make sure that we're Forward Thinking on all of that we do have a safety consultant who works through our building designer um Perkins Eastman so they will be weighing in but again it's always good to have a second set of eyes to look at that plan so I just wanted to share that make sure everybody one thing I'll add with that guyst even though it's a global company they have a separate division just for schools so I think they've done the Endo with schools they've done a number of schools so it's not something that security company is just coming in from the private sector who's never had an experience in the schools they do a lot of experience they do a lot of business with the schools so and a part I think one of the divisions is uh Behavior Analysis also so that's part of it also so uh I'm looking forward to see what they findings out yeah anybody else have any questions anybody I'll just say no Dr Kelly it's very good that you and the school committee are having like an outside firm come in totally impartial no connections with anybody they can Comm in and give an honest assessment and not that anybody would not give an honest assessment but they don't know anybody they're not connected to the school department they'll come in and go through all the buildings and that's a very good thing to do due diligence it is and I also think that we all get tunnel vision and we see what we want to see not what's really there so it's it's good to have that outside L they're going to see the whole field and they're going to do a good assessment and they'll absolutely do their due diligence yeah like I just mentioned then uh I think it'll be a very good thing and they'll be able tighten up some areas that may need to be uh adjusted no se one I just want one before we close I just want to thank my committee members the police fire Administration the mayor's office because we could make all these policies but if we don't have a group effort to work together you know we're not going to get this job done so I want to thank you all thank you thank you second meeting and join thanks everybody