Safe and Supportive Schools

Safety: a Shared Responsibility

Safety: a Shared Responsibility

Knowing that families had safety top of mind during back-to-school time, Lawrence Public Schools collaborated with local partners to present a series of six community safety forums in August. “Safety is a shared responsibility,” said Dr. Cynthia Johnson, the district’s executive director of inclusion, engagement, and belonging, as she set the tone for each forum.

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis explained that when the district was developing its strategic plan, students asked that it emphasize safety. Their input led to one of the plan’s five focus areas: Safe and Supportive Schools.

Watch a recording of one of the Community Safety Forums at www. usd497.org/Webstream.

An Ongoing Community Conversation

In 2019, after Lawrence high schools managed three student weapon-possession incidents in two weeks, the district hosted a Community Conversation about Safety. More than 350 people attended to discuss and share feedback. These conversations emphasized the critical role strong relationships play in maintaining safe learning environments.

Safe schools research published by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Education and the U.S. Secret Service also recommends developing trusting relationships, respectful communication, and strong connections with students. Lawrence school staff prioritize relationship-building and work to ensure that every student can identify at least one caring adult at school that they trust and with whom they feel comfortable and can talk.

Broken Arrow Elementary staff teach positive character traits, such as respect, responsibility, and giving your best effort.

Mental, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health

Each Lawrence school has a mental health team made up of counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and other professionals. Through a 25-year partnership with Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and its Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities program, WRAP therapists work in schools to support student and family needs.

Teachers use a comprehensive, integrated, and three-tiered model

of prevention called Ci3T to meet the individual needs of students. All students receive (Tier 1) academic, social, emotional, and behavioral support, including social-emotional skill instruction. If students need more assistance with building a specific skill, such as coping skills, they may work in smaller groups with a member of the mental health team (Tier 2). If a student needs intensive, individualized support, they may work one-on-one with a mental health professional (Tier 3).

When student behaviors disrupt learning, staff may use restorative practices, a relationship-focused way to address conflict and promote collaborative problem-solving among students and staff. Through restorative practices, staff guide students in repairing harm between students or between students and staff.

“We have staff, training, and tools in place to keep our students safe,” said Jose Cornejo, a school social worker and the facilitator of the district’s crisis support team. “Any time a parent has concerns about their child or another child, we ask that they please reach out to their child’s teacher, principal, or counselor.”

Schools encourage open communication between home and school. Staff asks that parents report safety concerns and encourage their children to do the same. They also request families keep their contact information updated with their child’s schools, so staff can always reach them.

ALICE Training

The district provides all staff with annual ALICE critical violent incident training. This training teaches situational awareness and five strategies: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. Anyone can use ALICE strategies for protection, as any situation warrants.

Staff share ALICE strategies in developmentally appropriate ways with students. They practice them during emergency drills. ALICE provides an online module for parents and others interested in learning more about its training. Find the ALICE Learning Module for Parents and Community at www. usd497.org/Safety.

School Resource Officer Program

Emphasizing community-oriented policing and proactive problem solving, the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Police Department recently expanded from four to six the number of school resource officers (SROs) assigned to schools. The department has assigned one SRO to each middle and high school. They also assist elementary schools when necessary.

Lawrence SROs complete an intensive certification process. They receive comprehensive training, including National Association of School Resource Officers, biasfree policing, conflict resolution, crisis planning, threat assessment, active threat response, emergency management, adolescent mental health, social media trends, and mentoring, among other training. The district includes SROs in its Courageous Conversations about Race and ALICE training.

During the August Community Safety Forums, the SROs talked about their roles and responsibilities.

“We do not enforce school rules and policies or enforce discipline,” said SRO James Browning, who works at Billy Mills Middle School. “What we don’t want to do is to take the kids in our schools and introduce them into the judicial system. We mentor, and we guide. We follow up and build relationships with kids.”

“My greatest source of pride as an SRO is the relationship I have with every kid within the school and with the members of the district… because safety is a shared responsibility. We are all stakeholders. We are in the business of public safety. We just get the pleasure of doing it around your children,” said SRO Amaury Collado, who works at Lawrence High School.

Superintendent Lewis served on the Kansas Governor’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice, a group that studied and made recommendations about SRO programs and Kansas policing. Its recommendations included exploring alternatives to SROs, such as school counselors; and requiring officers to A. Collado complete implicit bias training. Both of these are in place locally.

“From what I’ve heard and observed, it’s an asset for ensuring that our schools are safe K. Wiltz for our students to learn,” said Erica Hill, school board past-president, of the Lawrence SRO program.

The district will re-evaluate the J. Browning SRO program in the spring, as it did in 2019 and 2021, including surveying students, parents, and staff about it and school safety.

Handle with Care D. Kemppainen

In addition to its SRO partnership, the Lawrence Police Department recently began using the Handle with Care Program to provide additional support to students exposed B. Salsbury to trauma. When law enforcement officers respond to a traumatic event involving a child, they notify a teacher or counselor at the child’s school to L. Bishop “handle the student with care.” This helps school staff know to keep a close eye on the student and prepare to provide extra support services as needed.

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