SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE Initial Recommendations Report

1. SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE Initial RecommendationsReport Christie Ashton Chair, School Safety Task Force April 4, 2019

2. PROCESS Develop comprehensive list of threats to school security. Identify primary significant threat categories based on prevalence, risk, consequence, and ability to address. Within those categories, develop recommendations for mitigation. Categorize response-oriented community and SGA feedback based on threat categories. Combine and consolidate recommendations by areas of expertise, noting areas of consensus. Develop goals based on threat categories and response type. Prioritize final recommendations categorized by goals based on SMART paradigm.

3. LIMITS • Initial community feedback was problematic • Statistically insignificant and geographically disproportionate population • Suggested solutions to unspecified problems • Predetermined categories may have influenced content • Lack of access to other relevant information • Detailed information and data on security risks, measures, processes, etc. • Impacted ability to effectively evaluate the community feedback

4. FRAMEWORK • Two primary areas of school security: • Physical security - facilities, property, materials, etc. • Social security - mental health, behavior, school environment, etc. • Simultaneous action is recommended

5. FRAMEWORK • Area – Goal – Recommendation(s) • Physical Security • Comprehensive security evaluation • Secure entry points and monitor access more effectively • Minimize contraband • Increase preparedness for emergencies and physical threats • Social Security • Comprehensive mental health/social services evaluation • Improve measures to address mental/emotional health • Address behavior more consistently and effectively • Physical and Social Security • Improve monitoring and quantity/quality of information

6. FRAMEWORK • Area – Goal – Recommendation(s) • Ongoing Role of the School Safety Task Force • Evaluate, support, and resource HCS initiatives to improve school safety

7. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL:Conduct a comprehensive security evaluation • Recommendation: • By August 2019, contract an appropriately credentialed professional security consulting firm/consultant • Physical evaluation of each school in the district • Provide written report to the HCS leadership team and the School Safety Task Force to determine prioritization and implementation

8. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL:Secure entry points and monitor access more effectively • Recommendations: • Immediately ensure that all exterior doors remain locked at all times • As soon as possible, reduce access points for entry at each school to the minimum required entrances • Immediately station trained school personnel at each point to monitor every person entering school property

9. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL:Secure entry points and monitor access more effectively • Recommendations (continued): • Continue to employ electronic card entrance for authorized personnel at entry points • Develop district wide policy for granting electronic access and consistently enforce it • By the 2019-2020 school year, require all persons on school property to wear photo ID badges • Staff badges should make use of RFID technology

10. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL:Secure entry points and monitor access more effectively • Recommendations (continued): • Continue to retrofit all schools for security “bubbles” • By the 2019-2020 school year, assign at least one full-time SRO to each school • Reevaluate funding in the Memorandum of Agreement • Based upon the security assessment, consider plans to harden all access points with expert recommended ballistic/bullet resistant laminates

11. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL:Minimize contraband • Recommendations: • By the 2019-2020 school year, ensure at least one hand-held metal detector wand is available at each school • To be used by trained security personnel as needed • Based upon the security assessment, consider the feasibility of installing metal detectors at entrances for everyone entering the school for classes and/or school-sponsored events

12. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL:Minimize contraband • Recommendations (continued): • By the 2019-2020 school year, create a list of specific areas of concern for contraband for each campus • Random search process no less than twice each grading period • Physical search by trained staff with witness • Report results through district-wide process

13. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL: Increase staff and student preparedness for emergencies and physical threats • Recommendations: • Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, require all personnel to attend training regarding emergency drills each semester • Provide clear documentation of emergency procedures to temporary staff (e.g. substitute teachers) • Regular review of that documentation

14. PHYSICAL SECURITY • GOAL: Increase staff and student preparedness for emergencies and physical threats • Recommendations (continued): • Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, conduct drills regularly and under a variety of circumstances (e.g., during class change, arrival, etc.) • Include response following the emergency as well (e.g., parent notification, student pick-up, etc.) • Debrief/evaluate each drill using standard protocol

15. SOCIAL SECURITY GOAL:Conduct a comprehensive mental health and social services evaluation • Recommendations: • By August 2019, contract with professional mental health assessment team • Investigate and address vulnerabilities in the HCS mental health management • Focus on early detection of warning signs that typically lead to unsafe behavior

16. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Improve measures to address mental and emotional health of students • Recommendations: • Immediately implement policy changes in areas identified by the assessment • Train staff in recognition techniques • Measures tailored to individual school needs • Prioritize providing additional counseling measures and social services and staff to schools based on need

17. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Improve measures to address mental and emotional health of students • Recommendations (continued): • As soon as possible, seek additional funding for mental health initiatives • Relevant grants, government programs, and civic efforts/agencies • Invite members of the School Safety Task Force or other community members with fundraising/grant-writing experience to assist

18. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Address student behavior more consistently and effectively • Recommendations: • By the 2019-2020 school year, expand annual staff training on the BLG to every 9 weeks • Data driven content • Stress consistency of implementation at district, feeder-pattern, and individual school level • Document training compliance to ensure that all staff receives training regularly

19. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Address student behavior more consistently and effectively • Recommendations (continued): • Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, focus on parental acknowledgement of BLG to assess buy-in • Administrators track and follow up with parents who return acknowledgments that seem suspect

20. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Address student behavior more consistently and effectively • Recommendations (continued): • Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, use internal metrics to analyze behavior at school and district level • Use trends to discuss improvement techniques during staff meetings (as opposed to a tool for criticism) • Identify trends early and implement corrective interventions • Evaluate and revise BLG for effectiveness

21. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Address student behavior more consistently and effectively • Recommendations (continued): • Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, request HCS report out data regarding student behavior • Review patterns of concern in student behavior at both the campus and district levels each semester • Encourage collaboration to problem solve • Employ safety coordinators to address ideas for improvement in specific areas of concern

22. SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Address student behavior more consistently and effectively • Recommendations (continued): • Immediately, evaluate when, where, and how behavioral violations occur outside the classroom (e.g., class changes, power hour, arrival and dismissal) • Consider how to locate staff and other school personnel to better monitor these areas and times

23. PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Improve monitoring and quantity/quality of information regarding threats • Recommendations: • As soon as possible, develop a system for providing readily available information in addition to Raptor screening • Identify unauthorized relatives, persons subject to restraining orders, persons of acute risk to attempt to attain access to a child, etc. to extent allowed by law

24. PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Improve monitoring and quantity/quality of information regarding threats • Recommendations (continued): • Immediately begin maintaining throughout the year ongoing communication with law enforcement, courts, and other agencies to the extent provided by the law • Immediately encourage the Board of Education, HCS Administration, and others to lobby legislators for laws to access/receive increased and more expedient information regarding people of risk

25. PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SECURITY • GOAL: Improve monitoring and quantity/quality of information regarding threats • Recommendations (continued): • Before the next grading period, take steps to increase awareness of reporting tools • Monitor reporting activity and compare against baseline to gauge effect • By the end of the calendar year, implement and inform the public of a new method for immediate and anonymous reports of threats to school safety

26. ONGOING ROLE OF SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE • GOAL: Evaluate, support, and resource HCS initiatives to improve school safety • Recommendations: • Coordinate with appropriate HCS personnel to develop criteria for the recommended assessments • Review/evaluate implementation of recommendations • Provide input/review the HCS master security plan • Develop working non-disclosure agreement • Allow for review of ongoing metrics regarding security violations/incidents and information

27. ONGOING ROLE OF SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE • GOAL: Evaluate, support, and resource HCS initiatives to improve school safety • Recommendations: • Research and provide information/support to secure financial resources or funding for school safety initiatives • Liaise/consult with other local school safety task forces to share information, ideas, roles, best practices • Solicit and review input from teachers/staff • Provide input on the future form of the School Safety Task Force given its developing role