A Plan for Improving in Safety and Supervision by Establishing a Parent/School Safety Team
Summary: The primary goal of this module is to share strategies and plans for improving safety and supervision of students in a traditional high school setting through the establishment of a Parent Safety team. This proposal is aimed at involving parents directly in efforts to provide assistance with student supervision, participate in school crisis planning, and share in school based decision making as it relates to school safety and security. Under the leadership of the principal, a parent safety team will be developed as part of the of the school’s governance structure. The team will serve in collaboration with the Parent Teacher Student Association or PTSA and the school leadership to address issues related to safety planning, student supervision, crisis planning and drills, and other functions within the scope of school safety and security. This module was developed by the Virginia Tech 2006 EdD Cohort in the summer of 2007 and authored by Stanley B. Jones.
Rationale and Objectives
In this era of heightened accountability and high stakes testing, public schools continue to undergo intense scrutiny with regard to student achievement, preparing students for post-secondary opportunities, and helping students developing the appropriate skills and abilities necessary for them to compete in the global marketplace. Embedded in these challenges is the day to day task of creating a school culture and climate that is ideal for learning. Among climate issues is the challenge of maintaining safety and security for all students. Schools are using a wide array of resources to enhance school safety including metal detectors, school resource officers, and school rules designed to regulate clothing and behavior. Despite their best efforts, fears about school safety are a formidable challenge for school leaders as they attempt to focus the majority of their efforts on student learning. The tragic events at Virginia Tech in the spring of 2007 as well as numerous reports by the media of violent incidents in schools have caused school leaders, parents and students to contemplate the level of safety in schools. The Crime, Violence, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools Report from the National Center for Educational Statistics (2006) indicates that incidents of school violence declined in the last decade as compared to the period from 1990 to 2000. While the frequency of incidents of violence may be on the decline, general perceptions of school safety are unlikely to be optimistic because of the media frenzy surrounding recent incidents of school violence. Because both perception and misperceptions of school safety remain as challenges for schools, there is value in approaching and improving school safety by establishing high quality relationships between the various groups of constituents that compose the greater school community. Given this challenge, it seems logical that building positive relationships with parents and creating partnerships designed to assist schools in maintaining and enhancing school safety may serve as a viable strategy for addressing safety. This proposal is designed to establish a Parent/School Safety Team whose objectives are as follows:
- To improve overall communication between the school and parents through the development of a high quality partnership.
- To establish a high quality working relationship with the schools’ leadership team for the purpose of enhancing school safety.
- To develop an understanding of the challenges, processes and decisions guiding school safety planning and practice.
- To share and participate in school governance decisions regarding safety and crisis management.
- To identify parent and community volunteers to assist in monitoring and supervising students during the school day.
Proposal Plan of Action
A Parent Safety Team composed of parent volunteers, members of the PTSA, representatives of school crisis team and the principal will be established in the August of 2007. The initial meeting will be convened by the principal and will include the following agenda items:
- Introduction of Team Members
- Overview and Discussion of Rationale for Parent Safety Team
- Overview of Characteristics of Effective Schools
- Review of School Data Related to School Safety
- Small Group Discussions Regarding School Safety and Discussion of Parent Concerns
- Presentation and Overview of School Safety Resources
- A School Walk – Through with the Principal and Administrative Team Members
- Discussion of Next Steps
The purpose of the initial meeting will be to develop rapport among team members, address perceptions and misperceptions about school safety through the use of school performance and discipline data, open the lines of communication among parents and school leaders, tour the school facility, discuss best practices for enhancing and maintaining school safety, and develop a plan of action for the team for the school year. Subsequent meetings will be determined collectively by team members.
Conclusion and Desired Outcomes
Over the last twenty years, the role of the school leader has changed significantly especially in the areas of student performance accountability and school safety. Given this fact, it is imperative that school leaders act as the “chief architects” of collaborative efforts (Frey and Pumpian, 2006). The intent of this proposal is to provide the school leader with a framework for closing the gap between the realities of the present and the goal of becoming a learning organization (Ball Foundation, 2004). The Ball Foundation (2004) has identified four guiding principles of transformation as the outcome of a collaborative relationship that seeks to “close the gap between the realities of the present and the goal of becoming a learning organization”. The path to transformation includes:
- Inquiry - partners seeking to learn about one another.
- Engagement – partners identifying common goals for collaboration.
- Partnership – each partner uses their expertise and resources to achieve agreed upon goals.
- Transformation – partner share their learning with others.
This proposal serves as the initial step in beginning to change how schools conduct themselves with regard to school safety. Through the establishment of a Parent Safety Team, the school leader seeks an opportunity to balance the responsibility of safety through partnering with parents and forging a more harmonious relationship. Traditionally, parents have had little involvement in the decision making as it relates to governance and school safety practices however; ultimately, school safety is a shared responsibility of the entire school community that can best be attained through meaningful partnerships with all constituents who compose the greater school community. Under the leadership of the principal, parents will be given an opportunity to learn directly about the challenges of school safety and supervision and offer assistance in providing suggestions and feedback in addressing safety concerns. Parent will also be given an opportunity for direct involvement in supervision by formulating teams of volunteers to assist in performing supervisory duties such as lunch and bathroom monitors and supervision during class changes. This type of shared responsibility may provide relief to teachers who often feel burdened with additional supervisory duties and will enable parents to experience first hand the day-to-day challenges of supervising student within a large public high school setting. These experiences coupled with direct access to the principal and school safety resources are collaborative strategies designed to assist in creating a collaborative partnership that is continuously evolving and changing in a way that transforms relationship and ultimately transforms the school itself. Ultimately, this effort is designed to empower the school to work in partnership with parents and fully transform the relationship and responsibilities related to enhancing and maintaining a safe school.
Suggested Activities
- Review the National Center for Educational Statistics Report entitled, Crime, Violence,
Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2003–04, December 2006. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007302rev.pdf
- Review the Ball Foundation Guiding Principles for Transformation. http://www.ballfoundation.org/ei/EI-toc.pdf
- Review the Virginia Department of Education Resource Materials on Crisis Planning. http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/model.pdf
Resources
Frey, N. and Pumpian, I. (2006). The Art of Collaboration: Principles of Design. Principal Leadership, November 2006, p. 16 – 20.
Guerino, P., Hurwitz, M.D., Noonan, M.E., and Kaffenberger, S.M. (2006). Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2003-04 (NCES 2007-302rev). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
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Last edited by National Council of Professors of Educational Administration on Jul 8, 2007 4:33 pm GMT-5.