It’s Toolbox Tuesday!! We like to highlight the Toolbox on Tuesdays—a full day training program focused on the ten “tools” schools can employ to maintain safety and provide appropriate services to the students who sometimes present challenging behaviors.
The last of the ten tools is “calling the cops.” We know that things happen at school that will sometimes require school administrators to reach out to law enforcement. Still, we hope that this tool is the one that schools use the least. Most school discipline problems can, and should, be addressed by teachers and school administrators.
That’s one of the main points made by the Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter on this subject (September 8, 2016). The letter encourages districts to “incorporate [SROs] responsibly into school learning environments and ensure that they have no role in administering school discipline.” The letter strongly suggests that schools should “eliminate overreliance on SROs in schools” by making sure that teachers and administrators are “well trained to address behavioral issues through a variety of corrective, non-punitive interventions, including restorative justice programs and mental health supports.”
DOE has creates a new resource to assist with this: the Safe School-based Enforcement Through Collaboration, Understanding and Respect (SECURe) Rubrics: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/files/sro-state-and-local-policy-rubric.pdf
The Dear Colleague Letter can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/files/ed-letter-on-sros-in-schools-sept-8-2016.pdf
If you are responsible for the discipline program in your school, it would be well worth your time to peruse these resources.
And if you are interested in Toolbox training, let me know. I’ve got one coming up in Region 7 on October 11, and another in Region 6 on October 13.
DAWG BONE: LET’S CALL IN THE COPS ONLY WHEN NECESSARY.
File this one under: SPECIAL EDUCATION DISCIPLINE
Tomorrow: More on cameras in the classroom.