Voters Ask: What about school safety?

Voters, we hear you and we are responding by adding School Safety as one of our Foundational Pillars.

Our school board candidates are asked about school safety every single day out on the campaign trail and they want to know how our candidates, would address safety issues.

Parents and taxpayers are concerned about bullying, violence in schools and on buses, vandalism, vaping/drug use, and the possibility of school shootings.

Our candidates will approach safety by asking questions, seeking data, and working with fellow board members, the WCASD administration, and school resource officers to answer the questions below.

Academic Excellence. Safety is the backbone of academic achievement. Kids must feel safe in order to learn and teachers must feel safe in order to teach.

• Questions that need to be asked of our current board and administration:

• Do students feel safe? Do teachers feel safe? Do parents believe that our schools are safe? Are safety issues more of a concern at the middle and high school levels? How are safety concerns impacting academic performance?

Transparency. In order to help students, teachers, and parents feel confident that safety issues are being addressed, the district needs to be transparent about safety when issues arise. The district needs to publish and adhere to clear consequences for bullying and/or threats to school safety.

• Questions that need to be asked of our current board and administration:

• Is WCASD being transparent in reporting threats to safety? How does administration deal with threats (internal and external) to safety? Are teachers being supported when they bring safety concerns to the administration? How are bullying issues being addressed? Are students and/or parents afraid to report instances of bullying?

Fiscal Accountability. Our district spends a significant amount of money on School Resource Officers, Campus Resource Officers, bullying prevention programs, and active shooter training sessions for teachers. Programs are important and it is equally important is to measure the outcomes of these programs to be sure that our tax dollars are funding programs that deliver results.

• Questions that need to be asked of our current board and administration:

• How do we (the public) know that the above-mentioned programs are producing results? How is the district monitoring outcomes? What does success look like for these programs?

Parents as Partners. In order for students, teachers, and parents to feel safe, there needs to be a partnership between home and school. Parents need to support teachers/administrators when disciplinary issues arise with their own children. Teachers need to know that they will be supported by the parents and by the administration when the teacher addresses safety/discipline issues within the classroom.

• Questions that need to be asked of our current board and administration:

• Are parents supportive of teachers and school administration when their child needs to be disciplined? Do our teachers feel supported by the administration to address parent concerns as they arise? Do our teachers feel supported by parents to address safety issues that arise in the classroom? How responsive is our administration when safety issues and/or threats arise?

Keep Politics Out of the Classroom. Safety should transcend politics. Every parent --no matter the political affiliation-- wants to know that their children are safe when they go to school. We cannot wait for politicians in Washington or Harrisburg to solve this problem, WCASD needs to prioritize safety NOW and our Back to Basics candidates are ready to step up and lead in this area.