School and Student Safety
The primary concern of any public institution serving children should be their health and safety. This includes issues related to school culture and climate, health, and external threats.
Our community is tragically aware that the threat of violence is real; and in our schools, students face issues the district must address. This is a complex and important issue. We should use research-based strategies. The district must do more to stop sexual assault and harassment and fight discrimination against any of or students. Students and families demand we work to build a culture free from all discrimination, including that based on race and ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, gender identity/express, disability, and all other forms. We must intentionally build a district where all our youth are safe from threats, which means prioritizing it at the district, school, and classroom level.
Our approaches to student health should be based on science. Vaccination is a powerful tool to protect students and the community from needless and dangerous diseases. I am proud to be endorsed by the Safe Communities Coalition.
BVSD can do better on bullying. Too many students experience bullying, and parents regularly report frustration with the response from their school and the district. Making our schools more inclusive means finding ways to reduce bullying and better ways to address it when it occures.
Our approach to safety must ensure all students feel safe. No student should risk arrest for issues better addressed in the district’s discipline policies. We must break the school-to-prison pipeline and our efforts at emergency preparation should not traumatize students.
We must continue to address potential threats from outside our schools. I will urge greater coordination with the city while insisting we maintain control over all the staff in our buildings. Our approaches to external threats should reflect best practices and evidence based approaches. I have been designated as a 2023 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate.
Safety is an issue of school culture and climate. Implementation is key and effective implementation takes buy-in from school leaders and staff. The district must prioritize, support, and monitor school-level work.
The district needs to be transparent and forthcoming in this area. BVSD should systematically gather, consider, and share data on school culture and climate as we evaluate changes in policy and move forward as a community.