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Safety And School Meetings Of The Stratford School District

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The Stratford school district requires that all schools have safety and climate committee meetings held regularly. The purpose of this committee is to ensure that the buildings are safe, welcoming to all stakeholders, promote learning, and have strong sense of community. The members of our first meeting included a parent representative with experience in security, the fire chief, a police officer, the nurse, both administrators, and myself. During our first meeting, we discussed the parent drop-off system created in the rear of our school in order to make dismissal and arrival procedures more orderly. We also reviewed the fire drills and lockdown drills that we completed during the first month of school. A major topic of discussion …show more content…

I was impressed with school safety and climate meeting because it allowed for communication amongst community stakeholders and school leaders. By collaborating with individuals who have expertise in safety and allowing them to help problem-solve school issues, it was evident that student safety is clearly a high priority for the school. The meeting also verified that the policies and procedures we have in place are effective and meet the standards of the police and fire departments.
While the committee covers safety and climate, there wasn’t any mention of the climate and culture of the building. In addition, no data was shared that could accurately measure the effectiveness of our school policies relating to climate. For example, although behavior referrals are down almost 50% due to the implementation of restorative practices, this data was not presented to the committee. Furthermore, our school was recently recognized by the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) for having exemplary climate. It seems ironic that we received this prestigious award, yet we don’t have a committee solely dedicated to addressing climate-related issues.
The district climate committee is a great forum to share success ideas and programs that are successfully utilized by other schools in the district. I took away many ideas to bring to my administration, including implementing a Kindness program, trauma training, PBIS, and having grade-level meetings to celebrate

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