##VIDEO ID:DKexJojyBgU## you good okay today September 18th Wednesday it's a safety meeting and we for play roll Callis present John Kingston present M chairperson present and we also have uh Fred sella from our school committee also and we also have two of our city councilors here council president alandro and Michelle Kelly uh I we've asked meeting to come uh before us it's been about a couple weeks and we want to talk about a couple of initiatives but we also want to talk about what's transpired in the last couple weeks there's a lot of things out there negative and there's some other things out there positive this committee is not always here the Public's not always here so this is more of to hear from the sros is what's going on in our schools how's things been and where we are and what we can do going forward and with that I'll have Dr Kelly start start off sure um I did give a bit of an update of the school committee meeting last night um and that's on YouTube for anybody who wants to see it uh an important piece of information that I'd like to get out there again is that we are having a community forum and that will include staff students and parents family members next Tuesday in the learning Commons at reier high school um I can say that we've had um a some some great days since the last incident um and a lot of good things happening at the high school in the meantime uh and so we're excited about that we're very thankful to the Rev police especially our SRO but um the rest of the support team at the at the Rev Police Department as well um who who've been helping us through these last couple of weeks I know there are um a couple of principles who spoke last night about um some of the harm that's been done to students in in the Rivia Community um as they're portrayed in such a Negative light in the media uh and the and the work that we're going to pursue not only just obviously making sure that unacceptable events like the one the the two fights that we had over the last couple of weeks um don't occur but also that our students don't feel vilified uh in the process of us addressing those very important matters of school safety um okay you can open up name sure thank you um I just want to reiterate what Dr Kelly said that um you know there's been several steps taken as she mentioned in the previous Forum we've had uh criminal actions against several students and obviously there an admin actions against those students um we have an additional s that's assigned to school district and we also have our Behavioral Health team that's working here at the school district for emot for the help to support the emotional well-being of some of the students um I will say that um you know when we talk about school safety it's not we don't talk about it when something happens it's consistent it's ongoing it's almost daily between the SOS in the superintendent and I also attend some of these meetings so I just want to make that clear that you take school safety um very very serious right now has the temperament changed a little from May you can tell us at Leia High I mean I've stopped in a couple times myself and it's since the brawl and I've walked through the school and it's been pretty much been a quiet temperament yeah I'm there every day absolutely but there's been changes since we've had now that the message is out there that uh know this is a learning environment this is uh the kids are here to learn so they're not here all the outside stressors and everything that is affecting their learning abilities you know this is it's uh it's focused on does the committee have any questions no I just appreciate your efforts and happy to have next off thank you I just say the chief I reached out to the chief I'm not sure if he's on Zoom but of the may had prior commitments so with that I wanted to start with the agenda and one of the things on the agenda was part of the city council by Michelle Kelly was the an and I know we talked about you want to talk about it I know Richie had some other things on so yeah I I can start and then I can toss it to Richie like one thing that I think um some people might not be aware of and I will say as Dr beluchi alluded to a minute ago uh we don't like everything about our safety protocol to be public because that can become a threat to the school and to the students um but I think that um it's probably important to share at this point that we redid our phone system throughout the district this summer and that was in collaboration with the Rivier police um just as we reflected on our safety protocols uh it used to be the routine that we had phones that were assigned to individual staff members and so so somebody changed classrooms their phone would go with them and it would automatically say you know you've reached uh Miss Kelly um please leave your number and I'll call you back as soon as I can and by carrying the phone with them that message would stay programmed in the phone anyway um this summer we decided to change that protocol and now the phones are anchored to a classroom and between our emergency operation system and that of the rier police if somebody picks up a phone in a classroom and calls 911 and there are no additional digits that anybody has to do um to call 911 by the way you literally dial 911 the 91 operator receiving that call knows what building you're in knows what floor you're on knows what room you're in already and so we feel like that is even uh a more exacting um quick way to contact the police if needed um if there's an issue in any one of our schools and that's every school every office every classroom every phone um has a specific location that the 911 operator will see uh when a call is made and I would just add to that um in addition all of our counselors and administrators carry walk talkies all day um they are able to call 911 directly from their walkie talkie they don't even need to get to a landline they simply uh change over to our emergency Channel and they can be talking to 911 dispatch from their walkietalkie that's on that person um we also received uh the opportunity from the state 911 Department um to train our children um perhaps Elementary but certainly secondary um how to call 911 silently um and so I'll pass these around it literally just dropped um this week and really what it has is um if if if people were in a situation whereby they couldn't speak they can text 911 um and by texting the number one after um putting in 911 they would be saying they need police if they text number two they need fire if they text number three they need an ambulance um and they can do that silently uh and discreetly from their phone um they can also interact with the 911 dispatch and so when the 911 dispatch poses a question back to them they press four for yes and five for no um so it's just another layer beyond the initial call 911 when this an emergency that Dr Kelly referenced that now if we were ever God forbid in a situation whereby you couldn't communicate verbally um they would be able to do that from a cell phone that was in the room any person with a cell phone in the room on their person in their backpack would be able to do that and communicate with 911 and Dr Gucci this is true universally this is for the r Public Schools if this were to happen to any parents in their workspace or anywhere in the Commonwealth you have access to this understanding what the codes are in order to text with 911 is beneficial to all of us but um as Dr guchi is saying we're going to actually take the step of training our students and our staff in these texting procedures should we table this and on next sure can you just um what buttons were were contemplated I just I see it here on the agenda but I don't know anything about about why it's on here what discussion more so uh I don't know who put that on the agenda the I did have a conversation with um with u Mr cajano about it but there are uh some some districts and some states where um staff members can wear a button on their lanyard or around their neck or on the folding that you push the button and it contacts 911 and I think one one comment I'll just have about uh cic buttons and it it hearkens back to the school committee support of the locks that we purchased one of the main factors of why we purchased those locks is because they were distributed they were very minimal uh in terms of their appearance in classrooms uh or offices they were similar to a fire alarm or something that's on the wall it's red the kids know it's for an emergency I struggle with teachers standing before children with a panic button around their neck and worry about students that are staring at that each and every day and what that does to them internally um and and again like we have a number of widespread cautions around the building if you take a walk and you look at them you'll see them all um but they are discreet if you're not paying attention to them but they're there if you need them and I worry that that's kind of a spotlight when it's hanging around our teachers's nexts and I'll just add one more thing to that is that um Dr blci and um Sergeant Interac Cola go to the Statewide uh safety trainings every single year and every year we learn about what are the new things that are available for schools and um you know all of that is certainly taken into account so we see the reports the positive and the negative on all different kinds of safety devices like the Panic buttons and um and other measures so they they are fully on top of Cutting Edge um school safety matters are there any locations um in the schools where we may need to purchase additional phones every room has a phone like the gyms Library y this point I'd like to table this we'll give more information and see how the phone and the should will be working and go from the end uh on discussion number two it's a kind of a two-fold uh we want to talk about additional security but also possibly having a cons uh security Consulting come in as far as the security goes what I'm been looking to do is basically have two retired officers I'm sorry one retired officer instead of two Hall monitors and they will basically supervise and needs the students as well as the home monitors and then they will report to the sros if we have wanted every location at the school and then we have our three SRO and then we have the fourth one going between schools I think that will be I think that will be ample coverage for our schools because sometimes we're short coverage someone is out and I think it would be beneficial it wouldn't really cost the school system that much more money and like we have the home monitors the assistant principles and principles they're telling the home monitors what to do but this particular job volunteer supervision with the home monitors as well as engaging with the students that is nor if anybody questions on anything no it sounds like a great idea I mean I feel like that the number of students 2200 students in the high school the you know we can add additional adults in the hallways and um you know the students transferring classes I think that's a wonderful idea and I like the idea of having a former police officer who has um you know requisite training um you know we just I would also want to make sure that like the SRO that we have now have um not only experience but they have the temperament and demeanor and the know with all um with with how to engage and um interact with students of all ages and I just think that we have to be cautious that the person when we bring on board also you know has those qualities well that's why we tie it offic I'd like to ask their opinion Frank yeah I think you know in general it's something you know we have to consider I'd like to see what other districts do but anytime you have a responsible adult that willingness how to connect with kids that's what you want because we often Overlook that authentic relationships with with kids are really what matters why because we know when something is about to happen or a kid knows anything about an incident may come up they go to an educator or a police officer so it's important to just build authentic relationships who that is um I don't know if if an officer it would depend on a lot of circumstances but I think a responsible adult in the school that can assist the sros whether it's a police officer or not um it's something to be considered it just has to be the right thing absolutely so the official title they're called campus supervisors and we are in the process right now we working closely with our Administration team and we are in the process of putting on more campus supervisors we're almost at full staff and just going well keep the updated on that and I I will share that the the SRO do train them every every sorry no no go took words right out of my yeah they they do train them and work with them and and give them the best practice that best practices that they're expected to engage in throughout the day so that piece of the relationship is already there um one of the things you had mentioned to me Mr Ciana was maybe having somebody come in and do a safety audit who could look around not only at the high school but at the rest of our schools can look at our safety plans that we've developed with the Rea police and let us know from an outside perspective where the gaps are and where they think that we um need to sh things up from an expert's point of view because I think we all look around and say well this would be good that would be good the other might be good um but we should think we should probably at the whole system more holistically I like that idea yeah also to is on the second part of it I did speak with the secur consultant and they pass it around and basically this person uh this company is global and right now they're working on uh the Mexican uh Mexico soccer stadium so the it's government agency uh they handle companies and they're all senior level law enforcement and Federal prosecutors and what I would like to do was have them come in and just do an assessment and we talked briefly this morning and apparently this person I was talking to used to be a residental here so they're familiar with the area and uh I would like to see them come in and make a presentation to the Safety Committee and then exactly what we have and what we need so spot of this I would like to see if we can uh have a vote on having someone come in from uh security consultant um who will give us a uh who look at everything give us a plan and then we decide to go with it and then we'll move it on to raising the needs sounds great motion sure I'll put forth a motion to bring in is it any consultant plan U Consultants well right now right now I one that's coming in now whether we want to put B that's it's just something that we need to move forward and if I could just mention um with procurement law we probably want to get an initial cost assessment and then we can figure out if we need to get multiple bids Okay order and and just a remind I'm thinking last night from the c meeting about the format and that subcommittees would refer to the whole committee okay and also to is it's it's for them to look at what we have have here and what we can build on you know even with uh if we have supervisors or retire police offices tools of Engagement May consistent training and uh quicker response so whatever you know they can do to can help us you know I think we be good so I'll put forth a motion to bring in um a safety Consultants outside Auditors um to evaluate our security into provide us with some advice okay second all in favor I and that's a recommendation to the whole correct and first while talking on the um security um at a public speak at the city council people address certain issues and our speaker apparently a teacher made reference the second fight that um a teacher was injured and that teachers would no longer be willing to step in fear of being knifed or whatever their their fears would be I know past practice would be that as classes changed teachers would come to their doors and kind of I how you doing and all that to keep kids moving has there been any um recour or have they still continued to come out um well I I have you noticed any difference teaching still coming out teach is still on the hallway absolutely and they've been reminded of late to make sure that they're out there that it's something that had fallen off a little bit in previous years but I know Mr Bowen and his team you can speak to this Joe I mean a lot of these teachers have close relationships with these kids and just see that face that's that's vital mention able to you know the escalation skill as a teacher and you know just your voice of home you're like all right that's Mrs Jones I'm gon list I'm gonna stop thank you I just wanted to make sure the statements made you don't know how far it's going it's detrimental or whatever but they're doing their end of it that's fine that's what we expect thank you I just want to add a quick comment Mr s earlier we had said how since um that altercation it's been really productive great in the rhs hallways adults have been awesome they've been in the hallway same GL the kids good morning good afternoon have a good day um even dismissal the kids of dispersing and know hanging waiting for friends um it's been a really nice atmosphere for all those adult eyes and um comments in the hallways it's been great thank you uh next Su J we always talk about security but we don't talk enough about how we could invent it so uh I'll turn it over to Miss Ellis talk about the real thought for sure so um following those those fights um I had the opportunity to have a um a brief discussion with officer singer and we were kind of brainstorming you know how we can further connect with the kids who are finding themselves in trouble um and what ways we can we can um assist with their re-entry in a productive way um and I'm going to let officer singer speak for himself but he had said something that really resonated with me you know he had indicated if I could just get these kids in a room and have a real conversation with them um you know and and this idea kind of sparked from there so um why don't I let officer s elaborate a little bit on it but but this is the whole idea of it for us to have a forum where we have um where we have these students who have found themselves in trouble perhaps as a part of the re-entry process that they have to attend this forum um and how that forum is going to look we haven't worked that out yet but that's what these meetings are for um but the idea is maybe maybe it's something that you know we're not even a part of as the school committee or um Dr Kelly and and Dr deluchi like it's it's officer singer and his people and who he brings in to talk to them one on-one with these students so it's that type of intimate atmosphere where you know you can build and really have a real discussion without feeling like all these adults are kind of looking in on them and um you know as if they're subjects so um that was the the idea behind it we were able to pass last night um a budget uh an initial budget of $30,000 to help us with these types of meetings which would also include um as a school Committee Member I would like to have our committee have meetings or forums with directly with parents and directly with students so those individuals can come to us you know and have those types of conversations as well so um if officers ER wants to elaborate or um you know provide any other I can't go too in depth because we get allow you know through process right it's the sport for each individual student but eventually they are going to be have to they're going to have to reeducate these kids they're going to have to come back into the community and So like um we want to be able to work with these kids and make sure their productive members in our community so as it's Our obligation to make sure these kids we can we can avoid what we can prevent basically so if we can get it get on top of that work with these kids and um I think the cats be B for broker and circle training right I think you know we don't just you know take action against kids and just leave it there we're in constant contact with District Attorney's office and ju probation we actually met with them today to talk about diversion and what does that look like and could we have a say in maybe what some of that diversion looks like because we know these kids best rather than going elsewhere so we said we began those discussions today and I think it's a good point it's using our own offices as part of that Divergent to help these kids come into to reentering so it's definitely an option and I know that you know Roker is we're meeting with Roa to talk about what what could how could they assist us and offer any resources um and they're used in in the distort his diversion as well so it's just another option that we're looking into yeah absolutely so I mean the the thought is that if if we can use these um sort of forums or Gatherings or whatever as a way to connect um you know these kids aren't lost they're still present and it's like we have a choice to either accept them or to try to help them and um you know they've gone through their disciplinary process they serve their time excuse me but now it's like we have to you know try to make them better students better citizens because it's beneficial to all of us right so I think my hope is that um these adults will connect or some of the things that they say will resonate with some of these kids and maybe that would be the pivot you know maybe that would be thing that that change the direction that they're going in yeah and I think just if I can clarify a little bit um so the the kids that were involved in this particular incident won't be coming back to R our high school but we will still be educating them it doesn't mean that they're just done we still we're still going to continue to work with these kids and their families they won't be learning in this building um but they will still be learning through the r public schools and having these kinds of connections like officer singer and um member of milberry Ellis are talking about is critically important to keeping them engaged because the last thing we want to do is see these kids up out of school that's not going to help them in the long run it's not going to help their families it's not going to help the community um so we're very much invested in keeping them engaged but even beyond that with the kids who weren't related to this incident we still have plenty of kids who could benefit from these kinds of supports and and speaking to the preventative measures that we're taking that could be preventative um for a number of kids who are still here at reia high school and then just the one other thing that I do want to add is when we do have kids that go out on a less extensive suspension there is a re reentry process that happens when they come back and um their caregivers come in with them and first have a meeting with the social worker and the guidance counc or the school administration and then they have to complete um a restorative practice session through um our RJ program which Melissa Hamilton now runs and does a a phenomenal job with that but we also try to associate the kids with some peers who they can go to to try to make those connections as well um to try to try to be preventative in terms of negative behaviors going forward are we are we finding that that's working yes yeah uh can I have a motion to approve the real talk for I think the school last night no we have the subit oh okay yeah sure um a motion to approve um real talk forums FL second I favor I the last thing on the agenda is create a safety plan outlining immediate next steps and clear action items uh Miss monteroso was supposed to be was they unable to attend so we're going to table this but this is a plan that's already involved with the the principal at media high school so this is this is a plan already that's being put together and we'll bring it uh we'll table it for the next meeting I make a motion to adj motion to favor thank you guys thank you think