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Student Wellness and Safety Taskforce

May 3, 2023

5:45-7:30 p.m.

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AGENDA

AGENDA:

Progress Check-in

April 24 Board Study Session Feedback

Bullying prevention

Community Engagement Update & Planning

SEL Survey Findings - February 2022

Action planning

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Student Wellness & Safety Taskforce Norms

Take the extra step to uplift student voice
Listen to understand
Be open minded
Disagree respectfully
Honor the agenda and stay focused
Respect all perspectives
Be honest- radical candor
Make sure students are safe and that they are able to learn and communicate
Make sure everyone feels included
Understand when facts come into play
Assume positive intent
Listen mindfully and don’t discard the ideas of others

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Public Presence at Taskforce Meetings

Thank you for your interest in the work of the Student Wellness and Safety Taskforce. Our group is a working body whose recommendations will be given to the Superintendent, School Board, and Cabinet. Observers must adhere to the following protocols:

Be seated in seats assigned for visitors and guests
If you have comments or questions, they can not be asked during the meeting. Please write your question or comments on an index card and turn into a Taskforce facilitator. Include your name, email or phone number so that a facilitator can provide a response.
Recording or taking photos during the Taskforce can be distracting to the process and requires approval by all committee/taskforce members.
Minutes will be posted within three working days of the meeting on the Taskforce website.

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Student Wellness & Safety Taskforce

Charge & Key Deliverables

Help further define what welcoming, supportive, and safe means to students and families in relationship to the learning environment.
Make recommendations about an enhanced suite of student wellness and safety tools and supports.
Inform development of a baseline continuum of supports, services, and practices - including a multi-year timeline and budget - necessary to meet the Guiding Principles of Parameter 7.

Provide recommendations to the District on how to measure progress towards the Parameter 7 Guiding Principles.

Inform development of procedures to support implementation of Board Policy 4311, School Safety and Security Services responsive to changes to state legislation, community engagement, and recommendations and the work of the 2021-22 School Resource Officer (SRO) Task Force.
Inform and support broad and targeted engagement with students, families, and community to ensure the voices of those most impacted are included in the task force deliberations and final recommendations to the Superintendent.

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Progress to Date

Development of Taskforce norms
Creation of goal areas in support of Parameter 7
Knowledge sessions:

NSD Mental Health
NSD Safety and Security
SRO Programs - Bothell Police Department Model
Restorative Practices and Models
Disproportionate Discipline
Racial and Educational Justice Analysis Tool introduction

Action planning - ongoing
Study Session, April 24
Student Wellness and Support: Conversations with the Board, May 2
Upcoming: Community engagement, May 2 - 14
Study Session, Part II: May 30

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Study Session Feedback

https://youtu.be/M_h2Yjjgvsc

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STUDY SESSION FEEDBACK, APRIL 24

Request to include a recommendation(s) regarding bullying and prevention. Want to see a clear line to Parameter: Acts of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying or cyber-bullying.
Request that the seven campus safety models have a budget behind them.

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Parameter 7: Student Learning Environments

The Superintendent shall establish and maintain a learning environment that is safe, respectful, and conducive to high student achievement for each student. The ideal student learning environment will promote a sense of belonging, be vibrant and inclusive, and have rules that are fair and equitable.

The Superintendent and District shall:

Provide a welcoming, supportive environment for all students and families that takes into account student voice in creating the environment and encourages the exploration and development of diverse attitudes and beliefs.

Protect against unsafe conditions, behaviors, or actions by adults and/or students that might threaten the academic performance, health or well-being of students, including:

a. Acts of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying or cyber-bullying, or the existence of a school environment or culture that may cause any student to feel unsafe.
b. The unsafe access to and/or utilization of online information.

Include student voice in the learning environment and educational process.

Continued on next slide

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Parameter 7: Student Learning Environments

The Superintendent and District shall:

Ensure that all policies and procedures regarding discipline are enforced consistently, equitably and proportionally across schools and demographic groups, including:

The development of administrative student discipline policy that appropriately involves teachers, administrators, students, parents and the wider community.
The thorough communication to students of their rights and responsibilities in their schools.
The protection of students within the school environment from retaliation if they voice grievances in an appropriate manner.
The avoidance of any actions that might contribute to what is known as the ‘School to Prison Pipeline.’

Prohibit the use of corporal punishment

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Community Engagement & Communications

Ongoing; updates to the Taskforce website
April 24: Study Session for the School Board, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
April 24: Study Session included in Connections Newsletter
May 1: Study Session in Monday Message; sent to all staff and posted to the Supt’s blog
May 2: Student Wellness and Supports: Conversations with the Board, 6-7:30 p.m. IHS Library
May 4-14: Broad community feedback on initial recommendations
May 8 -12: Student focus groups
May 17: Full Taskforce review of engagement data, subcommittee recommendation, and feedback
May 30: Study Session for the School Board, 4:30-6:30 p.m. (time TBD)

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Community Engagement & Communications

Student Focus Group Guiding Questions - for review/feedback:

What part of the school experience is the biggest support for your sense of wellbeing?
What part of the school experience is the biggest barrier to your sense of wellbeing? What do you believe might help?
Does you have social support from peers? From educators and administrators?
Does you experience negative relationships at school? If so, can you describe the nature of the problem? What can we do to address the impact of negative experiences?
Do you feel the need for better connection to the Northshore community? If so, what can the District do to improve that connection?
There have been multiple potential staffing models developed to address student wellness and safety on school campuses by the Taskforce. Can you share your concerns or suggestions about campus safety and what considerations should be made to support student wellness?
NSD is centered on preparing students for success after graduation. How do you see safety and wellbeing impacting that goal?

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Student Focus Groups

Student Focus Group Questions:

Student-led based on Task Force/Student Advisory Board feedback
May 8 -12; could start as early as tomorrow. Data due to Carri by Sun. May 14.
Affinity groups (brainstorm)
General “all call”
Structure: guiding questions/public note taking/share back with Craig (via Carri) for analysis
Student interest?

Lilian Berrios
Evelyn Ortiz
Taanvi Arekapudi

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Social & Emotional Survey - Feb. 2023

Methodology

Anonymous
Students self-identified race/ethnicity, gender, and grade
Voluntary
20 items with scales ranging from 1 to 5 or 1 to 7 (Grades 3-5 had 18 items)
3 yes/no items
Items included topics about support, respect, online bullying, worry about violence, interaction maturity

Participation

10,400 3rd-12th grade respondents
6-12 data set (N= approximately 6,500)
3-5 data set (N = approximately 3,900)

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Social & Emotional Survey - Feb. 2023

FINDINGS - GENERAL

I conducted analysis within Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, or Grades 9-12
I examined the scaled responses as a function of race and school independently

Broad consideration #1: The “Other” Ethnicity is growing

High School: Two or More Races = 12.0%; Other = 3.3%
Middle School: Two or More Races = 11.3%; Other = 7.9%
Elementary School: Two or More Races = 8.1%; Other = 13.8%

Broad consideration #2: Worry about violence appears primarily linked to concerns about other students

It correlates with online bullying and concerns about student disrespect

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Social & Emotional Survey - Feb. 2023

FINDINGS - GRADES 3-5

Halo effect – Students reporting higher scores on one item tended to report higher scores on the other items
Results generally around 4.00 out of 5.00 in terms of positivity

Teachers excited = 4.18 out of 5.00 (Nice job teachers!)
Worry about online bullying low: 4.54 out of 5.00

Biggest Ethnicity Difference (Worry about violence)

Rank order of worry from least to most: Asian, White, Two or More, Other (tied), American Indian/Alaska Native (tied), Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black (tied), Hispanic

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Social & Emotional Survey - Feb. 2023

FINDINGS - GRADES 6-8

Same halo effect
Average results approximated a 3.50 out of 5.00 generally
Across all participants, less positive results relative to Grades 3-5

Being shown respect: 3.25 out of 5.00
Mattering to others: 3.23 out of 5.00
Observing disrespectful student behavior: 2.86 out of 5.00 (Negative valence)

The biggest statistical difference regarding Ethnicity involved adults’ treatment of people from different races, ethnicities, or cultures.

Rank ordering (White, Asian, Other (tied), Two or More (tied), American Indian Alaska Native, Hispanic, Black, Hawaiian Pacific Islander).

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Social & Emotional Survey - Feb. 2023

FINDINGS - GRADES 9-12

Across all students, the average responses feel less consistent.

Connected to adults: 2.90 out of 5.00
Frequency of observed student respect was essentially neutral: 3.06 out of 5.00
Access to emotional support: 3.20 out of 5.00
Getting help for being bullied: 3.78 out of 5.00

Ratings of physical space by school (Most significant response I uncovered)

North Creek = Most positive; Inglemoor = Least positive

The biggest difference by Ethnicity involved adult treatment based on race.

Rank order from most positive to least positive (White, Asian, Two or More, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, Other, Hispanic, Black)
White (n = 1,135) and Black (n = 64) responses more noticeably divergent (Means were 4.15 and 3.34 respectively)

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Social & Emotional Survey - Feb. 2023

FINDINGS - GRADES 9-12 (Continued)

I examined students who reported high anxiety about violence (1 out of 5)

Based on a small sample size, there is some indication that high levels of anxiety are more common among students identifying as Black (n = 5; 7.9%), Hispanic (n = 8; 4.4%), and Other (n = 11, 13.6%)
Percentages generally of high worry anxiety were similar for GR 6-8 and GR 9-12 (3.2%)

I examined this high violence anxiety group by school to see if they clustered in some way

I didn’t see any evidence for it.

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SEL Survey Data Questions

What did you notice about the data?
What surprised you?
What concerns you?
What implications does the data have, if any, for the work of the Student Wellness and Safety Taskforce?

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Action Planning

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Student Wellness & Safety Taskforce

Subcommittee Goals/Topic Areas

To meet the goals of Parameter 7 Northshore School District will put the following into place:

Student-centered diversity, equity, and inclusion
Mental health training and supportive adults
Policy, procedures, and accountability
Comprehensive safety, security, and supervision

For each subcommittee area, members will need to provide recommendations on:

Including students in decision-making
Professional Development
Robust communications
Resources (budget, timeline, etc.)
Measurement and Accountability

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Phase 1: Subcommittee Action Planning

Step 1: Review current goal strategies

As needed clarify intent of each strategy
It is OK to get rid of or add strategies in response to your learning over the past few weeks
Identify any strategies that better align with different goals - note for your facilitator
Use the Racial and Educational Justice guiding questions/tool to analyze and refine intent of each strategy

Step 2: Rank order the strategies by the most important to address to least important; where you can - combine strategies (ideally we have 4 or 5 max strategies per goal area)

Step 3: For each strategy conduct a strengths/weakness analysis

As appropriate generate different approaches to fulfill the strategy - may require a briefing paper
Talk through potential benefits and risks of each strategy and various approaches

Step 4: Confirm commitment to the strategy/approaches

Step 5: Brainstorm actions required to implement each final strategy/approach

Organize actions into a timeframe - what comes first, second, third, etc.

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Phase 2: Subcommittee Action Planning

Creation of work plans for each goal’s strategy areas:

Step 1: Organize tactics and activities for each strategy across multiple years

Identify any professional development/training that will need to take place

Step 2: Estimate a budget for each strategy/tactic

If needed, your sub committee facilitator will gather budget information

Step 3: Determine how student voice will continue to center the work and accountability to Parameter 7 - specific to your goal area/strategies (i.e., progress can be tracked via the SEL survey, annual review by the Student Advisory Board)

Step 4: Provide communication recommendations for each strategy

Step 5: Recommend how progress will be measured and ensure accountability

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Racial and Educational Justice Guiding Questions

Policies, procedures, programs and practices will employ the equity best practices criteria as described in the questions below. Use these questions to guide your reflections, review, and revisions, keeping safety and legal requirements in mind:

Inclusivity

❏ How are subgroups affected by the policy, procedure, program, or practice involved in its development, implementation, and evaluation?

❏ How does the policy, procedure, program, or practice foster greater engagement in the Northshore community from diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds?

❏ How might the policy, procedure, program, or practice unintentionally exclude or limit persons or groups of intersectionality?

❏ What elements could be revised to eliminate this limitation?

❏ Is there a need for additional wording or guidance to provide more or clearer direction in this area?

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Racial and Educational Justice Guiding Questions

Policies, procedures, programs and practices will employ the equity best practices criteria as described in the questions below. Use these questions to guide your reflections, review, and revisions, keeping safety and legal requirements in mind:

Opportunity

❏ How does the policy, procedure, program, or practice reinforce practices within the organization that eliminate institutional inequities?

❏ How are issues of internalized racial and cultural oppression, bias,and privilege acknowledged and attended to?

❏ How will we ensure participation and accountability?

❏ How does the policy, procedure, program, or practice increase opportunity and/or access for those who have been excluded?

❏ Who benefits from and/or who is harmed by the program, practice, policy or procedure?

❏ Do the academic policies, procedures, programs and practices specify ways in which they are tied to culturally relevant practices and/or offer or promote differentiated pathways for students’ success?

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Racial and Educational Justice Guiding Questions

Policies, procedures, programs and practices will employ the equity best practices criteria as described in the questions below. Use these questions to guide your reflections, review, and revisions, keeping safety and legal requirements in mind:

Equity

❏ Is there data to support what the policy, procedure, program or practice does or will further narrow gaps, eliminate disproportionality, and/or ensure supports based on need? If not, does the policy, procedure, program or practice maintain neutrality or hinder further inequity?

❏ Does the policy, procedure, program or practice offer access through differentiation of resources, monetary or human, pending budget capacity where possible?

❏ Does the policy, procedure, program or practice indicate /outline adequate staffing allocations or plans to support it?

❏ Does the policy, procedure, program or practice ensure that resources – people, time, money – are allocated equitably, in line with the needs of our students and schools, and the priorities established by our community in our Strategic Action Plan?

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Racial and Educational Justice Guiding Questions

Policies, procedures, programs and practices will employ the equity best practices criteria as described in the questions below. Use these questions to guide your reflections, review, and revisions, keeping safety and legal requirements in mind:

Cultural Relevance

❏ Does the policy, procedure, program or practice focus on or support, rather than hinder, access to academic, social, emotional and behavioral growth?

❏ Does the policy, procedure, program, or practice support equitable access to materials for students with impairments that traditionally limit access to content/curriculum?

❏ How are professional learning opportunities provided to staff to implement and maintain the policy, procedure, program, or practice?

❏ How does the policy, procedure, program or practice aim to challenge students to be independent learners who experience rigorous content regardless of their level of performance?

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Racial and Educational Justice Guiding Questions

Policies, procedures, programs and practices will employ the equity best practices criteria as described in the questions below. Use these questions to guide your reflections, review, and revisions, keeping safety and legal requirements in mind:

Sensitivity

❏ Does the document and any related forms use pronouns that reflect the wide array of gender identities?

❏ How are the elements of the policy, procedure, program, or practice communicated to stakeholders in a variety of languages and methods?

❏ Is any related documentation presented in a way that allows for accessibility tools to convey the content (contrast, expandable fonts, etc) to a sight impaired person or differently-abled individual?

❏ Does the policy, procedure, program or practice meet legal obligations (RCWs, WACs)?

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Racial and Educational Justice Guiding Questions

Policies, procedures, programs and practices will employ the equity best practices criteria as described in the questions below. Use these questions to guide your reflections, review, and revisions, keeping safety and legal requirements in mind:

Obligations

❏ How does the policy, procedure, program, or practice support or correlate to other policy, procedure, program, or practice?

❏ Have the legal obligations set forth by WAC/RCWs been met by this policy, procedure, program, or practice?

❏ Has the policy, procedure, program, or practice been reviewed to ensure that it doesn’t unintentionally contradict other policy, procedure, program, or practices?