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Case Study: School Safety & Security

Heather Lynn Hefner
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Dr. Marsha Carr
EDL 526
November 30, 2014

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Case Study: Safety and Security Student Safety

I.

Introduction of Key Managerial Issue

Everyday parents send their child to school under the assumption that they are going
to a safe environment where learning will be fostered in a nurturing and safe
environment. As we have seen in the news with shootings like those at Sandy Hook
Elementary or Marysville Pilchuck High School, the environment is not always as safe as
it should be regardless of procedures and policies put into place. Media images of such
extreme incidents mentioned unfortunately leave a lasting impression that school
violence is all about vicious attacks of shootings and stabbings, but what about all of the
other incidents that occur in schools that put students safety at risk, but are not as high
profile in the media? School violence involves much more than just firing a gun and in
many cases there may have been indicators leading up to such incidents. Creating a safe
and supportive environment to make certain that students will achieve academic success
is an important job of school officials and administrators. Clear and definitive policies
and procedures must be established to protect both the students and the faculty.
a. Defining School Violence
According to Stuart Henry, violence itself can be defined as the use of force toward
another that results in harm, while in schools, it typically refers to student-on-student
or student-on-teacher acts of physical harm (Henry, 2000).

The Center for the

Prevention of School Violence goes further to define school violence as any

behavior that violates a schools educational mission or climate of respect or
jeopardizes the intent of the school to be free of aggression against persons or
property, drugs, weapons, disruptions and disorder (NCDJJDP, 2002).

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b. Best Practices in School Violence Prevention

With so much media attention on extreme cases of school violence, administrators
have felt the pressure and need to take a look at their own school policies and procedures
regarding school violence. According to a report provided by the U.S. Departments of
Education and Justice, their efforts have paid off. In a 2004 report on school crime and
violence, the results show that in the majority of the areas school violence has decreased
significantly among secondary students (Furlong et al., 2005).

There are multiple

elements in preventing violence of all forms including bullying, aggressive classroom

behavior, gun use or organized activity while establishing a safe environment. The same
strategies that are used to promote a safe school culture are the same ones used to prevent
violence in schools.

Research shows that preventing school violence begins at the

center of the school culture. This does not mean that the school culture needs to be reinvented, but rather developing a culture that supports positive behavior while
maximizing learning (QSAAV, 2010). There are six best practices in creating a safe
school environment according to an article produced by the National Association of
School Psychologists:

Build a foundation: Safe schools develop through careful planning. It is

suggested that schools develop a safety team whose role is to create a
comprehensive violence prevention plan. The team should include a large
variety of stakeholders that can identify needs and can implement a

comprehensive plan based on data.

Collect Data:
Collecting data is a key process in developing and
implementing an effective safety plan in a school. Assessments should assess
and identify the strengths and the risks of the school. The assessments should
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focus on what types of violence is occurring at the school, the discipline

procedures and the number of referrals as well as the intervention strategies
used to prevent any violent incidents. Data collection should be an ongoing
process as a new procedure is being implemented and even after the policies

have been established.

Address Bullying: Bullying intervention programs aid in eliminating existing
bullying problems, prevent the development of bullying issues, and help to

build better peer relations while creating a positive school climate.

Plan Systematically: Identify the problem, analyze the problem, and
implement interventions accordingly. As interventions are implemented plans

for sustainability must also be considered.

Foster Collaboration: Gaining parent and community support is imperative in
the implementation and maintenance of a successful violence prevention
program. This type of collaboration sends a powerful message that school
safety is a shared concerned and it presents a united front to the students as

II.

well as the community.

Case Study
a. Overview of School Environment
Maple Park Middle School is a Title 1 public middle school located in a rural area

of central North Carolina. There are 756 students and 38 full-time staff and 12 part-time
assistants. Maple Park is an at-risk school with a high population of students that come
from low socio-economic status. 89% of the students are on free or reduced lunch and
are part of a public housing program and come from single parent homes.
Maple Park has a newly re-constructed administrative team that is working to
improve the school culture. The staff is a combination of veteran teachers and teachers
within their first three years of teaching. There has been an increase in school violence
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this year and the administration is aware that changes must be made to protect the safety
of the students and the faculty as well as improve the overall school culture.
b. Identified Issues
This year the staff has seen an increase in school violence in the bus lot and
during transition periods throughout the day. There has been an increase in students
fighting eachother as well as fighting members of the faculty. In several cases students
were required to be handcuffed by one of the Security Resource Officers (SRO). As an
effort to try to reduce violence from occurring, the administration is reviewing their
current policies and procedures for violence within the school. Presently, the school must
tread carefully on the number of students suspended, how long they are suspended and
the ethnicity of those suspended due to a disproportionality law suit that the school
district was involved in.
This week the principal, Mr. Dunston, received a phone call from a parent
wanting to pull her students from the school and transfer him to another school. The
student had been part of an attack by an aggressive student in the classroom and her child
had to receive medical treatment as a result of the incident. In addition, the parent has
chosen to press charges against the student and threatened to sue the school for
knowingly providing an unsafe environment for her child.
The student who was the aggressor in the incident has had multiple outbursts in
class and in the hallway during transitions. He has shown violence to both his peers and
faculty and has required being handcuffed on multiple occasions. Because the student
has been identified as having a learning disability and receives services from the special
education department, the staff has been cautious in suspending him for any length of

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time. His aggressive behavior has put other students at risk and the teachers do not feel
that they are adequately equipped to handle this student.
c. Protocols, Key Personnel, and the Role of Leadership
Policies, procedures, and consequences are available in the Student Code of
Conduct. At the beginning of the year, the staff is required to review the material and the
students are required to sign that they have been notified of the expectations. Each part is
explicitly defined and provides examples of each possible circumstance. In addition, the
staff handbook provides the same material and how to address situations as they arise.
Unfortunately, when situations involve students who have been identified under the
Exceptional Childrens program, there is no clear and definitive way of handling certain
situations. Employee handbooks should provide staff with the necessary information of
how to handle situations involving students that are part of the Exceptional Childrens
program. They need to have a clear understanding of the students rights as well as the
law that may or may not protect from violent acts in school.
As the principal of the school it is his or her right to take control of any situation
and make the decision on how to handle any issue. Although the school has a clear
policy on aggressive behavior, there remains a grey area when a child with a disability is
involved. When this information is unclear, it is important to contact someone at the
central office or a member of the Exceptional Childrens department compliance team to
make sure that all procedures are followed correctly. In addition, the principal can talk to
the school psychologist, social worker, guidance counselors and parents to gather as
much information as possible in developing an appropriate plan of action.
d. Resolution

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The principal took action and immediately contacted a member of the special
education department. A team was formed to work together to find the most appropriate
plan of action. The student had to attend a Manifestation Determination Review to see if
his actions were in fact a manifestation of his disability. This type of meeting is part of
the IEP process and must documented on the students IEP. In addition the student had to
attend a Discipline Team Meeting, a meeting that all students must attend when
consequences may exceed 10 days of suspension.
The MDR determined that his actions were not part of his disability and he would
serve his 10 day suspension. In addition, the team worked together to bring in outside
agencies to observe the student in the academic setting. It was determined that although
the student did not qualify for a change in setting, he did qualify for day treatment.
During this time he will receive his academics in a setting more conducive to his
behavior where he will also receive therapy for a certain amount of time.
After the team met with the parent of the individual who was injured as a result of
the students violence proceeded with removing her child from the school, but chose not
to proceed with any legal action involving the school.
e. Conclusion
Middle school is a tough age for most students, especially students who come
from a less than desirable environment, but behaviors must be controlled regardless.
While most school districts have policies and procedures in place for student misconduct,
there are always those situations that are questionable. The incident at Maple Park
Middle School opened the eyes to the staff and administration that there needs to be more
clarification and more education on the laws that protect children with disabilities.

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The Exceptional Childrens department is working to put together a professional

development on ways to diffuse certain behaviors that occur in the classroom and
protocols that should be followed when these situations arise. Additionally, they are
going to inform teachers of laws that protect children with disabilities and the processes
that follow when an incident occurs. The outcome is for the staff to gain a deeper
understanding of special education, the laws that are tied to them and the processes that
are involved.

References
Henry, Stuart. (2000).What is school violence? An integrated definition. Annals of the
american academy of political and social science, Vol. 567, School Violence (Jan., 2000),
pp. 16-29.
Furlong, M., Felix, E., Sharkey, J., & Larson, J. (2005, September).
Preventing school violence: A plan for safe and engaging schools.
Retrieved November 12, 2014, from
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/principals/Student Counseling
Violence Prevention.pdf

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Just what is "school violence?" (2002, May). Department of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved November 12, 2014,
from http://test.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv/pdf_files/newsbrief5_02.pdf.
Working together: Understanding student violence in schools. (2010,
November 1). Queensland Government. Retrieved November 10,
2014, from
http://education.qld.gov.au/studentservices/behaviour/qsaav/docs/unde
rstanding_violence.pdf.

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