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East student urges clearer safety drills and raises credit discrepancy for college-in-the-schools courses
Summary
Student Representative Kate Dean told the board that East High students want more frequent, explicit emergency training (including discussion of active shooter scenarios) and raised concerns that CITS course credits at East and Denfeld are being issued through different colleges without clear notice to students.
Student Representative Kate Dean told the Duluth Public Schools board on Sept. 11 that students at East High want clearer, more frequent emergency training and raised a separate concern about inconsistent college-in-the-schools (CITS) credit granting between East and Denfeld.
"Students care, and it would mean a lot to see and hear our administrators making it really clearly known that they care too," Dean said during her report about student reactions after the recent national and local shootings. Earlier in her remarks she described a classroom conversation where students felt lockdown procedures did not explicitly name the possibility of an active shooter.
Dean also told the board students are frustrated that CITS precalculus, CITS physics and CITS American government and politics at East are being granted through Fond du Lac while the same classes at Denfeld are being granted through UMD, creating a credit discrepancy. She said the district website still lists the college assignments differently and students received no prior notice explaining the difference.
Nut graf: A student representative's report combined safety concerns following national incidents and a procedural question about college credit pathways; the board's administration agreed to provide follow-up information and asked staff to circulate clarifying responses to students.
What students told the board Dean said students are troubled that emergency procedures taught from the student handbook list many scenarios but do not explicitly say the district also plans for the possibility of an active shooter. "It really feels like administration doesn't want to name the fact that a shooter is a threat that we may face," she told the board. She added that drills often occur only at the start or end of the year, while students change schedules in January and may have different procedures with new classrooms and teachers.
On CITS credits, Dean said about 80 juniors have signed up for the PSAT and that four seniors qualified for National Merit consideration; separately she described the credit issue: "I'm getting those credits from Fond du Lac. My peers who are taking those classes at Denfeld are getting them from UMD." She said students were not notified about the decision to split colleges and asked the district to clarify why credits differ and whether credits will be equally transferable.
Board response and follow-up Superintendent Magus thanked Dean for her "deep reflections and insights" and said Director Larva and Principal Flohog had prepared responses intended to address the CITS questions; she said staff planned to distribute that information within a day or two. The superintendent and board also observed a moment of reflection after the grief-related portion of Dean's report and noted counseling resources had been made available at the school.
Distinguishing comment types Dean's remarks were part of the student representative report, not a formal policy proposal; the board accepted the report and staff committed to following up with written information.
