Cedar Rapids district outlines safety priorities, pilots cell‑phone limits and rolls out CrisisGo

Officials from the Cedar Rapids Community School District said the top safety priorities for 2025 are clear, district‑wide emergency protocols, staff training, and reducing physical aggression in schools.

In a district podcast interview, Janessa Carr, Safe and Secure Learning Environment Administrator, said, "The biggest part is making sure that our—how we respond to emergencies, there's proper protocols in place," and emphasized that standardizing those protocols across more than 30 buildings is foundational to safety and learning.

Why it matters: Carr and Ryals Parker, Executive Director of Behavior Supports, said safety affects students' ability to learn and staff capacity to teach. "When safety is this big of a concern for people, we know that kids are not learning at super high levels," Carr said. Parker added that reducing behavioral incidents gets students into class and improves access to instruction.

Most important facts

- Emergency protocols and training: Carr said the district's immediate priority is a consistent set of emergency procedures communicated to staff and families. She said staff and students must be trained on each protocol so responses are consistent across buildings.

- Rising physical aggression: Parker said the district has "seen an increase in some physical aggression" since returning from the COVID‑19 pandemic and described the category broadly — from fights to behaviors such as throwing a pencil that could strike another person. Parker said the district has focused first on reducing the most acute incidents (restraints and crisis calls) and is now working to reduce lower‑level physical aggression across buildings.

- Cell phones: Several CRCSD buildings are piloting tighter rules to limit student access to cell phones during instruction, including lockbox pilots and expectations that phones be put away. Carr said, "I do support the idea that cell phones need to be put away during instruction time," citing distractions and the role of phones in planning peer conflicts at secondary schools. Parker said much peer conflict begins on social media and that removing phone access during instructional time could reduce in‑school conflict. Both said the district is awaiting further guidance from the state or federal education authorities before finalizing district‑wide rules.

- Security continuum: Administrators described safety as a layered, comprehensive system — from anti‑bullying and expectations to metal detectors and school resource officers (SROs). Carr said a metal detector or an SRO "alone isn't going to solve every safety concern, but... it will help to tighten and strengthen our safety continuum." Examples cited included selective use of handheld metal detectors as part of reentry plans and twice‑weekly coordination meetings with the Cedar Rapids Police Department (CRPD) to share community intelligence and be proactive.

- CrisisGo rollout: The district has deployed the CrisisGo emergency app to staff in every building and is using it for drills, attendance tracking during emergencies, localized holds, and internal crisis communications. Carr said, "CrisisGo is like an emergency alert system" that lets staff check in and track student locations; parents will be invited to receive notifications through the system beginning this fall. Administrators said CrisisGo will be used selectively for higher‑level incidents and not for every minor hold to avoid unnecessary parent alerts; routine notices will still be sent through existing channels such as Campus Messenger until the parent rollout.

Context and implementation notes

- Building design and staffing: Parker said newer buildings and larger staffs provide more physical layouts and personnel to separate and deescalate students without disrupting multiple grade levels. He said older buildings with congested circulation (for example, classrooms surrounding a cafeteria) can make deescalation more difficult.

- Behavior supports and restraint reduction: Parker described his work focused on crisis responses and restraints; he reported a reduction in the most intensive interventions this year and said the team is now addressing less severe physical aggression through supports and expectations he summarized as "high expectations and high support."

- Timeline and next steps: Administrators said several pilot projects (cell‑phone policies, lockboxes, CrisisGo practices) are in place now, CrisisGo parent access is planned for the coming fall, and the district will continue to seek guidance from education authorities before adopting a single district‑wide cell‑phone policy.

Ending

District officials framed the work as both practical and instructional: standard emergency procedures and behavior supports, they said, are intended to make school safer and to let teachers focus on instruction. Carr summarized the connection: improving safety helps students "learn at high levels" and allows staff to teach without undue interruption. Parker emphasized training and systems that let adults model de‑escalation so students can learn those social and emotional skills over time.