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Safety task force urges districtwide annual staff survey, training upgrades and clearer reporting for student behavior incidents
Summary
A district task force recommended six steps to strengthen prevention, training and documentation for dangerous student behavior, including an annual staff safety survey, CPI online de‑escalation training, annual staff training on policy and incident documentation, a review of Policy 506, expansion of SOAR programs, and a working group to standardize injury reporting.
A multi‑stakeholder task force convened this spring to study student behavior that leads to staff and student injuries and to recommend changes the Anoka‑Hennepin School District could implement to prevent and respond to such incidents. The task force brought six recommendations to the board on June 9.
Task force lead Jennifer Cherry, executive director of human resources, described the group’s charge and its membership, which included labor‑group leaders and board members. “A particular focus was placed in the prevalence, prevention, and response to dangerous student behavior, reducing the incidence of staff and student injuries resulting from student behavior, and generating metrics to measure and track effectiveness,” Cherry said.
Recommendations presented to the board were:
1) Conduct an annual staff survey to gather feedback about safety protocols and professional‑development needs. The task force said a yearly survey would help shape training and capture staff concerns districtwide.
2) Purchase an online de‑escalation training subscription (CPI Lite) to provide a 30‑minute foundational course for all school staff, the task force said. Gina Uval, vice president of the Paraeducator Association, urged that de‑escalation training be available beyond special‑education staff so that any staff who encounter escalated students have basic skills to reduce risk.
3) Implement annual school‑staff training covering: the student‑discipline policy and behavior matrix; consistent behavior‑incident documentation processes (who documents, what is recorded); legal limits of reasonable force and physical interventions; and post‑incident response procedures and supports for affected staff and students. Task force presenters said staff reported inconsistent documentation and uneven post‑incident care and urged a stronger, consistent protocol.
4) Review district student‑discipline Policy 506 to refine definitions (for example, what constitutes a disruptive incident), improve consistency of application across sites and support accurate data collection.
5) Explore implementing a SOAR/reroute program or similar structured support at each secondary school and consider elementary options. The SOAR model (cited as a local success at a prior site) provides short‑term structured supports for students demonstrating challenging behavior.
6) Establish a working group to create clear and consistent documentation expectations for injuries and incident reporting (who reports, where to record it), and ensure the district can use the information for data‑driven planning.
Task force presenters stressed data gaps; Cherry noted that while workers’‑comp injuries are tracked, emotional trauma or staff feelings of being affected by an incident often go unrecorded. Presenters recommended clearer definitions and a consistent system (for example, using Synergy or another central record) so the district could quantify incidents and evaluate interventions.
Board members responded with general support for the recommendations and questions about implementation. Several board members emphasized the need for better data dashboards and consistent reporting; Superintendent McIntyre said the district is working on a data‑visualization replacement for the current system and that the task‑force recommendations would move next to implementation planning if the board supports them. No formal board vote on the recommendations occurred at the meeting; the task force asked for board feedback and signaled readiness to develop action plans.
