Avon Grove plans districtwide survey, code-of-conduct review to boost student safety and belonging

The Connected, Accepted and Valued action team presented its plan Wednesday to the Avon Grove School District Committee of the Whole, announcing a brief districtwide student survey to establish a baseline on students’ sense of safety, belonging and connection.

Chrissy Simpkins, who led the presentation as an action-team co-captain, said the survey is scheduled tentatively for the first week of February and will be available in English and Spanish. She said the team will pair the survey with focus groups for parents and community members and with existing Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) data for secondary grades to inform revisions to the district’s two-page code of conduct, last updated in 2015.

“Our intent is to collect data from multiple stakeholder groups so we can analyze patterns and use the results to identify strengths, reoccurring concerns and opportunities for improvement,” Simpkins said.

Matt Burkhizer, the high‑school assistant principal, described programs already in place that the team will align and assess, including NAVIGATE 360 for threat and suicide-risk assessment, a district mental‑health resources webpage, an MTSS behavior framework, and PBIS implemented across all four school buildings.

Board members asked how the action team set its initial target (80% of students reporting feeling connected and safe). Simpkins said the figure was derived in part from limited PAYS data and will be revised once the new, all‑grade baseline returns.

Concerns from the board and parents focused on perception: several cited PAYS responses showing that many students believe adults do not intervene in bullying. A board member urged the administration to ensure enforcement and to close the gap between policy and student perception; staff responded that district discipline cannot be discussed publicly by personnel but that incidents are taken seriously and that the team will work on increasing staff–student relationship building and clearer communications.

Next steps: the district will run focus groups facilitated by a vendor (Beth Trapani was identified as the likely facilitator), administer the student survey in February, analyze results, and bring a draft revision of the code of conduct to the board later in the year.