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Superintendent outlines new armed-intruder drill rules, PREPARE recovery training and staffing needs
Summary
Superintendent Michelle described new legislative requirements for arm-intruder drills that require advance parent notification and accommodations for students with sensory or mental-health issues; staff will use PREPARE recovery methods after drills. She also updated the board on collective bargaining, enrollment timing, facilities and urgent staffing needs for substitutes and bus drivers.
Superintendent Michelle gave the board a report that focused on safety, staffing and facilities.
On school safety, she said recent legislation requires the district to provide advance parent notification and to make accommodations for students with sensory or mental-health needs when conducting armed-intruder drills. The district will coordinate the drill with a new school resource officer and an in-house safety committee and employ classroom recovery tools under a program staff trained over the summer called PREPARE. "We have to give the public notification, parents' notification when this is gonna happen," Michelle said, and added that staff will provide differentiated lesson and debrief materials for students at different grade levels.
Michelle described operational changes prompted by a recent incident, noting that closed classroom doors likely prevented larger harm. She called attention to policies such as restricting backpacks in classrooms to lower risk of concealed weapons entering instructional spaces.
On staffing, she said collective bargaining sessions are scheduled for September and enrollment will be finalized on the state's count day (Oct. 1). She told the board the district continues to seek substitutes and bus drivers and described recruitment incentives, training and reimbursements (for testing and physicals) to encourage applicants. "We provide training and trainers... we will reimburse you for your test and your physicals and things like that if you become a driver for us," she said.
She also reported that the district's new multipurpose room is expected to be ready by December and updated the board on local discussions about reviving DARE using opioid-settlement grant funds.
