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District director outlines school climate, new state definitions and equity work
Summary
Cheryl, the district’s school climate and equity director, summarized work on new state school climate requirements, updated definitions of bullying and challenging behavior, restorative practices, a WestEd pilot, and plans for building-level climate improvement plans and family engagement.
Cheryl, the district’s school climate and equity director, presented the board with an overview of a year of work and the district’s plan to meet new state school climate requirements.
Cheryl said the district is aligning the work to the strategic plan and preparing to bring a new school climate policy to the board before the next school year. She explained that the state’s new definition of bullying emphasizes an imbalance of power and that a distinct definition of “challenging behavior” targets highly disruptive or safety‑related conduct; both definitions are driving the district’s preparation of building-level School Climate Improvement Plans. Cheryl said restorative practices, social-emotional learning and staffing supports are already in place and that the committee is building the remaining critical elements before presenting a policy for board adoption.
The district is participating in a two‑year pilot with WestEd and the State Department of Education focused on culture change: the middle school work emphasizes relationships and staff–student connections while the high school work concentrates on positive behavior improvement plans and advisory programming. Cheryl also described family engagement efforts (new-family orientation programs for incoming students, partnerships with Open Choice), and community partnerships including a juvenile review board that offers restorative options after a law‑enforcement contact.
Cheryl highlighted recognition programs such as the North Central Acts of Kindness awards and the new Yukon Stars of Honor for elementary citizenship. She said these programs and the expanded social-emotional learning blocks are part of an overall strategy to improve school climate and student supports.
Cheryl concluded by saying the board will be asked to adopt a new school climate policy after district systems and building plans are in place so the policy can be implemented at the start of the next school year.
