Bus stop arms soon to have cameras mounted
Student behavior and safety are topics at monthly board of education meeting
The Charles County Board of Education held its monthly meeting Tuesday in La Plata where board members and local residents heard reports on an array of topics including how the school system handles student behavior, school-based initiatives that help foster teaching and learning as well as a proposed stop-arm camera enforcement for school buses.
CCPS supporting services assistant superintendent Mike Heim said use of school bus stop arm cameras was approved in April 2012. The school system is now proposing a safety camera initiative called the CrossingGuard+ Program, a public awareness effort to change the dangerous behaviors of drivers.
According to Heim, CrossingGuard+ will be funded by violators and requires no upfront costs or interactions from bus drivers. Safety cameras, which would be mounted to school bus stop arms, will record five different things all at once. This includes a GPS map showing where the violation took place, a video of a driver’s dangerous behavior, two separate photos of the violation in action and a close-up shot of the car and license plate.
Heim said an agreement with Verra Mobility is currently being reviewed by the sheriff’s office general counsel. CCPS has already reviewed the program and signed an agreement, stating that buses would be outfitted with cameras within 60 days.
Hill gives safety review
Superintendent Kimberly
Hill gave a rundown on the various school safety initiatives and improvements made over the last year. Hill said the ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign, an anonymous online reporting tool which was established a year ago and has since become part of the school system’s culture, now makes it easier for students, staff and parents to report suspicious activity or safety concerns thanks to a new 24-hour tip line.
Hill said the school system has received nearly 150 reports ranging from bullying to threats about shooting up a school. She said every tip is investigated, often with the help of the school resource officers. “We investigate every tip and we’ve been able to mitigate unsafe situations due to these reports,” she said.
Over the past year, Hill said CCPS has made significant strides toward improving safety by changing the way visitors enter school buildings, completing more than 8,000 background checks for volunteers, increasing training and background checks for substitutes/ new employees, and also by constructing 10 vestibules that limit open access to schools. In addition, there have been 31 training opportunities for active shooter and emergency response and a safety symposium for administrators.
“Our safety efforts continue to evolve. This is largely due to the addition of a safety and security director and the unwavering support of Sheriff Troy Berry and the Charles County Sheriff’s Office,” she said. “Thanks to the sheriff’s office, our schools have had specially trained school resource officers [SROs] in place at all secondary schools for years. And, together with the sheriff’s office, we hope to add two more SROs next school year.”
To deal with mental health issues, which Hill said “are often at the core of school violence,” the system has invested in both increasing the number of psychologists and adding programs to address mental health concerns.
Safety and security director Jason Stoddard has forged relationships with local emergency services and law enforcement agencies, Hill said. With the help of its partners, CCPS has implemented Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R) “Handle with Care” initiative which helps teachers better understand what students may be going through that impacts their behavior, academic performance or attitude.
“We created a School Safety and Security Committee composed of community experts in various law enforcement, security and mental health fields,” Hill said. “The group meets quarterly and provides feedback and suggestions to the superintendent and staff.” Over the summer, the SROs will conduct threat assessments at all schools as required by the state’s “Safe to Learn Act.”
Hill said La Plata High, John Hanson Middle and J.P. Ryon Elementary schools are piloting a student identification program that CCPS hopes to extend to all schools in the fall.
“When visitors arrive at our schools, we now require them to show photo identification when they press the buzzer for entry into a school,” Hill said. “This provides an extra step in the sign-in process, which also screens visitors against the national sex offense registry.”
In an effort to provide a primary family reunification center during an emergency, CCPS signed a memorandum of understanding with the College of Southern Maryland last month, allowing the school system to use CSM’s physical education building in La Plata.
CCPS is also giving staff better communication tools such as emergency radios at open space schools. Funding for many of these safety enhancements, according to Hill, came from a series of grants that Stoddard has worked to obtain.
Hill said the grant money, combined with funding provided by county commissioners, has helped made schools safer. The school system has secured more than $1 million in funding for safety and security initiatives, mental health services, student ID card implementation, staff training expansion, bus cameras and more.
“We kicked off the school year with a safety town hall, and have followed up with regular emails and phone calls to parents and staff to let them know about changes,” Hill said. “On April 4, the North Point High School PTSO [will be] hosting a follow-up safety town hall where Mr. Stoddard and I will update the public on school safety and answer questions.”
CCPS deputy superintendent Amy Hollstein said one of the best ways to teach students to accept responsibility for their mistakes and behavior is to use logical consequences instead of just punishment. In terms of rationale discipline regulations, Hollstein noted in her presentation that “education leaders approved the most sweeping changes in state discipline policies, culminating a fouryear effort to find a more constructive approach to student discipline, end racial disparities in suspensions and keep students who are punished in school.”
These new regulations, according to Hollstein, call on principals to reserve harsher penalties for the most severe offenses.
“A major philosophy implemented in the recommendations is that students should be afforded opportunities to learn from their mistakes,” said Hollstein. “To do this, school staff should use graduated consequences and interventions to teach students appropriate behavior, and to correct any harm that results from their behavior. Removing a student from school through exclusionary measures should always be the last resort.”
Removal options include an extended suspension with a total of 10 or more days; 45-day placement in the day program at Robert D. Stethem Educational Center; a 45-day placement in evening high school; or expulsion.
To view all the presentations and reports from Tuesday’s school board meeting, go to www. boarddocs.com/mabe/ ccpsmd/Board.nsf/Public.