Survey shows contradictory results on safety and diversity
Discussion comes 3 months after a student attack at the high school that made headlines
PERKIOMEN >> Three months after a student fight at Perkiomen Valley High School made television headlines and raised safety concerns, a survey of students, staff and parents there has produced some contradictory results about how safe they feel in all the district’s school buildings.
It also became clear at that meeting that the school board has decided to set up a task force to look more deeply into the problem of safety, violence and bullying in the district.
Presented as part of the education report at the March 4 school board work session, Keya Champagne-Lee, the district’s new supervisor of Equity and Student Services, said while some survey results showed roughly 90 percent of middle and high school students, their parents and staff “feel safe at school,” more than half the students responded, “I have seen students at my school be bullied.”
“There are areas of concern around bullying, particularly cyberbullying among the secondary students,” Champagne-Lee said.
Concerns about physical safety were front and center at the Dec. 4, 2023, meeting where students and parents lined up to express concerns about an attack in which, according to a GoFundMe account set up for the victim, two girls punched and kicked a sophomore at the school during a fight that broke out during lunch.
The attack was so severe, the victim, who is not being identified by MediaNews Group, suffered a concussion, sprained ankle, bruised ribs, and welts on her body.
Channel 6 news in Philadelphia reported that the two students identified as aggressors were suspended for 10 days.
“I had to watch my best friend be attacked,” a high school student whose name is also being withheld told the school board during the Dec. 4, 2023, meeting.
“I was racing through the halls looking for
someone to help and there was no one around,” the student said. “Only after 10 minutes did a single security guard arrive. I just want to know what you guys are going to do to protect us so I don’t feel unsafe in my school.”
Choking back tears, she added “I had to run into a room and beg them to lock the door so I wouldn’t end up like” her friend who was attacked.
Almost one year ago, the school board voted 6-3 to create a school district police force and to hire seven police officers at an estimated cost of $1.3 million. It remains what role, if any, they had in dealing with the attack.
Champagne-Lee said the survey was open for two weeks and made available to 1,500 students, 2,650 students, and 300 staff members.
Some areas of concern include statistics like those that show that only 63 percent of parents agree that “the school effectively manages student discipline and behavior problems.”
At the secondary level, the survey showed that 64 percent of the students responding said they had “seen students be mean to other students” and 55 percent reported they had seen students bullied and seen rumors and lies being spread on social media.
In addition to safety, the survey also asked questions about diversity, whether students feel they “belong” and if the district’s learning materials represent diverse cultural and ethnic viewpoints.
Less than 70 percent of students and staff agreed that curriculum and learning materials “are diverse and reflect the culture, race, ethnicities and identity of students.”
For example, only 52 percent of elementary schools agreed that “the books and learning materials at my school includes people who look like me.”
“There are some who said there is too much focus put on diversity, equity and inclusion and social and emotional learning, and some who indicated we need to do more,” Champagne-Lee said.
School board member Jason Saylor, who wrote a letter to the editor days after the Dec. 1 attack arguing, among other things — “Some don’t believe that a student should have their recess time taken away or have a detention or suspension but I do!” — pointed to the contradictions in the data from the survey.
“We have 87 percent of parents feel their child is safe at school, but then we have 48 percent saying they’re worried every day about violence in the school. That’s a weird data point,” he said, observing that the answers received on the survey may depend on the questions that are asked, and how they are asked.
“This information could be presented in a really negative way or a very positive way. I’d rather present the truth,” Saylor said. “Maybe we can figure out a way to better ask these questions.”
“No survey is perfect or accurately captures perceptions of all of our community,” Champagne-Lee replied. Referring to Saylor’s example, she said “I put on my parent hat. I feel my daughter is safe in school, but I often worry about violence because I watch the media and the violence might not necessarily be against her, but I am still worried about violence in schools in general.”
After the completion of her report, School Board President Laura White asked board members who are interested in serving on the task force that will look more deeply into these issues to let her know.