Guest Columnist
I was fortunate to able to attend the first session of the Carmel Clay Schools Expedition Program. This is an eight-session program that takes a small group of Carmel residents on an exclusive educational journey and a behind-the-scenes look at the operations, programs, incredible educators and outstanding students of CCS. The program runs August through April.
Throughout the year, participants are immersed in our school buildings and participate in extended dialogue and hands-on activities as we explore topics including elementary and secondary curriculum, school safety, school finance, food services, transportation, technology, mental health and much more. Participants also have fun meeting students and staff, dining on healthy school lunches, and uncovering the culture of excellence that is CCS.
At this first session, CCS Director of Student Services David Woodward, Mental Health Coordinator Stephanie Whiteside and Head School Resource Officer D.J. Schoeff presented on school safety. We had a welcome by our Superintendent Dr. Michael Beresford, and CCS school board members Layla Spanenberg and Katie Browning.
Carmel Clay Schools is responsible for the education of over 16,600 students and employs over 2,400 staff members. According to Superintendent Dr. Beresford, “Our students are at the center of every decision. That is reflected in the school’s Mission Statement, ‘Carmel Clay Schools will provide opportunities for all students to realize their potential in an ever-changing world,’ and Vision, ‘Experience Excellence … Explore Opportunities … Realize Potential.’”
The first session of the Expedition Program focused on School Safety. Though details of CCS’s school safety plans cannot be shared publicly for security reasons, school administrators talked about emergency preparedness, mental health initiatives, the 24 trained school safety specialists, Stop the Bleed kits and trainings, the Parent School Safety Academy, communications, building access, QPR Suicide Prevention training, the new “Stop It” app that has received over 1,000 reports since it was initiated in December 2018, and the seven full-time, highly-trained School Resource Officers the school system employers. Carmel High School has four full-time SROs and each of the middle schools has an SRO who is also responsible for its feeder of three to four elementary schools.
The Carmel Clay Schools administration says it believes that SROs and the close personal relationships they have with students, parents and the community is vital to school safety and an important aspect of the new safety referendum that will be on the ballot this November, which will include additional funds to hire more SROs. Under the referendum, Carmel Clay Schools would add 11 more school resource officers in addition to the seven currently employed by the district. Also, if passed, the referendum would provide staff with access to additional training on safety plan implementation, classroom behavioral supports, social-emotional learning, and accessing mental health services. Details are below:
Additional School Resource Officers
CCS and the Carmel Police Department will work together to hire an additional 11 to 13 SROs. This provides at least one armed and highly-trained Carmel law enforcement officer in every school. SRO programs seek to “bridge the gap” between law enforcement and youth. SROs are trained school safety experts and follow the TRIAD model serving as law enforcement, teacher and informal counselor (mentor) in the school setting.
Mental health services
CCS will support and enhance our school counselor/school social workers by raising the salaries of our current social workers to be competitive with area schools. The referendum will also give us funding for additional school counselors/school social workers over the next eight years.
CCS will contract with a local providers to have mental health therapists available in every school. Parents of students in need of support can choose these services. This initiative is designed to eliminate barriers to mental health services, support our families and wrap resources around students in need of assistance.
School safety initiatives and training
CCS will provide staff with access to additional training on safety plan implementation, classroom behavioral supports, social-emotional learning, and accessing mental health services. This will allow our district to keep up with evolving school safety best practices and technologies.