15.0 SAFETY AND SECURITY

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1 15.0 SAFETY AND SECURITY This chapter addresses the safety and security issues of the Hamilton County School District. It is organized into the following two sections: 15.1 Student Discipline 15.2 Facility Safety and Security 15.1 Student Discipline CURRENT SITUATION With its remote location and small size, the Hamilton County School District does not have some of the major safety and security issues facing larger districts. As shown in Exhibit 15-1, except for Madison County School District (which reported a large number of incidents of crime and violence incidents in several categories), the number of incidents per 1,000 students for Hamilton County (excluding disorderly conduct and fighting), is similar to the comparison districts. In fact, the incident rate for the district is lower than all school districts except Holmes. EXHIBIT 15-1 CRIME AND VIOLENCE INCIDENTS IN HAMILTON COUNTY AND COMPARISON SCHOOL DISTRICTS Type of Incident Hamilton Calhoun Gulf Holmes Madison Union Alcohol Arson Assault Battery Breaking and Entering/Burglary Disorderly Conduct 1, Fighting Firearm Incident/Possession Homicide Larceny/Theft Malicious Harassment/Hate Crimes Motor Vehicle Theft Narcotics Excluding Alcohol Other Weapons Possession Robbery Sexual Battery Sexual Harassment Sex Offenses Trespassing Vandalism Other Major Crime/Violence Total 1, ,256 3,98 Total Excluding Disorderly Conduct & Fighting District Membership 2,380 2,288 2,264 3,699 3,359 2,094 Incidents Per 1,000 Students Source: Department of Education, Crime and Violence Incident Report, District membership from Department of Education, Q-Links, Incidents per 1,000 students exclude disorderly conduct and fighting. MGT of America, Inc. Hamilton Page 15-1

2 To address student discipline concerns, the district has an Alternative Learning Center with programs designed for providing separate structured learning environments to high school and middle school students with major discipline problems. Hamilton High School and Hamilton Middle School also have in-school suspension programs. The Alternative Learning Center offers programs during the day. In addition, a program is provided at night for students charged with felonies committed off-campus. In its application to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice for renewal of a $30,000 grant for the Hamilton County Truancy Intervention Program (TIP), the district showed a 25 percent reduction in the number of crimes committed by truants during the program s first year of operation ( ). Additional positive outcomes attributed to TIP are shown in Exhibit These include a 26 percent reduction in the number of suspensions and a nine percent reduction in the number of unexcused absences for students. EXHIBIT 15-2 IMPROVEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HAMILTON COUNTY TRUANCY INTERVENTION PROGRAM Program Effectiveness Measure Unexcused Absences Crimes Committed by Truants Truants Number Year Before Program Began Number First Year of Program Percent Improvement % 1, % 56.6% 41.9% 26% Suspended Source: Hamilton County Schools Application to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice for Grant Renewal for the Truancy Intervention Program, February COMMENDATION Hamilton County s Truancy Intervention Program is commended for demonstrating positive outcomes during its first year of operation. To help maintain a safety and minimally disruptive instructional environment, the district operates alternative education programs for students guilty of misconduct. Students guilty of minor acts of misconduct are assigned to the in-school suspension program or given after-school detention. Students guilty of major acts of misconduct are removed from the day school setting and assigned to the after-school alternative program which operates from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. MGT of America, Inc. Hamilton Page 15-2

3 Under contract with a juvenile detention facility (Panther Success Center), the district also provides instructional services to its students who have been court-assigned to this facility due to criminal behavior. COMMENDATION The district is commended for providing instructional services to students guilty of misconduct or criminal activity in settings that are removed from other students. The district provides students, even those guilty of serious misconduct, with educational opportunities. By removing students who are disruptive or dangerous to other students and to teachers, and placing them in separate classrooms, the district demonstrates its concern for the safety and security of other students and teachers Facility Safety and Security CURRENT SITUATION Hamilton County schools have a low incidence of problems with safety and security situations. As shown in Exhibit 15-1, the number of vandalisms, burglaries and thefts in the district are lower than, or are comparable to, the comparison districts. Each school (except Hamilton High School and Central Elementary School) is equipped with security fences that restrict unwanted visitors. Although the fences are not completely closed with gates and locks to outside visitors, the fences provide a deterrent to criminal activities. In addition to school fences, the district has employed other safety and security measures. Most notable is the security lighting installed at the high school parking lot and the video cameras installed on some school buses. The security lighting has made it safer for students and employees to walk to their cars, while the school bus security cameras have protected students by monitoring bus activity. During the survey period of this review, employees were asked to rate the law enforcement/security component of the district. All principals felt that law enforcement/security was adequate or outstanding, 65 percent of teachers and half of district administrators felt the same way. This finding is in vast contrast to surveys conducted in other districts by MGT where less than half of the administrators, principals, and teachers indicated that their district was safe and secure. The school district is a member of the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium (PAEC) which provides services to smaller school districts that are frequently affordable only by larger districts. Among these services, PAEC has provided the district with a risk MGT of America, Inc. Hamilton Page 15-3

4 assessment of all school facilities. The risk assessment identified all potential safety risks located in schools and recommended actions to alleviate those risks. COMMENDATION The district is commended for becoming a member of the PAEC and for taking advantage of the services offered. Normally smaller districts cannot afford to dedicate staff to certain full-time functions such as risk management, but also can not afford to neglect these functions. For this reason, small school districts must be creative in acquiring cost effective and comprehensive services. PAEC provides the Hamilton County School District with these capabilities. A review of the emergency action plans in several schools revealed that some were less comprehensive than others. The plan for Hamilton Middle School was the most comprehensive, including procedures for the following: emergency evacuation lock down drill tornado drill fire drill evacuation emergency health needs The middle school plan also included guidelines for securing emergency information cards for both staff and students. RECOMMENDATION Recommendation 15-1: Evaluate school emergency action plans to ensure all schools are following the same procedures. Information on the following procedures should be included in each school s plan: emergency evacuation in-climate weather bomb threat unauthorized visitors fire health emergency As part of these procedures, the responsibilities of both staff and students should be identified. In addition, the plan also should include procedures for acquiring emergency action cards on all students and staff. The following should be required on emergency action cards: MGT of America, Inc. Hamilton Page 15-4

5 name address parent/guardian/spouse additional emergency contact preferred health provider insurance information special health information By requiring students and staff to complete this information, schools will be better prepared to deal with emergency situations. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY AND TIMELINE 1. The Superintendent, in conjunction with principals, should create a comprehensive emergency action plan for use in each school. 2. Each principal should distribute the plan to school representatives and instruct them in its use. July 1997 September 1997 FISCAL IMPACT Creating a common school emergency action plan can be accomplished within existing resources. Although the school district policy manual addresses the use of eye protection devices, a tour of the high school noted several students working on industrial equipment without such protection. The students were in close proximity to hazardous materials warranting eye protection. One student performing the work was wearing protection. RECOMMENDATION Recommendation 15-2: Instruct students and staff on the importance of wearing eye protection and the situations that require its use. Often students and staff become lax in promoting safety habits. For this reason, it is important for the district to periodically issue, to applicable students and staff, the directions for eye protection and the policy directing its use. Additionally, principals should perform unannounced inspections to verify these procedures are being followed. MGT of America, Inc. Hamilton Page 15-5

6 IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY AND TIMELINE 1. The Assistant Superintendent should distribute information about the School Board Policy concerning eye protection to all school staff. 2. Principals should conduct unannounced inspections of applicable areas where eye protection should be used. August 1997 Ongoing FISCAL IMPACT Distributing information eye protection policies and monitoring policy compliance can be accomplished within existing resources. The school district purchased badge-making equipment in June 1996 for creating visitor tags. The district planned to use such tags for identifying visitors to school facilities. However, the badge-making equipment has not been used for this purpose at the time of the MGT review. RECOMMENDATION Recommendation 15-3: Begin issuing visitor badges for all non-school employees visiting school and central office facilities. This recommendation includes the creation of identification badges for district employees visiting a school to which they are not assigned (i.e. maintenance workers, district administrative staff). In addition, as part of the emergency procedures created as a result of Recommendation 15-1 above, school staff and students should be instructed to immediately notify school administrative offices of unauthorized visitors. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY AND TIMELINE 1. The Coordinator of General Services should begin creating identification badges for non-school administrative staff and visitors. 2. The Coordinator of General Services should distribute badges and information describing their use to schools and non-school administrative staff. July 1997 Summer 1997 FISCAL IMPACT The fiscal impact associated with issuing identification badges can be accomplished using existing resources. MGT of America, Inc. Hamilton Page 15-6