Comprehensive approach will stress proactive steps to create, maintain safe schools

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak and State Board of Education Chairman Joseph M. Torsella today joined the chairs of the House and Senate education committees and the superintendent of Pennsylvania's largest school district to announce an unprecedented effort to improve school safety.

"Ensuring every child learns in a supportive, safe environment takes a collective community response and a collaborative effort at all levels," Secretary Zahorchak said. "We know what works to foster a positive, engaging climate in our schools, but we need to do more to help schools and districts understand and use these tools."

The multi-faceted effort announced today includes:

• A proactive effort to prevent school safety problems through the use of proven models for creating an environment of respect, social connectedness and community engagement.
• Formally and clearly defining the actions needed at the local level to ensure a safe school climate, and -- under the leadership of the State Board of Education -- making those actions a formal expectation of districts similar to the state's academic standards.
• Greater tools for monitoring school safety, engaging local law enforcement in serious safety issues and ensuring students and parents have the most accurate safety-related information possible about their schools.

"Working together at the state and local levels, we'll be doing more than ever before to create and maintain a supportive, safe and secure learning environment for every child in every school," Zahorchak said. "We know what works to foster a safe learning environment and prevent safety issues from arising, but we need to do more to help schools and districts understand and use these tools."

Zahorchak noted Pennsylvania has made great strides in improving education on many fronts -- including a larger share of state funding, stronger curriculum for our classrooms and higher expectations for our students and educators -- yet relatively little progress has been made in reducing the reported number of school safety incidents across the state. As evidence, he noted school safety statistics for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, which were released today by the Department of Education.

"About 68,000 school safety incidents are occurring each year in Pennsylvania's public schools, roughly the same number that occurred five years ago," the secretary said. "Clearly, more must be done to change the climate of our schools, and there is room for improvement even within our schools that most students, parents and teachers would consider 'safe schools.'"

"Schools are a microcosm of their communities and reflect what is going on within them, and there is a high cost in not addressing unwanted behavior like harassment, threats and bullying early on -- educational costs, societal costs, and human capitol costs," Secretary Zahorchak added.

As part of the effort to promote healthier school climates, the Department of Education has worked with national school safety experts and stakeholders across the state to concretely define actions school officials must take to ensure a safe school climate. The State Board of Education plans to act quickly to make these school climate measures a formal expectation of districts, similar to the academic standards already set by the board.

"The best approach to curbing violence in our schools is to set expectations that ensure every child feels safe and respected," Chairman Torsella said, noting the standards -- which speak to critical issues like bullying prevention and instilling a culture of respect for diversity -- can be applied in any school, small or large, urban or rural.

The Board of Education also will begin crafting regulations to help the Department of Education better monitor school safety data and offer support to districts and schools that have persistent safety issues.

"We need accurate and actionable reporting of school safety data," Chairman Torsella said. "To support school leaders and protect kids, we should require local law enforcement to co-sign school safety reports and equip the Department of Education with the ability to check the accuracy of these submissions."

Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, a member of the State Board of Education, has sponsored legislation to improve school safety reporting requirements. Chairman Torsella urged swift enactment of the legislation.

The Department of Education also announced plans to work with the School District of Philadelphia to do on-site reviews of certain school buildings to assess safety concerns and offer recommendations for improvement. The district has 25 schools that are categorized as "persistently dangerous" based on the number of safety incidents reported.

While the annual Safe Schools Report is typically released about one year after the close of the school year it references, the Department of Education this year released reports for both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years in an effort to provide more timely information to parents and students. The release of the 2008-09 school safety data marks the earliest ever availability of the annual data.

Data in the annual safe schools report can be a vital tool to help schools assess their safety standards and make any needed changes to bolster safety, Zahorchak said. The department has worked closely with schools in recent years to improve the reporting of safety information, including upgrades to the online reporting system, clarification of reporting categories and outreach efforts to improve compliance.

The Department of Education is committed to working with schools and families to provide a safe learning environment for all children through a statewide resiliency and wellness approach. The department offers numerous resources, including an annual Safe Schools Conference, the Student Assistance Program, bullying prevention training and other initiatives.

The school safety report, published annually since the 1995-96 school year, represents all safety information submitted by Pennsylvania's 500 school districts, 29 intermediate units, 83 career and technology centers and 135 charter schools.

The full report, including statistics for each of the state's school districts, can be found online at www.safeschools.state.pa.us. Resources for promoting safer schools also can be found on the department's Web site, www.education.state.pa.us or at the Center for Schools & Communities Web site at www.center-school.org.

Media contact: Michael Race, 717-783-9802

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Education

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RELATED LINKS
https://www.safeschools.state.pa.us
http://www.education.state.pa.us/