Agenda - 06-07-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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7 1 pedestrians due to traffic and the roadway, as well as risks to students walking between 2 schools. She said there have also been some right of way issues come up at school sites. She 3 said she is looking forward to communications with the Board, CHCCS, and law enforcement 4 partners going forward for a clear understanding of how to address the unique issues as each 5 school site. She said OCS is interested in exploring the opportunity for ordinances to prevent 6 disruption to school operations. 7 Will Atherton said there is a program between Cedar Ridge High School and Grady 8 Brown Elementary for high school students to read to elementary school students. He said it is 9 dangerous for students to walk across the street, so this is an additional reason to investigate 10 this issue. 11 George Griffin discussed school safety from CHCCS. He said in July 2020 the school 12 board voted to establish a school safety task force in response to community concerns about 13 revisiting the presence of School Resource Officers (SROs) in schools. He said that the public 14 comment and discourse at the time reflected national conversation on the role of law 15 enforcement in society. He said that some were for, and some were against the SROs in the 16 schools. He said at that time, the Board of Education asked the taskforce to take a broader look 17 at safety and security and look at the best methods to create a safe and welcome environment 18 in all schools rather than just focus on SROs. He said in July 2021, CHCCS Administration 19 reported their work to the Board of Education and received approval for a one-year interim MOU 20 for SROs with local law enforcement agencies. He said they also extended the administration 21 safety and security review to June of 2022. He said this was done because the administration 22 noted that the pandemic impacted CHCCS administration's ability to connect with the 23 community effectively. He said they did not feel that there had been sufficient involvement of 24 students, staff, and community input. He said they came to the Board and asked to reorganize 25 their work. He said a guiding council was developed and they have identified strategies by 26 examining school policies and practices. He said the central organizing question for each group 27 was "What do students and staff need to feel and be to be safe in CHCCS. He said the work 28 council will be presenting their recommendations and report to the school board in June 2022. 29 He said that a draft of the strategies has been shared preliminarily with school board. He said 30 that in addition to school safety and security, the Board of Education will be reviewing options 31 for SRO program as well. 32 Will Dudenhausen invited any questions or comments. 33 Commissioner McKee asked if outside access to classrooms had been corrected. 34 George Griffin said CHCCS still has classrooms with doors to the outside. He said they 35 would love to change that. 36 Commissioner McKee said he wondered if those doors with outside access had been 37 incapacitated. 38 Rani Dasi said CHCCS has plans to address that as part of the long-term capital plan. 39 Carrie Doyle said several of the elementary schools still have classrooms with doors to 40 the outside, but said the doors lock automatically so are not accessible to the public. She said 41 that she believes the parents enjoy the outside access. 42 Patrick Abele said based on the physical design in older buildings, some classrooms are 43 built with outside access. He said another area OCS wants to continually address is mobile 44 units for classrooms vs. brick and mortar. He said anytime students are in mobile classrooms, it 45 presents the same concern as classrooms with outside doors. 46 Commissioner Bedford said she and Chair Price meet with NCDOT quarterly and ask 47 about sidewalk improvements at Cedar Ridge and Grady Brown, but that she is not sure if they 48 have asked about improvements for Orange Middle and High Schools. She said their next 49 meeting is in May they can mention that. She asked for a map of the issue at Orange Middle 50 and High School so they can better present.