Minutes 04-28-2022 School Boards

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