House Select Committee on School Safety - Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendations Ryan Brimmer, Division of Legislative Services September 11, 2018

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #1 - Mandatory training for threat assessment team members. While the Center for School and Campus Safety frequently offers threat assessment training throughout the Commonwealth, the Code of Virginia does not mandate the participation of threat assessment team members.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #2 - Mandatory threat assessment training for all school personnel. While the Center for School and Campus Safety frequently offers threat assessment training throughout the Commonwealth, the Code of Virginia does not mandate the participation of all school personnel.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #3 - Increase funding to the Center for School and Campus Safety to provide more training, technical assistance, and resources on threat assessment. While the Center is able to provide frequent training sessions with existing resources, additional resources would allow for the implementation of recommendations 1 and 2.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #4 - Standardize threat assessment data collection. The Code of Virginia requires each threat assessment team to report quantitative data on its activities to DCJS; a standardized data collection and reporting template would help DCJS interpret the data and would assist schools and divisions as students change schools.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #5 - Increase funding to the Center for School and Campus Safety to build capacity to analyze safety data collected from schools. The Center does not currently have the budget to hire staff with the expertise to perform such a task.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #6 - Decouple the assessment of student threats to self from the assessment of student threats to others in the current threat assessment procedures but coordinate these assessments when they co-occur. The Code of Virginia requires threat assessment teams to assess threats of violence or physical harm to self and others. There is evidence that threat assessment teams spend the majority of their time and resources on threats to self, for which there are already procedures in place.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #7 - Require statewide implementation of a school climate survey – an annual survey of staff and students in grades 6-12 – by the Center for School and Campus Safety. This survey is currently performed by the University of Virginia pursuant to grant funds that are set to expire in 2020. The school climate survey is a valuable tool for measuring school safety and student and staff perceptions of discipline, engagement, and relationships.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #8 - Provide funding for staff and training relating to de-escalation of student misconduct through positive behavior intervention and supports. Positive behavior intervention and supports is a tiered approach for the selection and use of evidence-based behavior interventions to promote school safety and improve student behavior.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #9 - Provide funding to strengthen existing school-based mentor programs or establish new school-based mentor programs for students whose behavior may pose a risk to self or others.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #10 - Promote the implementation of restorative justice programs as an alternative to exclusionary discipline and referrals to law enforcement to address disparities in rates of such disciplinary actions among minority students and students with disabilities. School division disciplinary actions should address the root causes of the student's negative behaviors and seek reconciliation between perpetrators and victims.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #11 - Remove the funding cap on support staff in order to increase opportunities for school divisions to hire additional aides, counselors, psychologists, and other specialists. The General Assembly has had in place since the recession of 2008 a cap on the Standards of Quality funding levels for support staff, many of whom provide critical services to promote student health and safety. *Significant fiscal impact.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #12 - Lower ratio of school counselors to students. The Code of Virginia sets a ratio of 1 school counselor to 350 high school students, 1 to 400 middle school students, and 1 to 500 elementary school students. The Virginia School Counselor Association and American School Counselor Association recommend at least 1 school counselor for every 250 students in all elementary and secondary schools.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #13 - Require school counselors to spend a minimum of 80% of staff time providing direct student services. School counselors across the Commonwealth are burdened with administrative duties (e.g., test coordination) and do not have sufficient time to counsel students.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #14 - Create new positions (e.g., testing coordinator) to relieve school counselors of additional administrative duties and ensure they have sufficient time to provide counseling services.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #15 - Include mental health counselors in the Standards of Quality. Provide the state share of funding for local school divisions to hire counselors with backgrounds or training in mental health. Some school divisions are currently hiring such individuals with local funds. *Significant fiscal impact.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #16 - Provide funding for enhanced wrap-around mental health services in schools such as suicide prevention and trauma-informed schooling. Trauma-informed schooling is a well-developed nationwide approach to school policy enforcement and revision that helps mitigate outcomes that are destructive to student health and safety.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #17 - Require mental health screening or annual or semi-annual mental health wellness checks for students at certain grade levels. Students reported to the subcommittee that both early and frequent (especially in the middle and high school years) mental health screenings and check-ups would be beneficial for student well-being and support.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #18 - Promote peer advisory teams for new students. Some school divisions provide new students with peer advisory teams consisting of students, teachers, and other staff members to ease the transition and mitigate the negative experiences that such students often face (e.g., bullying and isolation) that may lead to mental health issues.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #19 - Require mental health to be taught as a component of any family life education program offered in a local school division. Family life education, an optional local program of instruction, currently includes a wide array of topics, but the topic of mental health is not currently mandated.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #20 - Require mental health training for teachers. Mental health is an emerging issue in schools and it's important that teachers are trained to identify and assist students suffering from mental health challenges.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #21 - Require school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plans to place more emphasis on the recovery phase of crisis response. Such plans should ensure that in the time period after crisis response, sufficient attention is paid to the potential mental health and community consequences of that crisis.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #22 - Require memoranda of understanding between law enforcement and school divisions and require such memoranda of understanding to be reviewed at least once every five years and updated as necessary. Many, but not all, local school divisions have memoranda of understanding with law enforcement agencies that clearly delineate procedures and expectations relating to school safety.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #23 - Require training for school resource officers with a wider array of topics, including student mental health, interacting with students with disabilities, bullying, and interacting with parents. Survey data shows that school resource officers, in order to fulfill their duties as law-enforcement officers, community liaisons, law-related educators, mentors, and role models, believe that they would benefit from additional training on these topics.

Student Behavior and Interventions Subcommittee Recommendation #24 - Require annual school-wide or annual classroom-by-classroom training for students on school safety procedures. Students reported to the subcommittee that in instances in which this type of training was provided, they felt safer and better prepared for the possibility of unsafe situations at school.