By Bill Villarreal, District 241 School Board member

As a police officer and a school board member this is the question that I sometimes get from members of our community every time we hear about another tragedy due to &uot;school violence.&uot;

Any level of violence in our schools is of great concern, but actually, according to the Justice Policy Institute, children are 23 times more likely to die as a result of a gun accident at home or in the community than in a school shooting.

Never the less, our school district continues to seek constructive ways to reduce all levels of school violence.

According to The Center for the Prevention of School Violence, 2000, &uot;School violence is any behavior that violates a school’s educational mission or climate of respect or jeopardizes the intent of the school to be free of aggression against person or property, drugs, weapons, disruptions, and disorder.&uot; The unpredictability of a violent occurrence is the driving force behind necessitating proactive policies and procedures district-wide.

The District 241 School Board continually adopts, refines and enforces violence prevention policies and procedures. Our school administrators implement Boards policies and procedures in a fair and consistent manner. The handbooks provided to District 241 students outline unacceptable behavior and disciplinary actions.

These disciplinary actions are conducted in compliance with Minnesota State law, Federal law, and State Board of Education. It is the responsibility of all school district employees to safeguard the health, safety and rights of each student.

We have two School Resource Officers that work with the schools on effective crisis and safe school plans. They have received considerable training through NASRO (National Association of School Resource Officers) and play a major role in our effort to provide a physical, social, and psychological safe place for students and staff. They also work in tandem with school administrators in detecting unacceptable behavior through electronic surveillance.

Keeping violence out of our schools also needs the involvement of students, parents, and the community at large. The following is a list of ideas taken from the Safe School Navigator program developed by MacNeil Environmental, Inc.:

Students

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Break the &uot;Code of Silence&uot; (it’s not ratting or snitching,&045; it’s reporting).

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Collectively take a stand that bullying is not tolerated.

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Participate in development of classroom rules supporting No Violence.

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Participate in the violence prevention curriculum: apply lessons to every day life.

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Tolerate and celebrate differences among students.

Parents

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Listen to your kids!

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Know and support the school’s violence prevention efforts.

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Know what actions to take if your child is bullied.

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Work with, not against, the school discipline issues related to your child.

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Model and teach your children personal integrity and empathy for others.

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Offer to be a &uot;safe house&uot; for kids walking to and from school.

Community members

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Be aware of school’s efforts to provide a safe environment for students and staff.

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Know that school safety is everyone’s business&045; ask what you can do to help.

I believe that we will continue to be successful in keeping our schools safe.

Success depends on everyone working together. It requires partnership, cooperation, strong will, and commitment.

(Bill Villarreal is a member of the District 241 School Board.)