Good afternoon,
As the week comes to a close I wanted to share with the community some reflections and some additional information on the events of Wednesday, November 7th.
Let me begin by updating you with the information I can share. Over the last two days, we have carefully assessed the climate of our buildings. We reviewed attendance rates, we spoke to staff members, and Ann and I have visited every building to touch base with administrators and staff members. Staff have been incredible and have worked hard to make students feel secure. Wherever Ann and I went we saw students that appeared to feel happy and safe.
School counselors have been present in every building across the District to speak with students who feel anxious or need to talk. Additionally, police officers have been present at key times to reassure everyone that the safety of our schools is the top priority of our communities. If you see a staff member, an administrator, or an officer, please thank them for their dedication, caring, and hard work, it made all of the difference.
The students involved are presently in the judicial process and we have begun the school-based discipline process as well. While I can not share specifics with you regarding the school consequences, I can share with you the types of actions that may take place related to these types of behaviors. Students who threaten the safety of school are consequenced consistent with the law and the response that is necessary to address the threat. Actions include discipline that ranges from suspension, (students are neither in school or on school property for up to 10 days) long-term suspension, (students are neither in school or on school property for more than 10 days) and up to and including expulsion (students are excluded from school and can not be on property, and may request of the Board to be readmitted at the beginning of each year, the Board can deny them re-admittance in certain situations).This is above and beyond any additional adjudication that the police may decide to pursue.
This has been a difficult week and we here at ConVal recognize and empathize with the feelings of frustration and anxiety that many of you have faced this week and may continue to face in the weeks to come. As we process the events, we will be reaching out to parents and community members and ask you to share reflections from your perspective. We still have work to do to further streamline our protocols and processes and we will need your feedback to do so.
For now, I would like to sincerely thank the hundreds of parents and community members who reached out with kind words of encouragement and gratitude, you will likely never know how grateful we were for them. I hope you are able to find some time to relax over the long weekend.
Best,
Kimberly Saunders