Healthy, Safe and Equitable Schools

We all want our children to come home safely each day and to be uplifted and safeguarded while they are there. I am committed to employing the latest research on how to effectively deal with mental illness, school violence, racism, and the school-to-prison pipeline.

The school board owes it to the public to hold district administration accountable to our most vulnerable populations. It’s critical that we expand the emotional safety net at our schools. If we invest in counselors and social workers it decreases the need for discipline, and also helps make sure that all kids feel secure and supported every day.

BSD currently has two school-based health centers; that number needs to increase and those community partnerships expanded. There are also some improvements to be made for BSD’s nursing department that could promote equity. There are currently 22 district nurses who care for students at two to three schools each. Six health assistants work under them and care for students at 10 different schools. There is no way that kids can be adequately cared for with that ratio. School nurses and health assistants have all of the burden of caring for our student population without the resources to do it adequately or in culturally sensitive ways. They are overwhelmed and need more support. Increased pay and staffing are step one to increasing greater health equity. 

Linking access to healthcare with our universal access to education is a no-brainer. As a school board director, I am hoping to help draft and support a resolution along with BEA in support of Community Schools which work in conjunction with the community to provide wrap-around services catered to the particular needs of that community. From what I understand, part of the February BEA-BSD contract says that schools will once again track discipline trends. By requesting this data and adding the topic to school board meeting agendas, I plan to bring patterns to light and interrogate the causes and factors of these patterns. This long-awaited information will be key to knowing specific practices we must stop or start in our schools. We need to know the racial breakdown of who is being disciplined and suspended. 

Functional democracy is essential if we are to build and maintain environments where all students can thrive. School board meetings can and should feature motions, discussions, and debates surrounding the immediate topics such as student safety. We must be willing to have public discussions about the specific issues our students are facing, rather than prioritizing the prepared agenda.