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Mary Brownrigg
Mary Brownrigg
The state board of education states Providing a safe school environment for our
students is the utmost importance for Michigans public schools (State Board, 2000). It
says on the government of Michigan website that Michigan wants all of their schools to
provide a safe environment for their students. However, there are schools out there that
still do not have policies for people who are visiting the schools. Visitors could be
parents, guardians, family, case workers, and the list goes on. It is vital that every
school have a policy and procedure in place for their school with the best interest of the
students in mind.
SunValley School does not have a policy or procedure in place for visitors
coming to visit the school. This school is a Title1 school with all students having
moderate to severe disabilities. Visitors come to the school unannounced, do not sign
in at the office, and go to the classrooms without anyone knowing that they are in the
school building. This is unsafe because there have been situations in the past where
people with guns attack the school, staff, and students. Staff has expressed concerns
at staff meetings that they feel uncomfortable with no security or policy in place at the
school for the staff or students. It has been said that when school shootings happen, it
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is usually a student who attends the school, or someone that knows a person from the
school that is the shooter (Duplechain & Morris, 2014). This is very scary for this school
because sometimes there are parents who are upset and angry with our school that
they come in and go directly to the classroom. Sometimes, people do not know what
those parents could do. No one knows what could happen if an angry parent comes
into the school. Also, visitors will come to the classrooms and interrupt classroom
instruction and academics. With all of the new curriculum and common core standards,
classroom instruction time is crucial and the teachers need all of the time they can get.
Staff has also expressed concern with some teachers having their own policy while the
The SunValley Schools safety policy is that parents and visitors are supposed to
sign in with the office to let the classroom know that the student is in the office and the
parent will be bringing them to the classroom. It is vital for visitors to sign into the
school and get a badge because staff is able to talk to and observe the visitors and not
only see who has checked into the building, but who has not checked into the office
(Brunner & Lewis, 2005). But, not all parents and visitors would sign in at the office and
put an orange visitor tag on. Visitors also would be escorted down by another staff but
then left attended in the classroom. This not only disrupts the entire classroom and
instruction, but visitors will ask questions that go against other students FERPA rights.
This is why the social worker should always accompany case workers down to the
classrooms and stay there with them for a specific time. This is the only policy the
school has on visitors. Sometimes, even irate parents skip going to the office and go
right down to the classroom which can cause an alarm to the classroom and to the other
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students. It is not an appropriate time to discuss issues when the teacher is instructing
the class.
For the new policy, staff will come together in the safety committee, to send out
surveys to all of the staff about the concerns about safety in the school. The safety
committee has staff from all the different departments in it, including an administrator.
After the committee has gotten all of the surveys back, they will collect all of the data
and conclude what areas are the most concern to the staff. The committee will create
the policy and distribute it to the staff to get their feedback on it. They will look over the
feedback and tweak the policy as needed. After, the committee will finalize the policy
and put it in place. They will distribute it to all of the stakeholders of the school. Staff
will support the new policy so it can run smoothly. They will be the eyes and ears of the
school. If they see someone they do not know and do not see an orange pass on them,
they will stop that visitor, ask where they are going, and direct them to go back to the
office.
If there is money in the budget, staff can purchase a rope gate to create a waiting
area by the office for visitors. The staff also needs to design signs to help visitors to get
to the main office and to show that they need to stop and not go anywhere else in the
school. There should also be a policy posted outside the office for all visitors to look at
if needed.
There are several ways for the school to use technology to spread the new
policy. The administration should post the policy on the schools website and on the
parent page on the website. SunnyValley parent group also has a Facebook page
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which is called the PAC Facebook page which stands for parent action committee. The
policy will also be sent home with every student and mailed to the students home who
were absent from school. Emailing the stakeholders can also be used as a form of
sharing the policy with the stakeholders. The teachers can also send home reminders
secure learning environments. Staff needs to notify the office if they find any doors
unlocked. This is important so no unwelcomed visitors come into the school. This can
also prevent any safety issues from happening. The staff at the school likes to
sometimes prop doors open if it gets too hot or cold in the school. This is a safety issue
because a unwelcomed visitor could come in through the door that is propped open. It
is important that the staff follows all policies and procedures and keeps all doors closed.
Staff also needs to support one another and the new policy. If a staff member is out in
the hallways and sees that a parent is waiting with the child for another staff member to
come get the student, then that staff member should offer to take the student to their
classroom. This will help other classrooms out because sometimes it is hard for a staff
member to get out of the classroom to go and retrieve the student. There will be times
when a parent or visitor will be upset that they cannot go to their childs classroom
without an appointment, so they might go above the administrator to the Central Offices
to dispute their argument. This is when it is crucial for the Central Office to always
There should also be walkie talkies available in all classrooms just in case of an
emergency. This will cut down on time of the office calling for a lock down. These crisis
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management procedures are crucial during an emergency. The public relations in the
school is that this policy should create meaningful interactions with the parents.
Scheduling an appointment to meet with the teacher will help with creating not only
meaningful interactions and conversations with the parents, but it will help create
positive relationships. If the county workers schedule appointments with the schools
social worker, and the social worker accompanies them for the appointment, then there
will be less disruption in the classroom because the county workers are only allowed
fifteen minutes to visit the classroom. This will also help prevent the county workers
asking about other students in the classroom who are not on their caseload and prevent
FERPA laws from being broken. The community will also get a sense of security
knowing that the schools in their community have policies to help keep the children safe
in the school.
analyzed all of the surveys they received from the staff and concluded what the
concerns the staff have about the safety and security in the school. The staff expressed
all of their concerns and the committee discussed all of the different ideas that they
should include in the new policy. After the policy was created, the staff was able to look
over the policy and voice any concerns they have about it. Also, after the policy has
been in place, another survey went out and asked staff to state any concerns they have
about the policy and stating what they thought was and was not working.
This policy will help students get more instruction time because visitors will not
be able to interrupt the class and stay for a prolonged period anymore. There are two
or more staff in a classroom at the school, so most of the time there is a staff member
Case Study Analysis 7
that could leave the classroom to go and retrieve the student that is waiting in the office
with their parent. The teacher is not the only staff member that is allowed to go and get
a student from the office. Also, other staff members who are out in the hallway and see
a student waiting for a staff member from their classroom to come and get them, can
ask tell the parent that they will take the student to their classroom. Which helps the
classroom not having to have a staff member leave their classroom and disrupting the
References
Brunner, J., & Lewis, D. (2005). Visitor Check-In and Screening Procedures. Principal
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/bdpolicy000518_16471_7.pdf