Keeping Ohio Kids Safe

By Lee Fisher

Six safety initiatives to ensure our kids have a safe school environment.

As Ohio Attorney General, Lee Fisher made children his highest priority. He convened the very first Ohio Safe Schools Summit and created a Rapid Response Team to help solve crimes against children. He also worked with schools to create violence prevention programs through his Project Safe Schools and worked to pass legislation to increase penalties for bringing a gun to school. Lee Fisher is the only candidate for Governor with a proven record of protecting children.

A Fisher/Coleman Administration will do even more.

Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will demand tougher sanctions and better support for school safety. They know we must teach our children how to resolve disputes peacefully, as well as crack down on the few students who do not get the message. Part I of the Fisher/Coleman Plan for Safer Children and Safer Schools will make our schools safer by:

1. Teaching Students To Avoid Violence;
2. Excluding Chronically Disruptive Students And Enforcing Zero-Tolerance Polices For Weapons;
3. Implementing School Safety Report Cards and Safety Audits;
4. Keeping Weapons Away from Children and Out of Schools;
5. Stopping Truancy; and
6. Increasing Parental and Community Involvement.

School Safety: "It Can Happen Here."

A recent national study of violence in schools reported that in 1996, there were 10,000 physical attacks or fights with weapons in public schools, 1,000 robberies, and 4,000 rapes and sexual assaults. Over half of schools reported crimes committed in the school, and 10% reported at least one violent crime, assault, or fight with a weapon during 1996. The National School Safety Center reported 26 violent deaths in schools nationwide last year, with this year likely to

match it. Recent high profile killings from Kentucky to Oregon have illustrated to America that this is not a big city threat, but one that stretches to every city and town, large and small.

Juvenile crime, on and off school grounds, still remains fearfully high. While there is encouraging news that juvenile crime is falling across the country, some experts still predict a coming wave of juvenile crime due to a surging "Baby Boom Echo," a generation of teenagers coming of age in the next decade.

There should be no higher priority of our society than the safety and security of our children. And if there is one safe haven children should have each day, outside their homes, it is their schools. Students should not have to live in fear of harm each day when they walk or ride to school. Kids go to school to learn -- they should not be distracted from this important goal by disruptive, menacing or violent classmates. And they should never, ever, have to experience what too many children already have in recent years -- the violent injury or death of a friend or teacher.

Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will devote new energy and resources to working with educators and parents to develop effective prevention and intervention efforts to make schools safe and to turn young people away from violence and crime. They will stringently enforce zero tolerance programs to keep drugs and guns out of schools, and harsher penalties for those using weapons on school grounds.

1. Teaching Children To Avoid Violence

Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will help schools establish or improve programs to teach conflict management and peer mediation. Currently, the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution has initiated conflict resolution programs in 283 elementary, middle and high schools. Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman believe that every school in Ohio should have the opportunity to participate. They will promote model conflict resolution curricula and will help organize community resources including parents, law enforcement, businesses and clergy. The Fisher-Coleman Administration will encourage:

A. Conflict Management Skills to help teachers and students learn to handle conflicts without violence. These programs attempt to defuse conflict by teaching students better communication skills, respect for others, cooperation, and understanding. Teachers are also provided skill training so they can reinforce the conflict management lessons every day in the classroom.

B. Peer mediation to help students help their friends find alternatives to violence. Peer mediation is a type of conflict management program recommended by the National Center for the Prevention of School Violence that focuses on having students actively participate in managing conflict.

Student-driven programs -- started by students, directed by students, and carried out by students -- will also be encouraged. One example of this is the WAVE program operated by the Cleveland Public Schools' Center for Conflict Resolution. WAVE students learn to walk away from confrontations and to resolve disputes without violence. This program promotes principles of nonviolence through school and community activities.

2. Enforcing Zero-Tolerance Policies For Weapons And Excluding Chronically Disruptive Students

Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will send a loud and clear message to young people who resort to violence that they will pay swiftly and dearly for their actions. Schools are now required to have zero-tolerance policies for weapons and drugs. Yet, there has been little follow- through to make sure that these policies exist in fact, as well as in writing. Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will require that these policies are filed with the Ohio Department of Education and enforced by local districts.

Furthermore, Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will not allow chronically disruptive students to ruin the education of children who want to learn. A Fisher/Coleman Administration will support the creation of alternative educational environments for disruptive students.

3. Implementing School Safety Report Cards and Common Sense Safety Audits

There are many simple, inexpensive or low-cost steps that schools can take to become safer. From conducting a safety audit to requiring students and visitors to enter through the same door, schools can use common sense to reduce the threat of violence. Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will support these steps by supporting common sense safety audits and providing school safety information to help schools become more secure.

The Fisher/Coleman team has called for the development of a new section in future school building report cards that would deal specifically with school safety issues. The School Safety Report Card section could be as simple as a list of ten safety-related "yes" or "no" questions for response by each school.

Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will work with school districts and others throughout the state to determine the final rating mechanism. As with the existing school report cards, the Department of Education would devise a system for implementation and the State Board of Education would approve the final school safety rating mechanism. Schools should be rated for how well their district on the whole has implemented safety policies, as well as whether the school has implemented additional school building-specific safety initiatives.

Potential questions designed to measure and rate school safety could include:

1. Has the school district implemented state requirements for a zero-tolerance policy for weapons and drugs?
2. Has the school district established uniform visitor screening procedures?
3. Does the school building offer alternative environments for disruptive students?
4. Does the school building offer a conflict resolution curriculum or program?
5. Does the school building offer structured, supervised before- and after-school activities?

Each school would receive a 1-10 rating, depending on the number of "yes" responses. For example, if a school responded "yes" to seven of the 10 questions, the school would receive a safety rating of 7. For those schools that score low, there should be further intervention and assistance by the state, community and other school districts to help them develop and implement safety initiatives. An important role of the School Safety Report Cards would be to help raise awareness of potential safety measures and encourage their implementation.

4. Keeping Weapons Away From Children And Out Of School

Children, not guns, should go to school. Ohio must do everything it can to keep guns out of school. As part of his comprehensive package, Lee Fisher will fight for the following legislation:

• To protect kids from gun violence, Ohio should:

• Require that weapons be stored beyond the reach of children, and hold parents civilly responsible if their negligence allows a child to commit a crime with, or bring their gun to school.
• Require child-resistant trigger standards;
• Require child-resistant safety locks; and
• Require that every gun pass a drop-test to prevent guns from accidentally discharging if dropped.
• Penalties should also be increased for:

• Illegally transferring a firearm to a minor. Penalties under Ohio Revised Code Section 2923.21 should be increased to a felony for known and illegal transfer of a firearm (R.C. 2923.21 explicitly protects the transfer of guns solely for the purpose of hunting).
• Firing, illegally possessing, selling or transferring a gun within 1,000 feet of school grounds. Each offense under Ohio Revised Code Section 2923.122 should be increased by one degree.

• Violent crimes on school grounds and crimes committed using guns or dangerous weapons on school grounds. Penalties for the underlying offense should be increased by one degree.
• Threats or intimidation against teachers, students or school employees who are witnesses to violent or criminal acts by a student on school grounds. Penalties for the underlying offense should be increased by one degree.

Understanding that truancy is often a gateway to crime, Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will work with local leaders to develop a comprehensive community and educational strategy to combat truancy. This strategy will revolve around the following principles:

A. Involve Parents In All Truancy Prevention Activities

Parents play the fundamental role in the education of their children. This applies to every family, regardless of the parents' station in life, their income, or their educational background. Nobody else commands greater influence in getting a young person to go to school every day and recognizing how a good education can define his or her future.

For families and schools to work together to solve problems like truancy, there must be mutual trust and communication. Many truancy programs contain components that provide intensive monitoring, counseling and other family-strengthening services to truants and their families. Schools can help by being "family-friendly" and encouraging teachers and parents to make regular contact before problems arise. Schools should seriously explore arranging convenient times and neutral settings for parent meetings, starting homework hotlines, training teachers to work with parents, hiring or appointing a parent liaison, and giving parents a voice in school decisions.

• Parental Education Programs: Ohio currently permits school districts to require parents to attend parental education training programs if their children are habitually truant. A pilot program is currently underway in Greene County. Some other states, such as Maryland and Oklahoma, have determined that parents who fail to prevent truancy can be subject to formal sanction or lose eligibility for certain public assistance.

• Positive Incentives: Communities can also provide positive incentives for responsible parents who ensure their child's regular school attendance. Such incentives can include increased eligibility to participate in publicly funded programs. Local officials, educators and parents, working together, can make a shared commitment to assume responsibility for reducing truancy -- and can choose the incentives that make the most sense for their community.

B. Ensure That Students Face Firm Sanctions For Truancy

School districts should communicate to their students that they have zero tolerance for truancy.

• Require Satisfactory Attendance As A Prerequisite To A Drivers' License. Ohio currently allows schools or judges to report absences to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Many, however, do not do so. Instead of waiting for others to provide information, students should be required to obtain a letter of satisfactory attendance from their school in order to receive a driver's license. Students should be required to renew this certification each year until graduation or until they turn 18.

• Establish A Daytime Curfew To Ease Enforcement Of Truancy Rules: Some are concerned that police officers are not permitted to stop and question youths unless they have probable cause. Delaware, Connecticut, and several other states have daytime curfews during school hours that allow law enforcement officers to question youth to determine if their absence is legitimate. Ohio should do the same.

• Involve Local Law Enforcement in Truancy Reduction Efforts.: Students who are arrested for truancy should be required to be held at the local police station or detention facility until they are picked up personally by their parents. For example, Michael Coleman helped establish the successful Truancy Drop-off Center in Columbus. The Truancy Center runs a three-stage progressive program. After the first truancy offense, parents and teachers are notified, and the parents are required to pick up their child. After the second offense, the student is referred to a social service agency. After the third offense, the student is referred to law enforcement authorities.

C. Establish Ongoing Truancy Prevention Programs in Schools

Truancy can be caused by or related to such factors as student drug use, violence at or near school, association with truant friends, lack of family support for regular attendance, emotional or mental health problems, lack of a clear path to more education or work, or inability to keep pace with academic requirements. Schools should address the unique needs of each child and consider developing initiatives to combat the root causes of truancy, including tutoring programs, added security measures, drug prevention initiatives, mentorship efforts through community and religious groups, campaigns for involving parents in their children's school attendance, and referrals to social service agencies.

In Columbus, the Metropolitan Human Services Commission has worked in collaboration with Franklin County Children Services, Franklin County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board and the Columbus Public Schools to place mental health and child-welfare workers in four elementary schools to work with children at risk of truancy. A study by Ohio State University concluded that participating students had half as many absences.

6. Increasing Parental And Community Involvement

Schools must promote more active parental involvement in school before children fall into crime to compel parents to take responsibility for their children's actions and to be part of a solution to turn troubled kids around. Lee Fisher and Michael Coleman will work with schools on:

Expansion of pilot efforts to increase parental involvement in school activities and in their children's school work, including:

• Expanding after-school programs to keep kids in safe environments and teach conflict resolution skills.
• Implementing parent-student-teacher contracts to set clear expectations for homework, behavior and responsibility.
• Establishing a plan for increasing parental involvement in their children's education, to include training for parents as teachers, procedures for communicating closely with parents when the first signs of disruptive activity occur, and before a student turns violent.
• Encouraging local policies to offer additional parent-teacher conference and telephone hours during non-working hours.
• Encouraging businesses to allow employees to attend parent-teacher conferences.
• Experimenting with innovative programs like using volunteer parents and grandparents as hall monitors. Schools in Alexandria, Virginia have had success linking this hall monitor policy with a well-communicated policy of "zero tolerance" of guns and drugs. Suspensions are down by 40 percent since the policy took effect.
• Assisting the state's education experts in identifying and putting in place promising and innovative violence prevention ideas. For example, some schools are testing the placement of older adult returning students into regular classrooms to help reduce disruptive behavior. Chicago's DuSable High School, which allows adults in regular classrooms, has found that "returning students," act as "unofficial teacher's deputies" and provide a "calm and wisdom" that reinforces the power of teachers. Programs like this should be tested and assessed. If successful, information and assistance in implementing such programs should be made available to other schools.

• Teachers and other school employees should be given specific statutory immunity for civil and criminal liability for reporting an act of violence or possession or use of weapons or drugs on school grounds, if such report was made in good faith.
• Teachers and other school employees should be given specific statutory immunity for civil and criminal liability for good faith efforts to restore order in a classroom, school or school activity.
• Law enforcement should be required to notify schools if any student is adjudicated for a violent offense, to ensure that school officials and teachers are aware of what students are doing outside school.

Our responsibility as parents, citizens and government leaders is clear. The children of Ohio have a right to a safe, secure and stimulating learning environment. To ensure our schools are safe, we need more than simple slogans. Ohio needs a strategy that goes beyond simplistic policies. Ohio needs Lee Fisher's broad, comprehensive and intensive proposals for stopping school violence wherever possible before it starts, and for dealing with it swiftly and surely when it does occur.