Assistant Superintendent Carol Kruser provided a few updates before the school year begins during the School Committee meeting on Aug. 14.
Reminder Publishing screen capture by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services Carol Kruser provided a few updates before the school year begins during the School Committee meeting on Aug. 14.
The first thing Kruser mentioned was rethinking discipline. After staff from Chicopee Public Schools expressed their concern for students’ behavior, parents and teachers have also shared concerns about perceptions of safety in certain schools at different community forums.
Superintendent Marcus Ware said that three schools within the district have been cited for high suspension rates, and he is currently participating with the state to work on a plan to reduce those numbers.
“The rethinking discipline is working with [The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] to decrease our levels of suspension, so we do have three schools, Bellamy Middle School, Dupont Middle School and the Chicopee Academy that have been tasked with decreasing their suspension and we are doing a lot of excellent professional development with DESE,” Ware said.
He added, “What’s also happening is we are forgetting about training, we are forgetting about other de-escalation or professional development opportunities that we need to equip ourselves with. The analogy I use is education has changed, our tools have to change.”
Kruser said they are currently working on restorative practices, classroom management techniques, increased de-escalation training and participation in the professional learning network.
In terms of security, an audit was conducted and based on the report, doors are being fixed across the district, a camera plan is underway, FOB systems and keys are in progress, principals are updating procedures, trees and landscaping have been addressed, fire extinguishers have been inspected and exit areas have been cleared.
For emergency management, Kruser and her team have been updating the emergency management plans and principals will be walking around with the Fire Department for fire inspections to make sure they understand all the unique issues of their respective building.
The all hazards/crisis teams will also see improvements, and Chicopee schools will also be establishing a threat assessment team.
Kruser said, “We’ve had some great professional development, and we will continue to do that. We are also increasing our meetings with community partners. Our police, our fire and other community people that can help us with some of our emergency management plans. Working with the city and working with anyone who can make sure we are doing what we need to do to be prepared in any situation.”
Studies show that chronic absenteeism has also been increasing over the past few years across the state and country.
Chronic absenteeism, which refers to missing 18 days or more in one school year, has risen by 72% in Massachusetts since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
DESE attendance priority schools were identified if their chronic absentee rate was higher than the statewide pre-pandemic rate and if they did not make significant strides in decreasing it.
As of March 1, state chronic absenteeism was 19.5% and Chicopee Public Schools was 28.2%.
All of Chicopee schools except for Szetela Pre-School and Chicopee Comprehensive High School have been identified as attendance priority schools.
Kruser said one of the biggest initiatives under her department and the whole district is working on this problem.
She added, “I want to be clear; we have made strides, we have improved greatly but we still need to do more.”
Ware has attendance as one of his five priorities in his bridge year, and it is an interim benchmark under the district prioritization.
Kruser said they are doing increased professional development with Panorama Attendance Platform and added, “they have a lot of services that can help us analyze data and work with the buildings, so we are increasing that.”
Her office will also be increasing the Family Engagement Department, continuing to host monthly district/school attendance meetings and increase positive home visits with truancy officers and counselors.
She said, “We are making sure that we are looking at the data correctly and that the schools have the district support that they need. We are also looking into a structure, and we are researching ways to improve home visits.”
Family Engagement Facilitator Kristen Coelho will continue to work on the Family Engagement Department and host events throughout the school year and set goals for the school year including developing strong and effective partnerships with families.
Kruser also highlighted improving bus behavior with bus monitor training and crossing guard training to improve pedestrian safety. The schools will also continue to work on improving mental health awareness and food service department goals.
