Student Safety & Well-Being Committee Meeting 3 Minutes
Student Safety & Well-Being Committee
Mercer Island High School
January 14, 2025
Meeting Notes
Meeting notes taken by Michelle Mueller, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
Opening Remarks
Frank Schott commenced the meeting at 5:30pm and presented the agenda.
Student Breakout Group Report
The group facilitator offered a report on the Student Breakout Group, sharing that the group has met three times and developed and administered a survey. The survey was designed to gather student feedback on reporting processes and boundaries, in response to concerns that these areas are not being adequately addressed by Administration. The survey closed today and 400 responses (31% of the student body), representing each grade level equally, were reported. Examples of survey questions, a mix of multiple choice and free response, were shared. Survey responses will be shared at a later date. Some discussion occurred.
Committee Timeline - 25-26 School Year
Mr. Schott presented the prospective timeline.
February
Smaller breakout groups will be formed to tackle the areas that committee members deemed high priority. Mr. Schott will share recent articles from The Islander.
March
Committee will update Praesidium on work to date.
March 3
Next Committee meeting with reports from breakout groups (defined below).
March/April
Engagement between Praesidium and MISD underway (tentative).
May
Committee will draft a report and present their recommendation to the school board.
Group Assignments - Preview
Mr. Schott reported that the survey reflected that Committee members want to "pick up the pace" with a focus on three key issues:
- Professional boundaries — Overview of current policy and related training for coaches, staff and certified educators.
- Student learning — Overview of relevant K-12 health and safety curriculum
- Reporting — How reports are made, how they are followed up on and what is the range of possible outcomes? To whom is the report communicated and when?
Members will have an opportunity later in the meeting to select which group they wish to join. It is not anticipated that these meetings will be face-to-face, but each breakout group can make its own determination.
Praesidium
Overview of risk-assessment, evaluation, and recommendation partnership
Amber McKeen from Praesidium joined the meeting remotely. Ms. McKeen introduced herself and shared information on her many years working in abuse prevention as well as background information on Praesidium and their work toward creating safe environments. She introduced the framework which will be used to conduct their analysis, highlighting the eight key operations as to why abuse occurs.
1. Polices
2. Screening and Selection
3. Training
4. Monitoring and Supervision
5. Internal Feedback Systems
6. Consumer Participation (i.e., students, parents, staff)
7. Responding
8. Administrative Practices
She discussed the risk assessment process.
- Document review — District policies, training practices, and additional data, such as the survey responses referenced earlier, will be reviewed in advance of Praesidium’s on-site visit.
- Onsite visit — Ms. McKeen and a colleague will tour District buildings, including looking at physical safety features and observations of lunch and recess monitoring, and interview staff and, possibly, students to discuss their perceptions on abuse prevention and response.
- Debrief/ Exit Presentation — Praesidium will present common themes identified, high-level findings and preliminary recommendations.
- Report, recommendations and resources — Approximately one month after the onsite visit, Praesidium will provide a report with findings in each of the eight areas identified above, including areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. The report will include recommendations based on a comprehensive review of all information as well as any proposed changes to District policies or procedures.
Ms. McKeen emphasized that Praesidium will partner with the District to tailor its response and refine its culture of safety. The work is focused on future prevention and rebuilding trust. She highlighted that success requires committed leadership, informed and vigilant staff at all levels, and a culture where safety concerns are reported and acted on before abuse occurs and indicated that, based on preliminary discussions, the District is already well on the road to creating and maintaining a culture of safety.
Some discussion occurred around Praesidium’s work process. Ms. McKeen offered some examples as follows.
- Interview Leadership Team and Staff — Determine how policies are applied to ensure collaboration across building and programs.
- Review incident data — Look for any gaps in policies or practices, enforcement, or monitoring and identify trends to reduce risk.
- Responding to allegations or incidents of abuse — Look at training on prevention, identify monitoring strategies geared toward prevention, and go above mandatory reporting requirements.
Additional discussion occurred around how interview groups are formed and the process of implementing Praesidium’s recommendations. Ms. McKeen shared that each group will include a representative sample. Their work concludes with the report unless hired for additional consulting, which is not currently included under the contract. She stressed that Praesidium provides tools to organizations so they may create and maintain a culture of safety.
Praesidium will identify if an organization is complacent, compliant or committed toward preventing abuse and how to move along the continuum.
- Complacent — No reports means everything is alright or sweeps information under the rug.
- Compliant — Adheres to state requirements, has some policies in place, operates reactively versus preventively.
- Committed — Has prevention training in place, screens volunteers and job candidates using safeguarding questions, trains staff on how to handle specific scenarios (e.g., what to do if a student needs to be driven home in the event of an emergency).
Ms. McKeen shared ways to influence change, including 1) sharing key takeaways from committee meetings, 2) providing prevention updates at board meetings (e.g., efforts, areas of concern, focus areas, future plans), and 3) identifying long-term goals. Some discussion occurred around Praesidium operating as an independent third-party. Ms. McKeen emphasized that their goal is to help clients meet their needs in a manner supported by their safety equation-framed findings and expertise. Expertise has been developed by working with many clients, incorporating both lessons learned and successes. Recommendations are not influenced by internal politics or leadership and are based on current best practices. Additional discussion occurred around how Praesidium’s results will be shared, and Superintendent Fred Rundle noted that reporting will be in the most transparent manner with an emphasis on student voice.
Superintendent Remarks
This agenda item was deferred due to time constraints.
See Something, Say Something Demo and Post-Report Process Flow
The Committee received an overview of the See Something, Say Something app from Assistant Superintendent Erin Battersby and IMS Assistant Principal Katie Gallagher. They explained how students (and others) submit tips via phone or computer, what the public and administrator views look like, and how tips are reviewed. The system is monitored 24/7, with life-threatening reports immediately routed to police and administrators, including location data when available. Tips may include photos, screenshots, or chats with a live monitor. Students are encouraged to report any concern and provide enough information to allow for a response. Tips are anonymous by default, but many students choose to include their names, especially when a real threat requiring aid exists. When tips lack identifying details, they may not be actionable. After tips are received, monitoring services attempt to engage with the tipster to collect as much information as possible but follow-up dialogue is rare. Assistant Superintendent Battersby is notified of all tips. While tips are closed once a response occurs, responsive actions are documented separately and data is monitored for trends/ patterns.
Discussion occurred around the nature and trends of tips. Middle school tips more often involve peer conflict, while high school tips more frequently relate to dating violence or substance use. Assistant Superintendent Battersby shared an example at the elementary level where education led to fewer reports over time. Members noted that current reporting categories may not fully capture feelings or “vibe”-based concerns, although Ms. Battersby indicated that students do report feeling uncomfortable. She noted an increase this year in reports involving concerns about adults, from both students and other adults. Many of these provide information a tipster reads on Reddit. Accessibility for students with disabilities was addressed, with Assistant Superintendent Battersby explaining that support is offered through instruction and assistance from trusted adults. Assistant Principal Gallagher shared that reports related to social media concerns have nearly vanished since the District adopted its phone-free policy. Superintendent Rundle reviewed how responses and support are managed, which may involve MIPD, administrators, school counselors, or setting up services through MIYFS. He emphasized the need to strengthen prevention and intervention efforts and improve post-incident support.
Assistant Superintendent Battersby passed out a flowchart illustrating how reports are handled, whether these originated via the tipline or elsewhere. The flowchart serves as a guidance document for staff members and includes instructions on filing a CPS report.
Committee Breakouts Groups
Breakout groups include:
- Boundaries
- Student Learning
- Reporting
Mr. Schott will share information with Committee members on how to sign up for a breakout group. He confirmed that students may join, and members may sign up for more than one group. He reiterated that meetings will likely be remote. Group findings will be shared with Praesidium. Superintendent Rundle asked that teachers register for the Student Learning group.
Committee Member Survey Results
Mr. Schott indicated that approximately 90% of survey respondents are comfortable having their contact information shared with other committee members and being named as a committee member on the District webpage. He will follow up with anyone who hasn’t responded. Information will be shared/posted where consent is granted.
Back to the Future — Exercise #3
This agenda item was postponed due to time constraints.
The meeting concluded at 7:36 p.m.