Wake schools plans survey of high school students on school safety and security – WRAL.com

Report on Wake County Schools’ Safety Initiative and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

This report details the Wake County school district’s plan to survey high school students on school safety. The initiative is analyzed through the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily focusing on SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). The survey aims to gather student perspectives to enhance the learning environment, thereby reinforcing the district’s commitment to these global objectives.

Initiative Overview and Strategic Objectives

Survey Purpose and Scope

The district will deploy a survey to high school students from December 1-12. The primary objective is to create a safer school environment, which is a foundational component for achieving SDG 4: Quality Education. A secure atmosphere is essential for students to be prepared to learn and thrive. The survey will cover key areas including:

• Student perceptions of current safety levels.
• Suggestions for safety improvements.
• Awareness and likelihood of using existing reporting tools like the Say Something app.
• Topics of violence, bullying, and mental health, directly contributing to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being.

Logistical Framework and Data Management

The survey’s implementation strategy has been designed to maximize meaningful participation.

1. Distribution: The survey will be sent to student school email accounts to track response rates effectively.
2. Monitoring: The Office of Security will monitor responses to ensure a representative sample, with officials noting that a rate below 10% would be insufficient.
3. Confidentiality: District-level results will be made public to ensure transparency. School-specific data will be shared confidentially with administrators and the school board to protect sensitive information while enabling targeted interventions.

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4: Quality Education

The entire initiative is anchored in the principles of SDG 4. By actively seeking student input to improve safety, the district is working to ensure an inclusive and effective learning environment for all. District officials explicitly stated that the goal is for students to feel safe so they are better prepared to learn.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

The survey’s inclusion of questions on bullying and mental health directly addresses targets within SDG 3. Recognizing and mitigating these issues are crucial for promoting student well-being, which is intrinsically linked to educational success.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

This initiative strengthens the school system as an institution by making it more responsive and accountable. It promotes a peaceful and inclusive society at the micro-level of the school community, in line with SDG 16. Key connections include:

• Reducing Violence: The survey is a proactive measure to understand and reduce all forms of violence and bullying in schools (Target 16.1).
• Responsive Institutions: By collecting and acting on student feedback, the district demonstrates its commitment to building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels (Target 16.6).
• Student Participation: The survey itself is a form of participatory decision-making, empowering students to contribute to their own safety and governance.

Contextual Security Measures and Performance Data

Ongoing Security Enhancements

The survey is part of a broader, multi-year effort to improve security protocols following a 2019 audit. These efforts contribute to creating the safe community spaces envisioned in SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Other measures include:

• A voluntary panic button application for employees.
• A comprehensive visitor screening system.
• The replacement of the “code red” system with clearer emergency messaging.

Relevant Crime and Safety Statistics

Recent data indicates that while overall incidents of students reported for crimes have decreased, there are areas of concern that highlight the need for this initiative. The number of students cited for drug possession and assaults against school employees has been rising. This data provides a critical baseline for measuring the future success of safety policies in advancing SDG 16.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 4: Quality Education

  The article’s central theme is creating a safe school environment, which is a prerequisite for effective learning. The text explicitly states, “district officials said they want students to feel safe in school so that they are better prepared to learn.” This directly connects the issue of school safety to the goal of providing quality education.

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

  This goal is relevant through its focus on reducing violence and promoting inclusive and participatory decision-making. The article discusses violence, bullying, school shootings, and crime rates within schools. Furthermore, the school board’s initiative to survey students represents an effort to create a more responsive and participatory institution by including student voices in safety planning.

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

  The article mentions that the planned survey will cover “mental health, among other things.” A student’s sense of safety is intrinsically linked to their mental well-being. The fear of school shootings, as expressed by a student, highlights the psychological impact of school safety issues, connecting the topic to SDG 3.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 4.a: Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

   The entire initiative described in the article is aimed at achieving this target. The school system is actively working to improve safety through various measures like a “voluntary panic button app for employees, a visitor screening system,” and replacing the “code red” system. The survey itself is a tool to assess and improve the safety of the learning environment.

2. Target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.

   The article addresses this target by discussing concerns about school shootings, bullying, and violence. It also cites specific data on crimes in schools, such as the number of students “accused of assault against a school employee.” The security measures and the survey are direct responses aimed at preventing and reducing such violence within the school community.

3. Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.

   The school board’s decision to survey high school students on their opinions about school safety is a clear example of this target in action. The article notes the survey will ask students “how schools can be safer, whether they feel safe now, and whether they’re likely to report concerns.” This process includes students in the decision-making process regarding their own safety.

4. Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.

   This target is addressed through the article’s mention that the survey will cover “mental health.” By assessing and aiming to improve students’ sense of safety, the school district is indirectly working to promote their mental health and well-being, as fear and stress can have significant negative health impacts.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Students’ perception of safety: The primary purpose of the survey is to gather this data. The questions on “whether they feel safe now” will provide a direct measure of the perceived safety of the learning environment (relevant to Target 4.a).
• Survey response rate: The article explicitly mentions this as a metric the district will monitor, stating “A response rate of 10%, for example, would be too low.” This serves as an indicator for the level of student participation in decision-making (relevant to Target 16.7).
• Crime and violence statistics: The article cites several specific data points that are direct indicators of violence in schools. These include the number of “students reported for crimes in schools,” the number of “students cited for possession of drugs,” and the number of “students accused of assault against a school employee” (relevant to Target 16.1).
• Ratio of school resource officers to students/campus size: A student’s comment that “It’s a pretty big campus, just a single school resource officer” implies that the number of security personnel is a key indicator of safety infrastructure (relevant to Target 4.a).
• Data on mental health: The survey’s plan to cover “mental health” implies that the results will provide indicators on the state of student well-being within the school environment (relevant to Target 3.4).
• Use of reporting channels: The survey will ask students if they are “likely to report concerns using existing reporting channels, such as the Say Something reporting app.” The usage rate and student confidence in these systems are indicators of institutional responsiveness (relevant to Target 16.7).

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: wral.com