DRAFT Gangs in Schools Task Force Report to the Legislature, 2011 DRAFT

DRAFT Gangs in Schools Task Force Report to the Legislature, 2011 DRAFT

INTRODUCTION

In response to the mandates of 2007 SSB 5097, the 2011 Gangs in Schools Task Forceis submitting this report to theWashington State Legislature. This report will be brief and direct. It will review the work of the Task Force, itself, and reiterate recommendations which Task Force members have found to be critical. After a brief examination of these recommendations, the report will indicate the three of the recommendations which constitute its 2011-2012 Action Plan. Finally, the Task Force will make recommendations for the Legislature to consider.

HISTORY

In 2007, the Legislature directed the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene a Task Force under Substitute Senate Bill 5097 to examine how gangs affect school safety. The Task Force was directed to recommend methods to prevent and eliminate gangs in schools, gather intelligence on gangs and share information about gangs. That work was begun and recommendations have been made annually. In the intervening years, funding for the work of the Task Force has been eliminated; however, because of its commitment to the issues, the Task Force has continued to work on its mandated tasks.

COMPOSITION OF THE TASK FORCE

As mandated by the legislation SSB 5097, the Task Forceworks under the guidance of the Superintendent of Public Instruction School Safety Center, the School Safety Center Advisory Committee, and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. The Task Force is composed of representatives, selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who possess expertise relevant to gang activity in schools. There are currently 34 identified members of the Gangs In Schools Task Force. There are 15 members of the Task Force Executive Steering Committee. Initially, the OSPI School Safety Center was represented by Tyson Vogeler. There have been two OSPI staff changes in the intervening years. Currently, Mike Donlin is the OSPI staff representative. Randal Town, ESD 105 / CJTC, remains as the Task Force chair.

There has been recent discussion about Task Force Executive Committee membership. With reductions in funding and constraints on time, not all of the current 34identified members of the Task Force are able to participate fully. There has also been discussion as to the size of the Executive Steering Committee. The Task Force is currently reviewing its membership roster to ensure that it is current. Names of potential new members have also been elicited from the group. Currently there are 4 potential new members.

THE CHARGE

The Task Forcewas directed to recommend methods to prevent and eliminate gangs in schools, gather intelligence on gangs and share information about gangs. The Task Force members recognize that gang activity in schools overlaps with gang activity on the street, but that the two cannot be addressed in the same ways. In addition, while charged specifically with addressing the issue of gangs in schools, it is alsoclear that schools cannot address the problem alone, and that cooperative communitywide programs are necessary to effectively reduce both youth gang activity in school and overall gang violence. With respect to gang activity in schools, schools can be an effective avenue to provide prevention, intervention, mitigation support services to a large segment of the gang-involved youth population. With respect to dropout and reentry issues, as long as students are attending school, they can receive reentry and transition serviceswhich they need to remain in school and to complete their educations.

With this as background, the Task Force also understands that schools very often do not recognize gang activity when it happens on campus, nor do they know how to deal with it when it is recognized. Schools cannot address what they cannot clearly define and identify. In previous reports, recommendations to the legislature have included the need for schools to have a viable school policy addressing gangs. The Task Force is examiningpolicies and procedures from districts across the country and across the state. Of particular interest is a recently implemented Maryland State gangs in schools policy which the Task Forceis examining it for potential adaptation for Washington State use.

WHAT WE KNOW

Based on information from law enforcement, schools, and community-based agencies and assessments, the Task Force finds that:

-Gang activity is on the rise in Washington schools and communities.

-Gang activity in the vicinity of schools poses a risk to staff and student safety and school security.

-Effective anti-gang initiatives require the prevention, intervention, mitigation, suppression and reentryefforts. These imply training, resources, coordination and funding.

-Intimidation of staff and students by gang members is one of the most significant impacts that gangs have on the educational environment and perception of school safety.

-There is a lack of clear policy and procedural guidance for schools. As a result, there is a lack of consistent data on gang activity in schools. In addition, schools do not have a uniform approach to addressing gang activity in schools or disciplining gang-associated students.

-Administrators, teachers, and other school staff lack current information on gangs, gang indicators, and gang activity.

-Most schools and communities lack the resources to address gang issues.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to address the problems and challenges posed by gang activity in schools, the Task Force made seven recommendations to its initial 2008 report to the Legislature based on its findings. In the intervening years, the initial seven recommendations have been revised, refined and prioritized. They have been reprioritized again in this report, based in part of need and in part on costs andfiscal implications of implementation. The prioritized recommendations are as follows:

1. Development of a sample anti-gang activity in school policy and set of procedures that include consistent discipline practices along with a recommendation that all districts adopt the sample anti-gang policy.

2. Provision of support for ongoing in-state training for all school administrators, counselors, teachers and other school personnel, agencies and providers serving gang-affected youth.

3. Development of a secure information-sharing system for exchange of information on gang activity.

4.Creation of a dedicated funding formula for support of transition programs to provide educational, intervention and reentry services for suspended or expelled students.

5. Revision to the statute that authorizes schools to suspend or expel students who engage in gang activity, including a definition of gang activity in school which is consistent with the criminal, that definition of gang activity to include intimidation of staff or students.

6. Establishment of 1000-foot ―school safety zones in statute, from which gang members can be excluded if they engage in activity that warrants concern for the safety of staff or students.

7. Provision of grants to school districts and communities for gang prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing gangs in schools, intervening with gang-associated youth to reduce suspensions, and providing education to families.

The Task Forceis fully aware of fiscal limitations at this time. Recommendations with significant fiscal implications will be difficult, if not impossible, to implement. However, the Task Force does not want to lose those recommendations or to have them overlooked for lack of funds. Thus, theTask Force hasfurther considered its recommendations to the Legislature in terms of a current action plan, and in light of fiscal and other resource considerations. They are summarized in the table below:

Recommendation / Current Action Plan / Fiscal Implication
1. Development of a sample gangs-activity-in school policy & procedures / Models exist which can be readily adapted and made available / Little to no fiscal impact to develop sample policies and procedures;
2. Support for ongoing in-state training / Tap into training models and avenues which currently exist and can be broadened; adopt a training of trainers model; implement technologies / Costs of materials and trainers; cost of time for trainees (extra time, substitutes, travel/mileage); can be minimized thru technologies.
3. Development of a secure information-sharing system / Use the OSPI Safety Center web site as a general information clearinghouse; Ask HYS; use existing models to develop protocols for sharing between and among agencies, LEA’s, etc. for specific data sharing / OPSI web site is currently employed as an information sharing point; Ask HYS is available at no cost; use of existing protocols have little to no cost implications; additional protocols and resources may imply development costs or fees.
4. Creation of dedicated funding to support transition programs / Recommend to the Legislature; In the interim, coordination with existing educational (Ed. Adv.) resources; identify gaps and needs / Variable
5. Revision to statute authorizing schools to suspend or expel students for gang activity in school / Recommend to the Legislature; In the interim, includethis in Sample policy and procedures in #1 above; / Cost of revising legislation
6. Establishment of 1000’ school safety zones / Include in #1 above / See #1 above
7. Grants to school districts and communities for gang prevention and intervention programs / Recommend to the Legislature; Identify best practices; generate potential costs. / Variable

Expanding on this table, the Task Force has developed a work plan based on the Current Action Plan items. That work plan will further expand theno-to low cost ways to address the recommendations. These include:

1. Development of a sample gangs-activity-in school policy & procedures:

Using existing policies and procedures as models, and with particular focus on the recently implemented Maryland State Gangs in Schools policy, the Task Force plans to develop a sample Washington State policy and set of procedures which can be shared with districts and other agencies across the state.

1. Development of a secure information-sharing system:

The Task Force has identified several information and data sharing starting points:

a.The OSPI School Safety Center web site will be used as a clearinghouse for information, resources and training information. The Safety Center web site would include the sample policy and procedures noted above. Of particular interest are community-based success stories which might be replicated in other communities.

b.Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) data is available and will be used to help inform the Task Force and local communities on youth self-reported gang involvement.

c.The Yakima Say No To Gangs web site will be used as a model for other communities as a way to share information among schools and law enforcement. The Yakima County Sheriff’s department and Four Corners have partnered on a pilot project allowing schools to talk with each other on a secure site. The web site has many features geared towards the community, parents and youth, and school administrators. One of the features of the site is that it can be viewed in Spanish, English or several other languages.

d.Given the need to share more specific and more time sensitive information among schools, law enforcement and other support, prevention, intervention, mitigation entities, the Task Force will look more closely at FERPA and other federal, state and local laws relating to the sharing of potentially proprietary student information across agency boundaries.

1. Support for ongoing in-state training:

Randy Town, Chair of the Task Force, is currently developing and presenting a series of training workshops on gangs and gang-related issues. These are being offered through the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) and advertised to school personnel through CJTC, the OSPI web site, the Association of Washington School Principals, and the Educational Service Districts. The first of this series was offered at the CJTC on Monday, November 7, 2011.

District and school-based Task Force members noted that traning time is very limited and that it is difficult for school administrators, counselors, teachers and other staff people to travel or to be away from their school sites for more than short periods of time. Therefore, the Task Force is considering additional venues and media for delivering this information to school personnel. The considerations include:

a.Presentations at state educational conferences which might include, but not be limited to, the annual Association of School Principals, Washington State Schools Directors, Washington Education Association, the Washington School Counselor Association, WAMentors, 21st Century Learning Communities, and the state Institutional Education conferences.

b.Collaboration among programs and agencies. As noted above, gang prevention, intervention and mitigation efforts are necessarily community-wide. In that spirit of collaboration, the 21st Century Learning Communities programs of Yakima County, federally funded after-school programs, have requested gang awareness training for their program staff. This is being coordinated through OSPI.

c.Development of DVDs with 15 to 20 minute mini-lessons which could be shared at school staff meetings.

d.Use of social media such as You Tube as a delivery mode.

e.Training of trainer sessions at the 9 ESD’s across the state.

In addition to these three Action Items focusing on policy development, information/data sharing and training, the Task Force will also continue to coordinate and collaborate closely with statewide dropout prevention and intervention programs, Institutional Education programs, and the Educational Advocates programs, all of which are existing resources to help reduce potential gang related drop outs, and to help facilitate reentry into the school system.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

As noted above, the Gangs in Schools Task Force has annually provided a set of recommendations to the Legislature. It has prioritized that list and developed an action plan based on those recommendations which it sees as actionable at little to no cost. It also recognizes that some items will necessarily come with a cost, and some will require mandatory support from the Legislature. Therefore, the Gangs in Schools Task Force recommends to the Legislature that:

1. Funds are allocated to support the work of the Task Force to ensure that all members are able to participate as fully as possible in its work.

2. All districts are required to adopt the sample anti-gang policy which the Task Force develops.

3. Funds are allocated for travel, substitutes and other in-state training costsfor school administrators, counselors, teachers and other school personnel, agencies and providers serving gang-affected youth.

4. Resources are allocated for the development of a secure information-sharing system for exchange of information on gang activity.

5. A dedicated funding formula is created for support of transition programs to provide educational, intervention and reentry services for suspended or expelled students.

6. Revision to the statute that authorizes schools to suspend or expel students who engage in gang activity, including a definition of gang activity in school which is consistent with the criminal, that definition of gang activity to include intimidation of staff or students.

7. Provision of collaboration grants to school districts and communities for gang prevention and intervention programs to reduce gang activity in schools, interventions with gang-associated youth to reduce suspensions, and to provide education to families.

As the previous reports of the Gangs in Schools Task Force noted, the problem of youth gangs does not have simple or quick solutions. Gangs are not a new problem, and when gang activity increases, it is a symptom of larger societal problems which push youth toward anti-social and criminal behaviors, including gangs. The definitive treatment for gangs is to address the individual and societal issues that push our children and youth to the point where gangs become an attractive alternative.

The Gangs in Schools Task Force was specifically charged with addressing the problems associated with youth and adult gangs in and around schools. However, before schools can effectively address their issues around gang activity in schools, they must have clear definitions, policies, and processes in place. They must also have both awareness and implementation training, and effective communication mechanisms between and among agencies. The Task Force reiterates its position that addressing the problem of youth gangs requires essentially the same actions as addressing the overall needs of at-risk youth. The state must ensure that a comprehensive and coordinated system of prevention and intervention services is available for at-risk youth, combined with educational opportunities that meet the needs of this segment of the youth population.

The Task Force has made prioritized recommendations to the Legislature, which represent a balanced approach to addressing gang issues in schools through prevention, intervention, suppression, and reentry programs. The Task Force has also indicated those recommendations which it intends to address using existing resources. However, because the Task Force continues to recognize the importance of educational services for students who are suspended or expelled for gang activity, it also reiterates its much needed recommendation for dedicated apportionment for transition programs.

The members of the executive steering committee of the Gangs in Schools Task Force thank the Legislature for the opportunity to work on this critical issue.

ATTACHMENTS:

1.Links to OSPI, CJTC, Yakima and other sites

2.MD Model Policy

3.Randy’s training outline

4.Membership list

5.____

6.____

7.____

1