Full Q&A from Roundtable

Questions are provided as written and have been grouped by topic.

Why not install metal or weapon detectors? Can we partner with the Packers or Resch to borrow or fund them?
This community recommendation will go to the Board on October 13 for discussion. Great idea to explore potential partnerships, if the Board decides to use metal or weapon detectors.

Are there enough SROs? How many hours are they present? Is there a way for the police to support during high traffic times?
We currently have 11 SROs that work the regular work week, along with additional hours to support after school events. In addition, other police officers will support schools during the lunch hours. 

Can exterior doors be alarmed? Are interior classroom doors lockable?
Alarms for exterior doors can be looked into. We currently have some exterior doors that are monitored using the card access system and work with the camera system to notify security staff when they are opened. Interior classroom doors are required to be  locked, per board policy. 

Are instrument cases, sports bags, coats, and lunchboxes being checked too? All non-clear bags such as these are subject to search.
What about long entry lines, weather exposure, and how to staff security?
Long entry lines were expected on day one of the transition. The length of time lessened with each day. Administration from the district office supported the entrances, along with school staff. 

What is the discipline policy? How many strikes before serious consequences?
Parents/guardians are provided with a copy of the Student Expectations Handbook at the start of each school year. In that handbook you will find information about the District’s discipline policy.

Why are habitual fighters allowed to return? Are OSS suspensions effective?
State and federal law and Board policy provide the parameters for discipline. Consequences can vary depending upon many factors that cannot be shared with others due to student privacy rights. OSS serves many purposes, including the opportunity for the student to learn from the experience and be motivated to not repeat the behavior. More often than not, it is an effective deterrent. 

How are students with IEPs handled if they are violent?
State and federal law governs discipline for students with disabilities. The consequences vary depending upon the student’s disability and the specific incident. 

Why do “good kids” get punished the same as those starting fights?
The goal isn’t to punish everyone, but rather to enhance protection for everyone. 

What mental health resources are available immediately for students without long waits? What steps can we take to prevent the anger from reaching the point that students feel the need to bring weapons to school? What resources are available for parents to know how to talk to their kids about how they’re feeling/how school is going? Also, what resources are available for students to share outside of school when parents are working or are not at home? Why did this student feel the need to bring a gun to school? What intervention measures are in place to prevent the chain of events that lead up to this incident? Why don’t we have a stronger outreach program for students with mental health issues?

• Care Solace helps individuals find mental health care providers and substance use treatment centers. Their team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year to quickly connect you to carefully verified providers in your community. Call (888) 515-0595 at any time. Support is available in 200+ languages. A dedicated team will help you every step of the way to research options, secure appointments and follow up to make sure it is a good fit. For an anonymous search, answer a few questions to get matched with an extensive list of care providers at www.caresolace.com/gbaps. Care Solace is now available at no cost to you. They will connect with providers accepting all medical insurances including Medicaid, Medicare, and sliding scale options for those without insurance. All information entered on the Care Solace tool is completely confidential and securely stored.
• In addition: Children's Hospital has a new Green Bay Mental Health Walk-In Clinic, which provides same-day care for children and teens (ages 5-18) experiencing urgent mental health issues. The clinic is designed to offer an alternative to traditional urgent care and emergency room services. Families can walk-in or make a reservation online. The Green Bay Mental Health Walk-In Clinic is located in the same building as Emplify Health by Bellin Behavioral Health.

How are we as a school district and community going to foster and create a culture of belonging to counter a culture of violence? Is CPS utilized to make sure "bullies" have a safe home environment? Especially in elementary school. How is the district working to bring counselor staffing to align with best practices for student safety and mental health?Why don’t we have more counselors and mental health support aligned to best practice ratios?
The District has been able to leverage funding resources to expand Student Services personnel to get closer to the national student to staff ratio.  

Could we start Hope Squad or other mental health outreach programs?
The District does have Hope Squad in some middle schools and Sources of Strength in high schools with the goal of continued expansion. 

How can we stop bullying before it escalates to violence?
Please see our Bullying and Harassment webpage for some suggestions. 

Why was there a failure to notify parents until 3:30 when the gun was discovered around 1:15? Why weren't students notified? What was the timeline of the fight to finding the backpack with a gun? Why did it take so long to find out as a parent or student until 3 hours later via media outlets? Can you please provide us with weekly updates with counts of fights, police calls, and weapon calls for all schools so we can see improvements? Why wasn't the email I received as a parent with a Crime Stopper number and the other number that you can remain anonymous, why isn't this emailed to the student body and actually ask the students to put the numbers in their phones so they always have them on hand? They know better than all of us. If the incident was so drastic, why didn’t we, as parents, not receive an email about the incident? Viewing the parent email, it was noted that rumors and misinformation were being spread, in part due to the lack of communication to students. While I understand there is only so much that can be said to students, why was there no communication towards students? Why did parents and students find out about the incident hours later through media?
This incident was unique in that there was no active threat (police had the situation under control). As it was an ongoing investigation, the District works with the GBPD as to what and when to communicate so that we do not impede their investigation. 

Why wasn’t the Crime Stoppers number emailed to students?
We have posters throughout our schools for Crime Stoppers and See Something Say Something. In addition, it is oftentimes included in messages home to parents and the community.

What exactly is the next step after this new rule? How long will it last?
At this time there is no end date for the clear backpacks. The next step will be to bring community recommendations from the Safety Roundtable to the Board on October 13 for discussion. 

Will there be roundtables with students? Why are students not represented in meetings? Are we going to meet the children where they are at?  
We will continue to meet with the Intra City Student Council, as well as other student groups, to gather feedback and discuss important issues impacting their lives. In addition, the District is exploring the idea of a Student Safety Committee. 

What resources are there to help parents talk with kids or get involved at school?
Parents interested in volunteering.

Can parents pledge to safely store weapons at home? Would the District be prepared to advocate for tougher legislation on gun control? Can we initiate a parental pledge to lock guns and keep weapons safe and locked up?
This is not something the District would organize, but could be organized by a PTO/Parent Network.

Can volunteers or community watch groups help staff doors or hallways?
This is an idea that the District will be exploring.

How will you ensure SROs don’t disproportionately discipline students of color? How will you prevent profiling and discrimination? At what point are guns? The problem? Will people wanting to invade a school care about clear backpacks? Police really help kids learn and feel safe? How much will this cost and what will it be deducted from? How will you make sure no one is being unfairly targeted? Prevent discrimination! How do we prevent profiling and discrimination? How to be effective without profiling We need these resources but there are no available people. How will you ensure solutions do not exasperate equity gaps?
The District and the Police Department work very closely together and participate in training to understand biases. The District has specific expectations for when SROs can get involved in a situation. 

Are students with disabilities adequately protected and supported in safety planning?
Students with disabilities all practice the safety drills and staff share with buildings the needs during this time. For example: does a classroom with students with intellectual disabilities need additional people for a fire evacuation, etc. 

Are policies like clear backpacks or dress codes infringing on student expression or privacy?
No.  Pursuant to Wis. Stat. 120.13(1)(a), the District may create dress code policies that are reasonably related to legitimate educational concerns in order to "maintain good decorum and a favorable academic atmosphere."  The District is applying the policies in a fair and consistent basis.  Thus, the policies are legally permissible.

Why not organize emergency board meeting. Why are we waiting until October 13th for the board meeting? Would this not warrant faster action/emergency meeting? Why are we waiting until October 13th to present to the board ideas from tonight? A special board meeting should be held in no more than 2 weeks to move forward. Why wait until October 13th to present these ideas to the board?
This is urgent. The District is implementing immediate action (i.e., clear backpacks, enhanced unsafe behavior procedures) and will continue to review and make modifications as needed. 

What will be done for after school sports? Kids can walk to lockers after school and put items in lockers or hide items in other places in the school. Do you foresee this policy extending beyond school and school hours such as games and school events? What are the plans for safety at public School events? Like sporting events, dances, competitions, etc? What about school bags? Sports bags need to be clear also. Will instrument cases or garment bags be searched for music events? Sports bags? Lunch bags? We cannot lose warm clothing as we get really cold days. What about students with athletic bags and instruments or even lunch bags? What are we going to instill to make sure kids waiting for buses feel safe? SRO stands outside? We want school staff to research all students even on the buses. What are your measures on this issue?
The District will be reviewing safety protocols for after school programming and making adjustments as needed. 

Could uniforms be considered? What about coats? Will they be allowed in the classroom? No time between classes to go to their locker? Is changing the dress code really a good idea? I believe changing the dress code is awfully disturbing insecurities between students exist and a simple talk with a counselor.
The Board will be discussing all options to determine feasibility. 

How is closed campus going to make a difference when we don't have the room? Closed Campus also makes it so there are more people watching fights and taking videos. The things that happen are on campus. Love the students. Please listen to us. Would locking down the Preble campus (and other schools) for lunch break help decrease the risk of guns coming to the campus. Don't let students go out for lunch because they can bring a weapon during lunch time.
The Board will be discussing all options to determine feasibility. 

How are sros being trained and learning to address the known disappropriate discipline within schools? Nationally? Statistics consistently show sros contribute disproportionate discipline for students of color, especially black students who face hyper rates of referrals to law enforcement, arrests, suspensions, and expulsions compared to white students even to similar offenses. Disparity is linked to racial biases both conscious and unconscious within the School policing environment and it does not explained by difference in student misbehavior. How many hours of the school day are officers on campus? Has the school board considered using dogs that are trained to smell gun powder in schools?
SROs complete a variety of trainings to effectively work with young people. We will continue to monitor the trainings and make adjustments as needed.

Is it true? And administrator told our kids that metal detectors were and are not in place because they did not want to tarnish the school reputation? Is the district doing metal detectors? Do you guys think schools should get metal detectors if they don't have them out for our safety? Why are we reactive instead of proactive as a district? As the third largest district in the state, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine all have metal detectors already. Why has this not been considered and implemented already? Can preble add more metal detectors? An anti-bullying campaign? And more verification. We'll metal wands be considered or metal detectors? Why clear backpacks? Why not metal detectors? Would it be possible to loan to our schools Monday through Friday to keep our entry points safer and higher temporary staff to move, install and transport? It seems that after a shooting, metal detectors should be installed. Why wait? Why did it take so long to do something instead of doing something 2 years ago when a kid was shot? Why was nothing done 2 years ago when there was a child shot outside of school? Metal detectors? Is it possible to get grants from state government in order to get equipment and such of metal detectors? If metal detectors are purchased and set up in the schools, how long would this process take? All schools? Can we look into ceia open 8 detectors? How many entrances would need detectors at the high schools? Are metal detectors going to be considered? Will the phone policy be changed for safety reasons? Are metal detectors or x-ray machines possible? Will metal detectors be quicker than searching bags? Are we looking to use the referendum money for metal detectors?
Metal detectors will be discussed as an option by the Board. 

Would you consider revoking the phone in a poach policy instead? Make them keep it in a backpack. This would keep the line of communication open parent to child in event of a active situation.
The District will continue to review and monitor all current policies that could impact student safety and response. 

What is the discipline policy? How many strikes are given? How many times can a kid be suspended or sent to another school? Why are there no consequences to the student's behavior if we went with consequences? Zero tolerance starting a k4 district-wide all kids receive same consequences. Why don't we follow our own policies? What is being done to those habitual students who are on OSS? Is there a certain number before harsher consequences? Minooka, expulsion, etc? OSS is a joke to some students and not taken seriously as they can come back in 3 days. Can you go into specifics onto how you will address the increase of fights in the school district? Are we also considering early or removal of students with aggressive tendencies from schools? What consequences are being given to the students involved repeatedly in fighting? The district needs to look over the fighting protocols. Are they working? Are kids being punished enough for being a part of fighting? Is the current policy deterring repeat kids from fighting?
The District has added enhancements to the protocol. 

Are medical students protected? Can their equipment be searched? What happens if other prohibitive items are found during searches for firearms? Are there any additional measures for children with disabilities? If an incident happens? Is there enough staff to support? Some children may not be mobile to protect themselves. The district has said that there are strict rules/laws that prevent them from removing a violent student if they have a disability or an IEP in place. Who diagnoses the student with a disability? What can we do to change these laws?
Please see the U.S. Department of Education website on Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/individuals-disabilities/idea

Do you know the statistics of kids who are safer when they use clear backpacks? Is checking a backpack normal after a fight? Are other schools in the county or area going to the clear backpack policy? Why wasn't the policy of clear backpacks told to everyone? It was going to start this week. Why weren’t the clear backpacks checked? Are backpacks allowed at lunch? Clear backpack searches? What is the difference if we are not searching for them? Can hide items in clear backpacks just as easily. Do kids with clear backpacks get searched? Clear backpacks is a start, how can we check inside to know if anything is in there? Why are clear bags 6-12? Why not all grades? Why not just 9-12? Will students be able to carry their backpacks around school? Will the rule stay? Why did we just make the rule? Is it an invasion of privacy since it will allow students to view into others backpacks with them being clear? Given that there is no data to suggest that clear backpacks mitigate school violence at all, why did you choose to mandate them? Also, why do without getting feedback from parents? What do you do when kids refuse the backpack mandate? Force? Susend? Of the 42,000 donated, how many individuals contributed to that? How many businesses? Why are K-8 schools under full compliance with clear backpacks? Can siblings younger than 6-12th grade can give siblings their items? A couple of years ago-Preble had an incident and had to clear backpacks. However, they ran into issues and they kept breaking. How are you going to address this issue? Who exactly is searching these backpacks? What process are they following should they find a weapon? What training and safety measures are put into place for these people as well? Why are we punishing all the students for a few bad ones by using clear backpacks? This won't stop the kids who want to bring a gun to school. What is the evidence showing that clear backpacks are the most effective early intervention? Can we bring something other than a backpack that is clear?
Please see our Clear Backpack FAQ page for more information about backpacks.

What is the district doing about threats? Has the district looked closely at www.gao.gov? “K-12 Education: Characteristics of School Shootings”? What conflict resolution curriculum do you have to support grades 6-12? Are we as a district looking at what other schools have done after school tragedies they have suffered through and listening to what they say they would have done differently if given the chance. Can we learn from those situations in order to be proactive and get ahead of potential dangers before they occur?
The District continues to research best practices and coordinate with school safety professionals regarding our protocols. 

How much is our ideas and thoughts going to happen? Feel that there is so much politics involved. Historically the follow through does not foster confidence in this process to provide effective results.
All ideas will be presented to the Board for possible action.

Does Green Bay Police have a gang task force? Are they aware of the gang activity within schools?
GBPD does have a gang task force. We are not aware of  gang activity in our buildings. 

What legal justifications do schools have to perform searches? School staff is not law enforcement so probable cause or reasonable suspicion does not apply. Could be a violation of our 4th amendment.
While requiring a student to open a closed container for inspection constitutes a “search” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment, this conduct is permissible provided that school authorities follow District rules created to minimize the discretion of school employees in determining which students are subject to this form of inspection.

Could we have an anonymous report system so students don’t feel singled out and targeted?
We currently do have two anonymous report systems. See Something, Say Something as well as Crime Stoppers. 

Why wasn’t the school put into lockdown? What are the requirements for activating the centegix system. 
The Centegix system would be activated for the following reasons

• Lockdown/Intruder Alert: An active threat to the building i.e. active shooter 
• Secure the Building Outside Situation- A community situation where as a precaution everyone is brought inside the school and we do not allow anyone to enter or leave without permission i.e. police activity in the area
• Secure the Building Inside Situation- A situation inside the school where they want to have all students remain in the classroom with the doors locked i.e. medical emergency 
• Evacuation- If we have a need to evacuate everyone from the school but it is not an active threat i.e. gas leak
• Tornado- If we have a tornado warning in the community

When students decide to shoot up the school, they normally wear a gun on their person. The backpacks being worn while a student goes through a metal detector would be more effective. Are people going to have opportunities to free good quality clear backpacks 
Yes. Please see your school office for more information. 

Does GBAPS endorse political candidates who are in favor of robust gun control measures?
Public school districts do not endorse candidates. 

What is the next step after this new rule?
The District will continue to review and make modifications as needed. In addition, the Board will review recommendations on October 13. 

A kid got hit while riding his bike to school the other day, when are schools getting cross walk guards to ensure safety? The students have talked and agreed that we need more attention on mental health. Gun control starts with the mental stuff!
The City determines locations for crossing guards. The 2022 referendum allowed the District to collaborate with the City to put in flashing lights at crosswalks near our schools as well as signs that flash when cars are driving faster than the speed limit. 

What happens to the students that are removed from school? They will lose out on education, therapy, and the ability to grow. If this is a community issue, why are we sending troubled youth back into the community without resources?
Oftentimes, GBAPS will provide alternative education that includes wrap-around support. 

Do police K-9s sniff out drugs, ammo, and guns?
The K-9’s that are used in our schools detect drugs. There are weapons and ammo detection dogs, but the closest may be in Chicago.

How will you prevent other students from opening doors allowing on-screen students into the school?
Multiple school doors are monitored by security cameras, in addition to having staff that patrol our hallways on a regular basis, watching for suspicious behavior.

Can the district require immediate family members to document gun ownership? Those students then have no need to have their backpacks inspected, which doesn't help with illegal gun purchases, and acquiring weapons from people other than family members.
We cannot. 

What are the rules to open enrollment? 
Please see DPI's Public School Open Enrollment webpage.

Adults are just as much of a threat as the students. Are the teachers being held to the same standards with clear bags? Clear backpacks does that apply to teachers and classroom helpers as well then show of togetherness in this. Are staff members also required to carry clear bags?  Why don’t the teachers and staff have clear bags when they could very well bring a gun or weapon in?
Adults complete background checks in order to work in our schools. 

Until other measures are in place, what protection will you provide immediately
Clear backpacks and enhancements to unsafe behavior practices are immediate actions we have taken. 

Why are lunch boxes not included when items can be stored.
Lunch boxes can be searched. 

Are females being required to carry clear purses?
See Clear Backpack FAQ

Why don’t we go to uniforms?
The Board will consider a variety of options moving forward. 

What stops students from propping doors or having other students let them in a less common door as in the incident at East High in 2021?
Monitoring of cameras and supervision work to reduce the risk of this happening. 

I’ve had students tell me they’re scared because “kids with guns” know our lock down procedures and evacuation rally point locations. They tell me the “shooter” was trained at the same time everyone else was. As an educator, I was speechless. My question is, how would you like us to respond? The students aren’t wrong so I think we need a universal message. What should that be?
Drills are only one part of our safety plan. We also have staff who are trained to respond in different ways, doors that lock, communication systems, and coordination with police and emergency responders. If something were to happen, the adults here would make real-time decisions to keep you safe. Practicing drills helps us stay calm and ready, but we can always adapt if we need to. The most important thing is that you listen carefully to the adults’ directions in the moment and trust that we are working to protect you.

How will you weigh solutions that are evidence-based versus solutions that are popular? Can we just ban guns?
Schools are gun-free zones. The Board will review information to determine what the best solutions will be moving forward. 

How will GBAPS advocate and collaborate for broader change?
The solutions need to happen outside the schools. The District will continue to collaborate with community partners to address root causes. 

Can schools implement new practices separate from District?
The District establishes expectations. Individual schools, in some cases, have discretion on implementation.  

What is the plan for the kids who have to wait outside of the school in the long line exposed to the elements and fights weapon attack? Mostly waiting to get into the schools here today. Took over an hour to get in.
This has improved. 

Why is my child unable to have their phone as safety preventative?
Cellphone policy. This does allow for access during emergencies. 

How can we learn from this as a community?
A review of the incident and existing protocols allows us to learn from this incident. A community-led roundtable would be beneficial to addressing the root cause. 

How are drugs being addressed? Drugs are illegal on school campuses. Board policy and state law dictates discipline measures. 
Defense items like pepper spray?
These are illegal on school campuses. 

What about ground floor windows? 

What can we do to protect the teachers as well as the students?
Same decisions will impact staff safety as well as students. 

What is the response from adults when fights are breaking out at lunch? Why is this everyday? Can there be a security presence during lunch hours? My freshman is scared.
Adults intervene immediately. The enhanced unsafe behavior response should reduce and hopefully eliminate fighting. 

You have stated that Green Bay public School does not condone the violence of our district. Can you comment today making a public post on social media platforms and the district and school websites that states that you firmly stand against violence and anyone that threatens violent rhetoric in our schools?
We have held two media conferences to help get the word out. In addition, there will be/have been classroom presentations to stress our position and the consequences for engaging in unsafe behavior. 

How can you make a district-wide safety call when you can't control or regulate safety on an individual school basis? The Green Bay School district is failing and does not have the backbone to handle situations. Two days after the Preble incident this scenario took place. On the Wednesday after the gun incident, a guy from a local company went to West high School for his job to go over some plans with a West employee. He got allowed into the school without credentials being checked. He entered the office where he still did not have to provide credentials. After that he was allowed to walk the Halls of the Commons area without escort and credentials. This guy came up to two other West employees and still no questions or credentials were given. Are there any restrictions for visitors/ community partners as to what can be brought into school? And any check points or things professional visitors to the school will be experiencing if they are coming for a meeting with a student or IEP etc…
Visitors must check in at the security desk before entering the building. 

Why is every school making changes when this happened at Preble?
Reducing the risk of unsafe behaviors is important District-wide. 

Why aren’t we seeing this in other districts?
Unsafe behaviors occur in every school district. Green Bay has media outlets readily available to report on incidents. Other districts do not. 

When are the children going to start learning with their learning style? (Auditory, visual, kinesthetic) Not every child learns the same.