School violence debate: Worcester board calls for halt to verbal back-and-forth

The Worcester County Board of Education continued to assure the public that school safety remains a priority despite a statement saying they will no longer publicly respond to concerns raised by county officials.

According to the statement, the board will abide by any current agreements between the Worcester County Office of the Sheriff and the county state's attorney, Kristin Heiser.

"As stewards of the safety, well-being and education of the thousands of students in Worcester County Public Schools, the Board of Education and school system staff will no longer be engaging in public statement trading with law enforcement officials. We believe it is counterproductive, and our focus must remain on keeping our schools the safe and welcoming learning environments that our students and staff deserve," the statement said.

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A 'team approach' to school safety in Worcester County

According to the board, county schools and central office leaders will continue to work collaboratively with public safety officials to ensure the safety of students and staff in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding with county officials.

"We fully expect law enforcement to do the same, and our invitation remains open for the Sheriff’s Office to meet with school system leadership," the statement said.

The board also noted there is a "team approach" to safety and discipline, which includes a retired school deputy as well as our Chief Safety and Academic Officer.

WCPS also cited their communication standards regarding school safety incidents. These standards include the following:

• Should your child be directly involved or impacted by an incident, you will receive a direct notification from school administration.

• If an incident has a wider impact, but has been resolved, class or schoolwide notifications will be sent that evening.

• Should a school’s safety status change, schools will communicate the change as quickly as circumstances allow and will follow up once the school’s status has returned to normal operations.

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"Lastly, we thank our entire school system community for their continued patience and understanding. We encourage our families to continue to have conversations with their children as well as with our schools on how we can best support their physical and emotional safety and educational success," the statement said.

'Unacceptable' levels of school violence

Despite rebuttals by the board that the data used by county officials were taken out of context, if not entirely inaccurate, County Sheriff Matthew Crisafulli and Heiser pulled no punches when criticizing the board.

Citing an increase in student-involved incidents that included violent and indecent acts in schools, the two took aim at the Worcester County Board of Education for not being responsive to the negative trends. Noting that the two offices have been proactive in recommending moves to make schools safer, they criticized the board for not yet implementing a single one and "sweeping these incidents under a very big rug."

In a report presented by the sheriff, between 2019 and 2022, physical attacks on students increased 67%, fights in schools increased 171% and verbal threats against students rose 32%. There was also a 225% increase of attacks on teachers and staff and a 200% increase on verbal assaults on teachers and staff.

According to the board, in January of 2023, Worcester County's Public Schools Chief Safety & Academic Officer began work to reexamine and strengthen the memorandum of understanding with law enforcement partners. A new memorandum was adopted by the school board just eight months later.

The board also clarified that a call for service is not always in response to crime, and data cited by the sheriff's office fails to make that distinction.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Criticism on school violence doesn't help, Worcester board says