ICCSD Board Changes Safety Protocol Following West High Threat

Fortunately, the Iowa City Community School District’s TV channel 21 (if you have Mediacom) started working shortly before the board meeting Tuesday, October 13, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. I was relieved, because I wanted to watch the board meeting until 7:30 p.m., when the Democratic candidates’ debate in Las Vegas began on CNN, and tape the rest of the board meeting. Televised, the meeting was dark and out of focus, but the audio was good.

New board director Latasha DeLoach did not attend her second meeting. She called in sick.

During community comment, several parents expressed concern about a threat at West High and safety procedures that left unclear whether there was an actual threat to West High students and staff or not. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the alleged threat came from a photo showing a gun on Snapchat, an app that allows users to send photos that disappear within a few seconds. Rumors circulated based on secondhand reports of a firsthand sighting over the weekend. School officials didn’t officially address the threat with parents until Sunday night and made an announcement about the incident during school Monday.

Chris Lynch, board president, introduced a motion that Iowa City Community School District staff must notify the Iowa City Police Department immediately if a threat is learned about, whether the threat is substantiated or unsubstantiated.

Board director Chris Liebig asked Supt. Steve Murley what the policy is now if a student reports a threat. Murley said that staff determine whether the threat is credible and protect the student’s confidentiality. Murley wants something similar to the University of Iowa’s Hawk Alert to go out to parents because parents often have kids going to different schools.

Board directors Chris Lynch and Phil Hemingway agreed that the police should be the first involved, not school staff, in deciding whether or not a threat is credible. Police are trained and may know something about the suspect or the suspect’s family that staff do not know.

Supt. Murley insisted that what constitutes a threat be defined. He suggested that the board check with the Hawk Alert people to find out what they consider a threat to be.

Board director Lori Roetlin said there are a lot of fights at West High. She asked whether those fights would be considered a threat.

Board director Tom Yates insisted that staff members need to have some level of protection if they are responsible for reporting threats directly to the police.

Supt. Murley sounded like he wants staff to go through administration before reporting a threat, but that takes time, especially if an administrator is absent, in an off-site meeting, or whatever.

Board president Chris Lynch waved such concerns aside and said he wanted reporting to be as immediate as possible. Yates’ concern for staff protection was left unaddressed for now.

That’s not fair, in my opinion. If ICCSD administration want staff to seek administrative input before calling police, that adds a layer of bureaucracy and time that takes away from the immediate reporting of a threat.

Kudos to Supt. Murley for reminding everyone that school staff are mandatory reporters if a child is being abused. He opined that the Department of Human Services (DHS) determines what happens to a child outside school and the school district determines what happens to a child inside school.

Of course, and I know this from my social work background (M.S.W., L.I.S.W., inactive), mandatory reporters need not be certain that abuse is occurring to make a good faith report. It is up to DHS child protection workers to determine whether the report is founded (determined by the evidence to be true), unfounded (not true, though DHS can make mistakes), or undetermined (evidence uncertain). As long as a mandatory reporter makes a good faith report, the outcome can’t come back and bite the reporter in terms of legal liability. Often child protection workers interview children at school away from parents so that parents can’t interfere with the child’s report.

The board passed Lynch’s motion unanimously to have staff immediately report threats to the police whether threats are confirmed or unconfirmed.