More than two feet of snow falling in Bethlehem on and around Feb. 1 meant that BASD postponed its facilities and curriculum committee meetings, holding them in conjunction with the Feb. 8 combined committee meeting.

The board reviewed the School Resource Officer (SRO) program, heard a report on usage of the “Safe2SaySomething” mental health tip line, and discussed the formation of a task force to address the pending renovation or replacement of three aging elementary schools. Additionally, the board heard a report on the Communities in Schools program from Tim Mulligan, the first reading of a revised charter school application and renewal policy, the second reading of the district’s bullying policy (updated in accordance with recent changes to Title IX at the federal level), and an update on dual enrollment from Asst. Supt. Dr. Jack Silva.

SRO review

In the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by members of law enforcement in the spring of 2020, some civil rights advocates called for a review of the use of police officers in schools, citing concerns about a “school-to-prison” pipeline. Responding to questions June 8 from new BASD board member Winston Alozie, Supt. Dr. Joseph Roy said that the directive given to building administrators is that they should not involve SROs for situations that would not prompt them to call local police if an SRO were not in the building.

Roy and district safety coordinator Todd Repsher committed to performing a review of the SRO program in the district, and asked William Penn ES Principal Joseph Anthes and Liberty HS Assistent Principal Wayne Whitaker to chair an effort to build a National Gold Standard SRO program. Anthes and Whitaker shared an interim report with the board. Whitaker noted that the SRO program was instituted in Bethlehem to respond to national incidents of violence in schools, including the 1999 Columbine HS killings in Colorado, and noted that the recently created working committee and advisory group will work together to determine what SRO procedures and practices support the goal of creating a safer school environment without unduly raising the risk that students will inappropriately have encounters with law enforcement. Anthes noted that the BASD group is working with a research team from Lehigh University to facilitate stakeholder interviews.

Student mental health

Worldwide, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and various governments’ mitigation approaches have taken a toll on human mental health. For example, researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health published a report in JAMA Network Open showing that symptoms of depression in the U.S. in the first month of stay-at-home orders (March 13 through April 13, 2020) were three times more prevalent than in the same period in 2019, with individuals with lower economic and social resources hit the hardest.

At an earlier board meeting, board member Dr. Karen Beck Pooley had asked whether Bethlehem students are adequately able to access school-based mental health support services. Two challenges are that roughly 15 percent of BASD students are enrolled only in virtual education, and even the students in the hybrid model are only together in school buildings two days per week. Mental health experts such as Dr. Ezra Golberstein, writing in JAMA Pediatrics, have raised the alarm that roughly 13.2 percent of students nationwide receive mental health services through their school districts, and 35 percent of these children receive only school-based services. “These students may lack the family resources and existing relationships with clinicians to quickly gain access to alternative community-based services,” Dr. Golberstein writes.

Concerned that students in crisis may not have their needs recognized by peers or teachers prompted the board to compare data from its anonymous student mental health tip line, “Safe2SaySomething,” from the pre-pandemic timeframe of September 2019 through the end of January 2020, with the same period one year later. The data indicate that reports are down, from 61 tips during the 22-week period before the coronavirus to 44 tips during the same 22-week period of the current school year. This decrease is actually greater than that number, because some of the 44 tips came through the “Handle with Care” program that allows members of law enforcement to ask the district to look out for the emotional needs of students who have recently experienced a challenging family situation. The sharpest plunge is in tips submitted via the mobile application, which totaled 29 before the coronavirus and only 7 in the current period. It is unclear to what extent the difference represents an unmet need. Beck Pooley recommended that the district remind students of the availability of the tip line, and Chief Pupil Services Officer Claire Hogan said principals reminded students at the beginning of the year, and that they will remind students again now.

Capital

improvements

Acknowledging that the issue of repairing, renovating or replacing three elementary schools – Fountain Hill ES, Thomas Jefferson ES, and William Penn ES – will require substantial planning from both logistical and budgetary perspectives, the board discussed the creation of a task force for that purpose. Chief Facilities Officer Mark Stein, Supt. Dr. Joseph Roy, and D’Huy Engineering principal M. Arif Fazil will work together with other task force members (to be selected by Dr. Roy) to collect relevant building-related information and enrollment data to resolve conflicts and map solutions.

Board member Emily Schenkel asked whether the open-concept design of the three elementary schools would likely be changed by the renovation or replacement projects, as well as whether the pickup and dropoff issues she has observed at Thomas Jefferson ES could be alleviated by whatever approach the district selects. Stein responded that the task force would seek stakeholder feedback on issues including these. Dr. Roy added that the reason BASD is grouping these three buildings together is to “put everything on the table to make sure we’re thinking creatively,” including student catchment areas and map locations of the buildings.

At the Feb. 22 meeting, the board will vote on including participation in a Northampton County-wide bulk salt purchasing program and a renewal of the district’s social media management contract with vendor Lehigh Valley with Love at a new rate of $3,000 per month.