By Tim Fleischer

Editor-in-Chief

Salado school trustees faced a crowd of more than a hundred parents May 15, many of whom were concerned with an incident the week before involving a threat made by a Middle School student and the district’s response, or apparent lack of response, in informing parents of the incident.

Salado ISD Superintendent sent a letter May 13 to SISD parents and employees to address “A lot of misinformation has been circulating about a student at Salado Middle School the past few days.”

Prior to that letter, the school was silent on the incident. Meanwhile, discussions blossomed on local social  media groups and pages and a group of parents formed a “Parents for Safer Salado Schools” coalition that advocated parents taking their children out of Salado schools on May 15 as a “statement of advocacy for safe schools and transparency.”

In the May 13 letter, Dr. Novotny stated that he is “limited in the details that I am able to share because of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA)…that protects the privacy of students and parents.”

He further stated that the district would not share details about the incident, even without using the students name because “many students and parents already know the identity of the student. Thus, any information shared regarding this situation would be a violation of this student’s privacy.”

“The safety of our students and employees is even more important than the privacy of a student or parent,” Dr. Novotny stated. “If there is an “articulable and significant threat” we can disclose information under the “health or safety emergency exception” to FERPA. 

The middle school threat assessment team met and “determined that there was not a threat to school security or the safety of our students and employees.”

Dr. Novotny said that the district “promptly and thoroughly investigate(s) all threats or potential threats to school security. For those of you that would prefer to report information anonymously, we have a Safe Schools reporting system in which you can report information via text, web, e-mail, or phone. This is available at the “Report Incident or Bullying” link under the “Quick Links” on the right side of our district website (www.saladoisd.org) and this is the direct link: https://saladoisd-tx.safeschoolsalert.com/”

He further stated that, “Students that violate the Student Code of Conduct may be assigned consequences such as In School Suspension (ISS), Out of School Suspension (OSS), Discipline Alternative Educational Placement (DAEP), or expulsion and placement in the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Placement (JJAEP).”

According to the letter sent to SISD parents and staff, the district has six school counselors, a mental health counselor, a licensed police officer for each of the campuses and a School Marshall program “which we have school district employees become licensed as School Marshals after completing training through the Texas Commission On Law Enforcement (TCOLE). These School Marshals work and train with our police officers to provide an additional layer of safety and security for all of our students and employees.”

He asked parents and staff to “promptly report anything that could be a safety concern” by contacting a school administrator or Salado ISD Police Chief Gary McHone at gary.mchone@saladoisd.org or 254-947-6950.

He further asked that parents and staff “not spread inaccurate and unfounded information about a student or situation through social media or other means. Social media is a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends and family, however, it is often not a good way to obtain accurate information from people that don’t have direct knowledge of a situation. If you see or hear information on social media or through word of mouth and you don’t know if it is true, please contact a school administrator instead of sharing information that is potentially inaccurate.”

“While FERPA often limits what information we are able to share, we will promptly investigate allegations and dispel misinformation,” he stated. “Students make mistakes and they are held accountable for those mistakes through our Student Code of Conduct. However, students do not deserve to be ostracized by our school and community due to false information spread through social media or other means. As a result of misinformation on posted on social media and through word of mouth the last few days, we have a student who has been publicly shamed and falsely accused.”

Although the topic was not listed on the school board agenda for the May 15 meeting, two people addressed school safety during the public comment period: Jennifer Winkler and Ray McCullough.

Winkler is assistant principal at Thomas Arnold Elementary, a position she is leaving at the end of the school year.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I know my time is short so tonight I would like to share my thoughts on how our school, Thomas Arnold Elementary needs all of you and how I think Salado ISD will come out on top in the midst of the increasing growth and therefore, the new challenges that are in conjunction with this growth. I believe positive change can happen here because of everyone in this room… if we work together.

“As you know, I am stepping aside in just a few days, but my love, devotion, and belief in this town, this school, and these teachers will not change,” she said.

“This year we have experienced the hardest behaviors we’ve ever seen,” she said. “On a weekly basis teachers have to evacuate classes for an aggressive student who cycles through behavior choices.”

Substitutes, she said, “have seen staff jumped on from behind and pulled down by their hair, kicked in the head, spit in their faces, slapped, pinched until skin was removed and bleeding, bit more times than we could ever tally, and been witness to every type of bodily fluid you could think of.”

“The teamwork between our staff is exceptional,” she said. :When the hallway is being blocked by staff protecting a child in an aggressive state, teachers seamlessly move their classes around the action to reroute and place themselves in between the chance of physical harm on anyone of their own students.”

“How can we creatively, fairly, and equitably create a learning environment desired by all. This will take a true community effort (not a them vs. us mentality – this has to stop and we must work together),” she said. “This collaboration could create the beacon for other districts to follow. How can we come together as proponents of public education to make positive change?”

While the district has “incredible counselors, and a mental health counselors on campus…. these professionals are so booked that our most traumatized students don’t have access to them during moments of escalation, so paraprofessionals rush in with guidance in social skills, and deescalation techniques, every single day. We have the best. But the reality is, these are once a week band aids, and not the solution to the gravity of the aggression or the aggressor in many instances.”

“I’d like to propose that we be proactive rather than reactive, consider creating a committee that evaluates the issues, plans and then helps to improve practices across the district not just our campus,” she said. “Why survive year after year when we could thrive?”

With more than 1,000 students ranging in age from three to 11, Thomas Arnold Elementary School is “in fact needy and in need of your attention and efforts as our world is presenting to us new challenges at younger ages than ever before.”

“I encourage you, this coming year, to place this question at the top of our district’s goals: How can we retain the best teachers to continue to produce foundational excellence?

These adults come to work every day for the kids alone… Their successes lie within a moment a student learns the correct pencil grip and can write for the first time. When countless hours of small group work develops a reader for the first time. When the dream of future fine arts or athletic awards are built from the encouragement of a specials teacher taking to time to teach hand over hand… There are no public accolades for this.”

“There are laws that can make planning difficult,” she said, “but we have the leadership, the community, the teaching passion, and the love to be the “exception to the typical public school rule” …  to lead the way with plans and protection for both students and staff …  to think outside of the box and deliver a public school that meets aggression with effective procedures, and road maps to help us all be socially, emotionally, and academically successful.”

“But this will take great effort, research, and ingenuity,” she concluded. “This has to begin from this leadership and school board and I believe with all my heart, this is the place to make this happen.”

A parent of a Salado student addressed the board as well, saying that Dr. Novotny’s letter “caused more of a concern than not.  My student knows one of students involved.”

He said that “All we ended up getting was that something was going on but nothing is going on.”

“Why is it that our students told us something that was much different than what was in that letter,” he asked.

He said his own child is being harassed at school, but is being told “at this point to just get along with this student.”

He said that his child should “not be told to just stay in this position. Thomas Arnold and the Middle School continue to be an issue. It is escalating even to this day.”

In the business portion of the agenda May 14, trustees canvassed the election results and gave oaths of office to Savannah Hennig, Eric Malmin and David Matthews for three-year terms on the board.

The board also

• Hired a new assistant band director for the middle school and an assistant principal at Thomas Arnold Elementary 

Amended the District Improvement Plan regarding passage on professional development

• Discussed allowing the Salado Historical Society to place the original Salado Church of Christ historic building on the grounds of the Salado Civic Center near its other buildings.

• Renewed the Communities in Schools contract for the 20th year.

• Approved a  depository contract.

• Purchased kitchen equipment and approved expenditures for installing eight heating and air conditioning units.

• Made changes to the school Marshall Program.

• Reorganized the board with Bobbie Ann Adair White as President, Amy McLane as Vice President and Savannah Hennig as Secretary.