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Student Behavior and School Climate Task Force holds final meeting, recommendations to follow

The Green
/
Delaware Public Media

The Student Behavior and School Climate Task Force holds its final meeting to prepare recommendations for state leaders on how to tackle increasing reports of student behavior incidents.

The list is broken down into several categories, including bolstering data-driven practices, behavioral interventions and supports, parent and community engagement, funding allocation and legislative framework.

While members of the task force want to make it clear some of the recommendations are already implemented within schools, they want to find ways to better enforce or study these policies.

Recommendations include improving statewide behavioral data acquisition and analysis, requesting districts provide targeted behavioral interventions and supports and increase family engagement in discussions around school discipline policies.

Delaware State Education Association President Stephanie Ingram believes legislating co-teaching requirements as well as class sizes should also be a priority in the near future.

“We know that smaller class sizes definitely will alleviate some of the concerns and the issues that we're talking about, but what does it look like to actively pursue making class sizes smaller across the state is something that I think would need to be looked into," she said.

The final list will be delivered to the governor and the General Assembly by Friday, but Task Force Chair Bryan Townsend explains the list is only a starting point and hopes the task force continues in some form heading into 2025.

“Undoubtedly, most people would say that this is, although a helpful list of things we should be thinking about and some items that are immediately actionable – still much more work to do. So, the question is how to try and facilitate that.”

This recommendations include several requests for the Delaware Department of Education to develop standard policy models, including those for a school bus discipline matrix, a statewide cell phone policy, attendance policy and discipline procedures for students with disabilities.

The recommendations also request the Department of Education to increase state oversight and monitoring of Individualized Education Plans – known as IEPs – through regular audits and to strengthen the state's standards for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.

Before residing in Dover, Delaware, Sarah Petrowich moved around the country with her family, spending eight years in Fairbanks, Alaska, 10 years in Carbondale, Illinois and four years in Indianapolis, Indiana. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 2023 with a dual degree in Journalism and Political Science.
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