Case Study Analysis 1

Case Study Analysis

Mary Brownrigg

Saginaw Valley State University

Case Study Analysis 2

Leadership Vs. Management Paper

Mary Brownrigg

Saginaw Valley State University

The state board of education states Providing a safe school environment for our

students is the utmost importance for Michigans public schools (State Board, 2000). It

says on the government of Michigan website that Michigan wants all of their schools to

provide a safe environment for their students. However, there are schools out there that

still do not have policies for people who are visiting the schools. Visitors could be

parents, guardians, family, case workers, and the list goes on. It is vital that every

school have a policy and procedure in place for their school with the best interest of the

students in mind.

SunValley School does not have a policy or procedure in place for visitors

coming to visit the school. This school is a Title1 school with all students having

moderate to severe disabilities. Visitors come to the school unannounced, do not sign

in at the office, and go to the classrooms without anyone knowing that they are in the

school building. This is unsafe because there have been situations in the past where

people with guns attack the school, staff, and students. Staff has expressed concerns

at staff meetings that they feel uncomfortable with no security or policy in place at the

school for the staff or students. It has been said that when school shootings happen, it
Case Study Analysis 3

is usually a student who attends the school, or someone that knows a person from the

school that is the shooter (Duplechain & Morris, 2014). This is very scary for this school

because sometimes there are parents who are upset and angry with our school that

they come in and go directly to the classroom. Sometimes, people do not know what

those parents could do. No one knows what could happen if an angry parent comes

into the school. Also, visitors will come to the classrooms and interrupt classroom

instruction and academics. With all of the new curriculum and common core standards,

classroom instruction time is crucial and the teachers need all of the time they can get.

Staff has also expressed concern with some teachers having their own policy while the

others do not follow a policy at all with visitors.

The SunValley Schools safety policy is that parents and visitors are supposed to

sign in with the office to let the classroom know that the student is in the office and the

parent will be bringing them to the classroom. It is vital for visitors to sign into the

school and get a badge because staff is able to talk to and observe the visitors and not

only see who has checked into the building, but who has not checked into the office

(Brunner & Lewis, 2005). But, not all parents and visitors would sign in at the office and

put an orange visitor tag on. Visitors also would be escorted down by another staff but

then left attended in the classroom. This not only disrupts the entire classroom and

instruction, but visitors will ask questions that go against other students FERPA rights.

This is why the social worker should always accompany case workers down to the

classrooms and stay there with them for a specific time. This is the only policy the

school has on visitors. Sometimes, even irate parents skip going to the office and go

right down to the classroom which can cause an alarm to the classroom and to the other
Case Study Analysis 4

students. It is not an appropriate time to discuss issues when the teacher is instructing

the class.

For the new policy, staff will come together in the safety committee, to send out

surveys to all of the staff about the concerns about safety in the school. The safety

committee has staff from all the different departments in it, including an administrator.

After the committee has gotten all of the surveys back, they will collect all of the data

and conclude what areas are the most concern to the staff. The committee will create

the policy and distribute it to the staff to get their feedback on it. They will look over the

feedback and tweak the policy as needed. After, the committee will finalize the policy

and put it in place. They will distribute it to all of the stakeholders of the school. Staff

will support the new policy so it can run smoothly. They will be the eyes and ears of the

school. If they see someone they do not know and do not see an orange pass on them,

they will stop that visitor, ask where they are going, and direct them to go back to the

office.

If there is money in the budget, staff can purchase a rope gate to create a waiting

area by the office for visitors. The staff also needs to design signs to help visitors to get

to the main office and to show that they need to stop and not go anywhere else in the

school. There should also be a policy posted outside the office for all visitors to look at

if needed.

There are several ways for the school to use technology to spread the new

policy. The administration should post the policy on the schools website and on the

parent page on the website. SunnyValley parent group also has a Facebook page
Case Study Analysis 5

which is called the PAC Facebook page which stands for parent action committee. The

policy will also be sent home with every student and mailed to the students home who

were absent from school. Emailing the stakeholders can also be used as a form of

sharing the policy with the stakeholders. The teachers can also send home reminders

to the families in their newsletters.

Establishing understanding of school strategies is necessary to support safe and

secure learning environments. Staff needs to notify the office if they find any doors

unlocked. This is important so no unwelcomed visitors come into the school. This can

also prevent any safety issues from happening. The staff at the school likes to

sometimes prop doors open if it gets too hot or cold in the school. This is a safety issue

because a unwelcomed visitor could come in through the door that is propped open. It

is important that the staff follows all policies and procedures and keeps all doors closed.

Staff also needs to support one another and the new policy. If a staff member is out in

the hallways and sees that a parent is waiting with the child for another staff member to

come get the student, then that staff member should offer to take the student to their

classroom. This will help other classrooms out because sometimes it is hard for a staff

member to get out of the classroom to go and retrieve the student. There will be times

when a parent or visitor will be upset that they cannot go to their childs classroom

without an appointment, so they might go above the administrator to the Central Offices

to dispute their argument. This is when it is crucial for the Central Office to always

support their schools.

There should also be walkie talkies available in all classrooms just in case of an

emergency. This will cut down on time of the office calling for a lock down. These crisis
Case Study Analysis 6

management procedures are crucial during an emergency. The public relations in the

school is that this policy should create meaningful interactions with the parents.

Scheduling an appointment to meet with the teacher will help with creating not only

meaningful interactions and conversations with the parents, but it will help create

positive relationships. If the county workers schedule appointments with the schools

social worker, and the social worker accompanies them for the appointment, then there

will be less disruption in the classroom because the county workers are only allowed

fifteen minutes to visit the classroom. This will also help prevent the county workers

asking about other students in the classroom who are not on their caseload and prevent

FERPA laws from being broken. The community will also get a sense of security

knowing that the schools in their community have policies to help keep the children safe

in the school.

SunValley Schools safety committee, which was created by the administrator,

analyzed all of the surveys they received from the staff and concluded what the

concerns the staff have about the safety and security in the school. The staff expressed

all of their concerns and the committee discussed all of the different ideas that they

should include in the new policy. After the policy was created, the staff was able to look

over the policy and voice any concerns they have about it. Also, after the policy has

been in place, another survey went out and asked staff to state any concerns they have

about the policy and stating what they thought was and was not working.

This policy will help students get more instruction time because visitors will not

be able to interrupt the class and stay for a prolonged period anymore. There are two

or more staff in a classroom at the school, so most of the time there is a staff member
Case Study Analysis 7

that could leave the classroom to go and retrieve the student that is waiting in the office

with their parent. The teacher is not the only staff member that is allowed to go and get

a student from the office. Also, other staff members who are out in the hallway and see

a student waiting for a staff member from their classroom to come and get them, can

ask tell the parent that they will take the student to their classroom. Which helps the

classroom not having to have a staff member leave their classroom and disrupting the

learning of the students.

References

Brunner, J., & Lewis, D. (2005). Visitor Check-In and Screening Procedures. Principal

Leadership: Middle Level Edition, 5(6), 65-66.

DUPLECHAIN, R., & MORRIS, R. (2014). SCHOOL VIOLENCE: REPORTED SCHOOL

SHOOTINGS AND MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER. Education, 135(2), 145-150.

Policies on Safe Schools. (2000, May 18). Retrieved from

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/bdpolicy000518_16471_7.pdf