Revere School Committee Mulls Safety

By Michael Coughlin Jr.

In a day and age where the horrors of school shootings are prevalent in the minds of students and parents across the country, the Revere School Committee discussed safety in the district during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Apr. 25.

A letter from a concerned parent during the public speaking portion of the meeting spurred this conversation surrounding safety.

The parent who wrote the letter has a son at the Lincoln School and urged the school committee for more communication between the schools and parents to better understand the safety protocols to protect students.

“In the short time that my child has attended RPS (Revere Public Schools), I am not aware of any active shooter drills, evacuation protocols, or safety plans that have been put in place,” said Susan Gravellese – reading from the parent’s letter.

“These things may be occurring, but I do feel that parents need to be part of the conversation.”

The parent’s letter also called for an informational night to be scheduled so parents could be clued in on safety protocols.

“A letter home or a message are simply not enough in this day and age – our children’s lives depend on it,” read Gravellese.

Not only did this parent’s letter start a conversation about safety at RPS schools in general, but also about balancing preparing students in the event of an emergency while also keeping in mind the mental health of those students.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dianne Kelly explained that the district has recently focused on things like fire and small safety drills to not increase the anxiousness of already worried students and adults.

However, Kelly did assure the parent that emergency plans are in place at each RPS school and alluded to the fact that different drills could be reincorporated this spring or next year.

“We’ve been trying to weigh the needs of people who want us to be drilling everything all the time and the people who would find that overwhelming and try to find the middle of the road – that’s been our main priority,” said Kelly.

She described two recent instances that indicate the anxiety of young kids in today’s climate – underscoring the need for balance. One student thought someone in the school had a gun, and another student in a different school thought they had seen a bullet in one of the walls – both instances were thankfully untrue.

“This is just where our kids are psychologically right now, and we are struggling but really trying to help them through all of that and balancing making sure everybody feels safe emotionally as well as physically,” said Kelly.

Another committee member, Aisha Milbury-Ellis, indicated just how much anxiety some students have regarding their safety in an interaction with her daughter after a training session at her school.

“My daughter came home and had expressed – her words – having some anxiety around it, and that took me totally aback,” said Milbury-Ellis.

As the conversation continued, the committee spoke about ways to better inform the district’s parents about the safety protocols. One of these ways is linking a recording of a safety meeting held last August that talks about all the protocols on the district website.

The recording can be found at https://www.reverek12.org/apps/news/article/1756462. Milbury-Ellis agreed with the parent who wrote the letter and thought it would be a good idea to hold another meeting like the one in August.

However, she also thought it would be prudent not to hold the meeting in the summer when people could potentially be on vacation to give all those interested an opportunity to attend.

“I think the more information that we put out there will dispel rumors and hearsay, and it will just provide for a much more transparent process as to what’s actually going on in the schools,” said Milbury-Ellis.

Moreover, Kelly mentioned that the district plans to distribute a curriculum to students from kindergarten to 12th grade, focusing on anxiety and whom students can talk to.

It should also be noted that all staff are trained for all sorts of emergencies and will continue to be trained.

Overall, parents should stay tuned for a potential meeting concerning safety and be aware that plans are in place at every school in the district to protect their children.