Administrators from New Albany, Union County, and Pontotoc City School Districts gathered on January 5 for professional development regarding school safety and discipline.  Robert Laird, Director of School Safety for the Mississippi Department of Education, presented the three-hour program.  Laird is FBI trained and has been with the Office of School Safety since its inception in 1999.

Laird discussed the two approaches necessary to create a safe and orderly school.  He told the administrators that while both the operational and programmatic approaches are both important, the main focus should be the operational approach.  This approach is necessary for day-to-day operations of the school and implements routine policies and procedures to yield a safe school.

The programmatic approach is a long-term approach that uses programming such as character education to meet goals related to safe and orderly schools.  Laird encouraged administrators to carefully evaluate these types of programs and replace or modify them if they proved to be ineffective.  “ROTC is the most statistically effective character education program in the United States,” Laird said.

Laird briefly discussed all of the policies and procedures that school districts should have in place.  He added that most school districts have appropriate policies and procedures.   School districts should strive to enforce them effectively and consistently.

He discussed several laws that are important to the educational community.  Laird stressed the importance of SEC 37-9-69 of the Mississippi Code which states that students be held to strict compliance to policies and procedures in schools.

Search and restraint guidelines and techniques were demonstrated to the group of administrators.  Laird said, “Schools have more authority to control student behavior than anyone.  They have greater authority to conduct searches than the police.”  Restraint should be used in emergency situations when all means of student compliance have been exhausted.  Restraint has to be administered when students are a danger to themselves, others, school property, or if they refuse to move from one location to another.

Laird’s presentation focused on other aspects of school policies and procedures including corporal punishment, custodial issues, cooperating with local authorities, and determining the extent of school authority.  “Knowing the law is the key to doing the right thing and providing safe and orderly schools,” said Dr. Charles Garrett, Superintendent of New Albany Schools.

Laird gave much credit to this area of the state for the work they are doing in school systems.  “You have some outstanding school districts in Northeast Mississippi,” he said.

Below:  Robert Laird, Director of School Safety, demonstrates proper search techniques to area administrators.  Shane Sanderson, New Albany High School Athletic Director, volunteered for the demonstration.

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