Ian Folger
Dr. Joe Gothard.
Gothard says the safety specialists will foster a ‘positive presence.’
You might see two mobile “safety and security specialists” zipping between Madison’s schools this fall in two new branded Ford Explorers. Superintendent Joe Gothard teased the new hires at an Aug. 13 roundtable with media, saying the new employees would be “relationship-builders.”
Gothard said he advocated for the new positions as part of a $746,077 increase in safety spending the district asked the Board of Education to approve in a preliminary budget in June.
The safety specialists might respond to a crash, like the one last April between a dump truck and a school bus carrying elementary school students, said Gothard. Five students had minor injuries and no one was seriously hurt, but “we were tested,” he added. He praised the elementary teachers and staff who responded to the scene, noting that elementary schools have fewer staff to “handle a crisis” than middle and high schools.
Gothard cautioned that the new workers are “not us creating our own police force.” The school board voted in 2020 to remove four school resource officers from Madison high schools. The new personnel will help foster a “positive presence,” Gothard said.
“You know, we get calls at bus stops all the time,” he said. “I don’t want to call 911 to respond to a bus stop if a child is in some sort of dysregulation, or if there are children that are at a bus stop constantly calling each other names…. That’s not a police response. But our staff, we know our students and our families, can respond to that, and they can come up with solutions.”
A position description for the “Safety & Security Specialist” shows that 50% of the job will be focused on providing “rapid mobile response to behavioral, medical, and safety incidents across district schools and facilities,” requiring “de-escalation” and “restorative communication.” One-quarter of the job is focused on safety, security, and emergency management. The specialists will “conduct proactive patrols, safety inspections, and event security coverage across district sites;” they will additionally “operate and monitor video surveillance, access control, and radio communication systems” and “provide a visible presence during athletic events, after-school programs, and district activities.” A warning on working conditions: They may be exposed to “bodily fluids or potentially volatile situations.”
Under the same bump in safety spending approved in June, the district will get two more school security assistants — one will float among schools, the other is assigned to Velma Hamilton Middle School — a new safety operations manager, and threat assessment manager.
