Note: This story couples with the print edition story featuring principal Benjamin Graeber’s opinion and information dealing with school safety. 

Shateisha Bruce, student support coordinator at North, started this new role in January and has spent the last couple of months taking in the state of North High School to try to implement student supports to create a better environment at North.

Q: Do you think North staff is doing a good job in the safety of the students?

A: I think North is putting forth their best effort to ensure the safety of the students, so I’ve called that a good job.

Q: We sent out a survey to North students and most of the student that took the survey think that fighting is the reason why most students don’t feel safe at school. What are your thoughts on that?

A: I would agree that fighting is a valid reason for student to feel unsafe. I think that continually working at reducing conflict among students is one of the focus the administration and support staff are working at reducing and teaching student how to maintain healthy relationships. It is one of the focal points as well and so if we can get student to have tools and skills they need to maintain healthy relationship or work through conflict and a healthy appropriate why we can reduce the fights ideally eliminate fight and student feel more safe here.

Q: Threat, potential fights, bathroom, bullies, and drama are some other reasons why students don’t feel safe. What can you do as a North staff to help student so that they feel safer in school?

A: Focus on student valuing stand-up, appropriate behaviors and attitude. I think if the student are acting out, bullying and threatening — you know, misbehaving as a whole — if we can get them to value stand-up character instead of thinking they can win over students misbehaving because maybe it’s been coined as a cool thing to do, we can turn around the atmosphere in that aspect where students are acting out and it’s having a negative effect on students that are just trying to come to school,  engage in healthy relationships and get a quality education.

Q: Students who took the survey say that North staff can help students feel safer at school if they were stricter, being on the lookout for everyone, and changing the bad environment between the students. Taking in their opinion, will there be changes? If yes, how?

A: Administrative staff and support staff alongside input from teachers it’s currently being factored in as we are working on it, making changes that are more effective for a healthy, functioning and operating school. That feedback is being taken into consideration alongside what data is proving or suggesting as far as changes that could be afforded to be made and so we are working wholeheartedly at trying to implement changes to create a safer environment.