SAFETY
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1 in 20.
According to the 2021 Iowa Youth Survey, 1 in 20 young people across the state of Iowa will have attempted suicide in the past year.
As a member of the Ankeny School Board, I will advocate for hiring more mental health professionals to be placed at the different schools in the district.
We also need to offer training to teachers and faculty as well as ensure they have all the resources necessary to handle an emergency, as they are frequently the ones on the front lines of this crisis.
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Bullying has become an increasingly serious problem in Ankeny Schools.
Every kid should feel safe and supported at school.
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There have also been multiple incidents at Ankeny Schools where students have brought firearms on to school grounds.
Gun violence is a public health emergency in this country, and frankly we need much more action at the state and federal level if we want to curb this epidemic.
That being said, here are some things we can do at the school board level:
-Improve transparency, responsiveness, and communication in crisis situations.
-Invest in crisis intervention teams to defuse potentially violent situations before things escalate.
-Invest in proactive tools and policies like mediation and restorative justice.
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The school to prison pipeline has been both costly and damaging to our communities, especially communities of color.
Implementing vigorous restorative justice practices will keep Ankeny Schools safer, help students heal, and keep kids out of our criminal legal system.