As one of the assistant principals in charge of student discipline at your high school, you are not surprised at the school administrative team meeting to hear the principal address concerns about student conduct. As in most high schools, staying on top of an energetic bunch of teenagers is always a challenge, but recent events have put student conduct high on the radar screen. The principal raised five particular cases she is concerned about.

First, in the last few weeks several boys have reported instances of bullying in locker rooms and hallways. Second, several girls have indicated they are seriously considering filing sexual harassment charges against other pupils for inappropriate text messages and for privacy invasion using cell phone cameras. Third, there have been fights and vandalism at school-sponsored night activities, and the local media seems to be following these events with heightened interest. Fourth, there have been hazing rumors, with allegations that a non-school sponsored club involving all-female membership is forcing pledges to attend school wearing absurd clothing that is drawing unwanted and unwarranted comments from other students. And fifth, with a look of weariness, the principal closed with another rumor that birthday beatdowns have been occurring in allegedly unsupervised football locker rooms. The principal ended her comments with the observation that these events have attracted the attention of both the superintendent and the school board, who are worried that the types and numbers of incidents have escalated from typical daily discipline issues to a serious matter with potential legal liability for the district, which not only would be bad publicity but also could be costly.

The principal indicated that the school board will soon ask all high schools in the district to undertake a self-assessment on management of student discipline and the security and safety of students and staff during the school day and at cocurricular events. Indeed, the superintendent has already instructed principals to initiate assessments that are to result in individualized building-based risk management plans.

Because your primary job assignment deals with discipline, you fully expected to play a big part in these events. True to form, the principal asked you to head a task force to develop a building-level comprehensive risk management plan. While the principal left it to you to determine committee structure and scope of the management plan, she made it clear that the end product should be guided by best practices and should carefully assess current conditions, assess current and prospective needs, be sensitive to community perception, and offer actionable recommendations for site-level improvements. You know you have a big task ahead and will need to do significant research and enlist a dedicated, creative committee.

1. What questions need answers before you engage other persons in this process? 2. Where will you turn for information on best practices? 3. What are the elements of risk assessment and risk management that should be applied to this situation? 4. Who will you ask to serve on the site committee? Why?