Community Conversation Follow-Up

Dear Families,

I want to thank all of you who showed up at our community conversation last night. I feel the anger, frustration, and heartbreak that you all shared, and I am committed to taking the necessary steps to address the shortcomings in the system that these allegations and our response have brought to light. I am grateful for the opportunity to listen to your feedback. Moving forward, I will focus my energy and direct our team of dedicated public servants here in ACPS to implement solutions.

You asked for clear action steps to hold us accountable. After reviewing the recording of the meeting and discussing with staff, we identified these specific actions:

• We will provide timely communication with as much transparency as possible. I have directed Dr. Jason Grant, chief communications officer, to manage the process of receiving and responding to questions as quickly and thoroughly as possible. There may be records we cannot share or information we do not have. When this is the case, we will be certain to provide a clear explanation.
• We will provide improved access to ACPS systems, processes, and services so families receive the support they need. Navigating how to locate and receive support can be daunting for families. The various departments, non-profit organizations, and services that exist to serve families are not always intuitive. I have directed Dr. Daphne Keiser, assistant superintendent for school community engagement, to set up a Family Support Center where families can speak directly to an ACPS employee to provide resources and offer support in accessing the services they need.
• We will provide direct division-level oversight of our mental health services. We need stronger protocols that clearly define the specific duties and reporting requirements of our mental health support specialists and social-emotional learning (SEL) coaches. I have directed Dr. Chandra Hayes, assistant superintendent for instruction, to engage the Department of Student Services team to ensure school-level compliance with division-established protocols for notifying parents when students receive mental health support and for following established guidelines when meeting with students.
• We will create protocols for one-on-one meetings with children. There are times when students must meet with a teacher or staff member one-on-one. However, this should be the exception rather than the norm for most positions. We must establish parameters for one-on-one meetings, and I will take the lead to ensure we have clear, documented protocols in place going forward.
• We will review our personnel policies to make certain our policies guiding staff-student interactions prioritize student safety. These allegations are horrific and demand our attention to identifying problems in the system. However, we must also be proactive in identifying shortcomings to reduce the likelihood of other incidents. So, I have directed Dan Redding, chief human resources officer, to conduct an audit of existing personnel policies, regulations, and protocols to make certain we have strong measures in place to protect the safety of all students.
• We will notify all families for whom we have a record of their child meeting with Mr. Swiney. Last night, Camille Stewart, acting chief of police, gave us permission to contact families directly, stating she did not believe it would harm their investigation. To be clear, Mr. McCauley, Hollymead principal, wanted to gather a list of all students who may have been in contact with Mr. Swiney and notify families as soon as police brought charges against Mr. Swiney. Now that the police have given us the authority to do that, Mr. McCaulley has taken on this responsibility. He has made significant progress on this already today. He will continue to contact additional families if any other students not previously recorded as having met with Mr. Swiney are brought to his attention.

While this is not an exhaustive list of the actions we need to and will take, it is the starting point. We will notify the public as we make progress on these commitments, and we welcome your feedback along the way. We will be meeting with the School Board this evening, and if any additional information comes from that meeting, we will include it in our action and communication items.

Once again, thank you for the open and honest discussion. I am committed to making improvements and to providing a safe learning environment for all of our students.

Sincerely,

Dr. Matthew Haas
Superintendent