Study commission on school safety protocols to meet Monday!
STATE HOUSE – The Special Legislative Study Commission to Evaluate and Provide Recommendations on Mandated Safety Protocols for Rhode Island Schools is scheduled to meet Monday, Feb. 5, at 4 p.m. in the House Lounge on the second floor of the State House to discuss and review the draft commission report. Public testimony will not be accepted at this meeting.
The meeting will be televised live by Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox channel 61, on i3Broadband channel 15 and on Verizon channel 34. It will be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.
The commission is led by Rep. Jennifer Boylan (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence), a longtime firearms safety advocate and sponsor of the legislation (2023-H 6422) creating it. Its purpose is to study school lockdowns and fire drills and the associated mental health impacts on students. The commission also studies protocols and impacts of actual lockdown events, including swatting events like those that recently occurred in school districts across the state. The commission brings together experts and stakeholders from across the state to answer complex questions such as whether and when students should be encouraged to evacuate during lockdown events, whether advanced notice should be provided to students and/or parents prior to a lockdown drill and whether the frequency of drills should be changed.
In addition to Chairwoman Boylan, the commission includes Rep. Joseph McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston), Rep. Jennifer A. Stewart (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket), Andy Andrade of the Rhode Island Department of Education, Lawrence Filippelli of the Rhode Island School Superintendents Association, Francis J. Flynn of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers; Sherrie Monaco of the Rhode Island Association of School Psychologists; Chief Scott Kettelle of the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs, Katelyn Medeiros of the Office of the Rhode Island Child Advocate, high school student Millie Piper, special needs educator Amanda Soave-Curi, Lt. Nicholas Rivello of the Rhode Island State Police, Chief Kevin M. Lynch of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association, Michael Hassell of the Rhode Island Association of School Principals, Amy Mullen of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, high school teacher Glenn Valentine, Edward Troiano of the Office of the Attorney General, high school student Dexter Vincent and Jennifer Ahlijanian of the Rhode Island Association of Social Workers.