GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Two leaders within the Green Bay community joined Local 5 in-studio for our Community Update: Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis and Green Bay Area Public School District Superintendent Vicki Bayer.
Both Davis and Bayer have been busy the last couple of weeks after an incident at Preble High School became a topic of discussion on school safety, which led authorities and school officials to put new security policies in place.
The first topic discussed was the consequences that were also included to address the issue.
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“Typically in the past, if a student was engaged in an unsafe behavior, it could lead to suspension,” began Bayer. “What we’ve done is enhanced that, so rather than just coming back to school after the suspension, you now have to earn the privilege of being able to integrate back into normal routine.”
Bayer then touched on the collaborative efforts between the school district and the Green Bay Police Department, but added that the previously mentioned changes were internal.
When asked what message they have for parents and what they should talk to their kids about relating to the new security measures, both Davis and Bayer touched on the real-world consequences behind their actions.
“I think it’s important for parents and kids to realize that there are real-world consequences for serious, criminal, or violent activity in schools or anywhere else,” stated Chief Davis. “One of the most challenging things as a parent is getting kids to understand the nature of long-term consequences. But if you just have those conversations, I think you’ll find that they’re a lot more receptive to it than you might think.”
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“The message coming from the parents is clearly heard more so than it is from me,” Bayer added. “We need parents’ help in making sure the students understand [the seriousness of this].”
The next topic was accountability, and Chief Davis talked about the collaborative goals between the District and Department.
“Our goal is to avoid locking people up as much as we can, we will do anything that we can within our resources, the law, and our power to get at-risk kids off of that path, but at the end of the day, if despite our best efforts, someone chooses to engage in violent activity or bring a weapon to a school, we will hold them accountable, and that includes parents,” Chief Davis said.
The two then concluded by talking about the ways students can report something anonymously, through the likes of CrimeStoppers or Speak Up, Speak Out.
