NYC Charter School Consortium to STOP School Violence

The Renaissance Charter School (TRCS) is the lead Local Education Agency (LEA) for a NYC Charter School Consortium (Consortium) for the STOP School Violence Prevention Program Grant, a high-quality program designed to improve K-12 school security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence and ensure a positive school climate. Our proposed STOP grant includes both program areas: 1) Training school personnel and students; and 2) Threat Assessments and Technology Solutions. Our consortium includes twenty (20) public charter schools serving 10,476 students in grades K through 12 in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. A complete list of LEAs and schools is included in the Memorandum of Understanding. Our STOP program will improve school safety through the development of comprehensive programs that include both purpose areas: 1) training school personnel and educating students to prevent student violence; 2) developing and implementing multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams and operating a technology solution. We will ensure that all implementation strategies, policies, and protocols created under this grant program address critical issues such as student privacy, data security, race, national origin, disability, religion and sex-based discrimination and bias. Our management plan is designed to achieve all the objectives of the proposed program on time and within budget, including clearly defined responsibilities of staff, community partners, and contracted service providers. Programs and activities include training to support identifying and intervening with students who may pose a risk to self or others, which include implementing a trauma-informed framework, composed of specialized training for mental health professionals working in schools. The program will also include suicide prevention and awareness curriculum for students enrolled in participating schools. Consortium schools will receive training and technical assistance to enhance individual threat assessments and conduct school safety audits, which include training in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, emergency exercises/drills, and updated emergency plans. Our STOP program will implement the ReportIT anonymous tip-line that will include reporting threats, crimes, and suspicious activity through a variety of mediums. Our management and implementation plan are based on collaboration with all law enforcement agencies supporting our Consortium schools.