Research on School and Student Safety and Discipline in Providence Public Schools
In partnership with the Providence Alliance for Student Safety (PASS), which is comprised of six youth-serving organizations (the Providence Student Union, ARISE, PrYSM, RI Urban Debate League, Youth In Action, and Young Voices), CYCLE conducted research to better understand issues of school and student safety and discipline in the Providence Public School District (PPSD), as well as the kinds of supports that students need. As part of this project, we are interviewed different people including students, school and district staff, school board and city council members, community partners, and others engaged in issues of school safety and discipline in Providence about their experiences and opinions on things like the role and impact of school resource officers, the kinds of student supports that already exist or are needed in Providence schools, and their visions for safe and supportive schools. In addition to conducting interviews, we analyzed quantitative data including statistics on school safety and discipline and results of school climate surveys. CYCLE is collaborated with PASS organization staff and youth leaders on design, data collection, and analysis. On December 17, 2020, we published our report, “School Discipline and Student Safety in the Providence Public School District,” in support of PASS demands to:
Remove all School Resource Officers from Providence schools and use funding currently allocated for SROs within the Providence Police Department to support the hiring of new health and safety staff;
Hire health and safety staff focused on conflict resolution; and
Increase the number of support staff in schools.