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Dale Wisely reviews reports, All in Mountain Brook

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Photos by Lexi Coon.

Photos by Lexi Coon.

During the Board of Education meeting on Nov. 13, director of student services Dale Wisely presented the board with three of the four reports to the board.

The first reviewed the annual SIR, or student incident reports. These are the reports the schools must mark down during which students commit “serious infractions” that may result in disciplinary actions such as out of school suspension, expulsion, recommendation to an alternative school or notifying law enforcement. 

Of the incident reports, Wisely said there was one case of assault, three cases of defiance, three cases of substance abuse, one case of criminal mischief, one case of disorderly conduct and one case of inciting disturbance at Mountain Brook High School. At the junior high, he said there was one case of disorderly conduct, five incidents of fighting and two other incidents. 

On a related topic, Wisely discussed the seclusion and restraint report for Mountain Brook City Schools. 

“No district is allowed in Alabama to seclude a student,” he said, adding that if this was done to a student it would have to be reported. Using restraints, chemical agents or other medications on students is also unlawful. 

“What we are allowed to do is hold them,” he said.

If faculty have tried other methods of intervention during an incident to no avail and the student is a danger to him or herself or others, faculty are able to hold a student until the moment passes. “Staff are trained in awareness of the rules of seclusion and restraint,” he said. 

In the last school year, there were 24 reported cases of restraint with only five students being involved throughout the year. “Those numbers are acceptable,” Wisely said. The 2015-2016 school year listed 22 incidents of restrain, which is down from the 2014-2015 report of 47 incidents.

Wisely also added that all of the cases that required restraint were a part of the special education department and were something that everyone, including family, knew about. His report said the use of restraint "appears to be a necessary intervention for a small number of students."

Finally, Wisely reported success from the annual All in Mountain Brook conference that was held earlier this year. Approximately 150 parents were in attendance and were able to choose three 15-minute sessions from a selection of 15 topics. 

Some of the topics included: dinner table conversation, parenting and social media, e-cigarettes, vaping and tobacco, adolescent substance abuse, body image and the first year of college.

Mountain Brook High School principal Amanda Hood said the same day, the high school held a similar conference for its students. This is the third year the school has held this event during school hours and reviewed topics that were decided upon by a small group of students, PTO members and administration. Students were able to pick three 20-minute sessions to attend. 

This year, she said students showed a greater sense of intentionality when choosing a topic and they attended themes that were important to them. Topics for students included addiction, depression and suicide, relief from stress and anxiety, body image, social media and emergency medical training. “We think after year three, this is a great way to help get bits of pieces [of information] to our students,” she said. 

Board members agreed and said they have also heard positive feedback regarding the All in Mountain Brook parent conference.

The board also took time to recognize the MBHS volleyball team, which made it to the final four of 7A championship on Nov 1. The Spartans fell to McGill-Toolen, who later went on to win the tournament. 

Also during the meeting, board members:

The following are upcoming events:

The next board meeting will be on Dec. 11 at 3:30 p.m. at Crestline Elementary.

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