JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools is taking steps forward to continue its efforts in protecting students and creating a safe environment with employees.
The school district announced the “Know the Line” initiative as a safe space for students and parents to report employee misconduct.
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DCPS Superintendent Dr. Chris Bernier rolled out the initiative to “ensure students and families know to recognize and report any behavior that might cross those healthy boundaries that should exist between students and employees.”
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DCPS explained healthy boundaries as follows:
- Communication – There should be no interactions between students and employees via phone calls, text, or social media. The only appropriate communication outside of school between employees and students should be with the following district-approved and monitored platforms: Teams, Rooms (on the district’s new app), or via emails from duvalschools.org accounts. Even with these platforms, one-on-one communication is discouraged.
- Physical Contact – Both employees and students are discouraged from any physical contact beyond a handshake, a high-five, or fist bump.
- Meetings – We encourage employees to plan ahead so they’re not alone with students. There are certain cases where this may be unavoidable. For example, when school counseling, mental health, or physical health services are being provided. In these cases, we are encouraging employees to balance the need for student privacy while still making sure they are in another individual’s line of sight.
READ: ‘There are some challenges’: New DCPS superintendent answers questions as school year gets underway
“You cannot separate student safety from student success,” Bernier said in a video addressing the initiative’s launch. “‘Know the Line’ is an initiative that focuses on reinforcing safe and healthy boundaries, interactions and communication between staff and students.”
This new system allows the district to quickly intervene in potentially hazardous situations.
The school district also released a new blueprint in June for student safety, following multiple allegations of abuse at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.
A vote was put on hold, and the board will get a look at an updated version next month.
Bernier had this call for parents:
“Please talk about this initiative with your student and partner with us to maintain a safe learning environment for all our students,” he said.
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