Creating Safe Schools with Superintendent David Haug

What if your child’s stress could lead to life-altering decisions? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Dr. David Haug, Superintendent of Jefferson R-7 School District, as he sheds light on the pressing challenges our schools face today. In this episode, Dr. Haug discusses the recent threats affecting our communities and the critical importance of communication between parents and children. You’ll gain valuable insights into how to talk to your kids about the seriousness of these situations and the significant consequences of poor decisions.

Dr. Haug also shares his experiences in dealing with stressful environments and emphasizes the vital role of school resources in maintaining a safe and supportive atmosphere. Hear about the positive start to the school year despite external pressures and learn how parental guidance can play a pivotal role in preventing mistakes driven by stress. This episode is a must-listen for parents, educators, and anyone invested in the well-being of our students and communities.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Hey, I'm David Howe, Superintendent of Jefferson, our 7th School District, and I wanted to maybe finish this week. The last two weeks have been difficult on not just our community but communities everywhere, with threats on schools, with everything going on. So I want to kind of maybe shape a little mindset going forward on how we I believe our community can best handle this, but also put a time stamp on it. That is 3 o'clock on Friday, september 20th. We've closed out the week. We've had nothing today that we're dealing with. So if you're watching this and something pops up after 3 o'clock on Friday, this is really the best timestamp I could give you. So I think number one is this If our families just make sure we're talking to our kids, and I think, a couple things with that, first and foremost is that a lot of people are stressed with the environment that is out there. Lot of people are stressed with the environment that is out there, rightfully so. It's not fun. We as administrators are stressed. It has this effect. But the crazy thing is, as I walk hallways and look at staff, I see lots of smiles. Kids are happy to be here. Quite honestly, I think we're off to just a tremendous start to the school year. So please keep that in mind. Outside of this situation, things in general have gone pretty well. I've been doing this long enough. I know there's always one-offs and a few things here and there, but when you look at what's going on with our kids across the board, we're off to a great start this year.

Speaker 1: 1:38

So, number one talk to your kids. For two reasons, and this is just me, my opinion. One of them is not an opinion, one of them is just kind of a formal notification. I think sometimes the stress causes kids to react in certain ways sometimes good, sometimes bad. Please stress that if your child does not need to be involved in creating, sharing anything along with anything they quote on, I get really tired of hearing that it's a joke or I think it's funny. There's nothing funny about this. Please stress that with your child, that I don't want any of our kids, none of them, to put themselves in a situation because ultimately I have to deal, and our principals have to deal, with what's in front of them, to do what's right for the school district. I don't want them it's not a threat. I know people say, well, this is going to happen. I don't operate like that, but unfortunately, people make decisions that we have to deal with. I don't want that for your child, so please let them know that there are some serious consequences with this and anything that I get.

Speaker 1: 2:43

I am trying to maximize what we can do through law enforcement and our discipline codes and policies. We have to. It's not right that people are stressed. Everybody should feel comfortable coming to school and not have this hanging over. Whether it's a joke or not, I don't care who the family is. I don't care what the ties are. I'm willing to lose my job over this to keep our kids safe. And I say that because in my experience as an administrator in 20-plus years, I've been to court three times to testify against our own kids, and that is no fun. Not at Jefferson. It was prior to me ever getting to Jefferson, there were two drug deals and a bomb threat that I had to sit on the stand. It is no fun, but I will do everything I have to do to keep this place safe. I assure you that If you could talk to your kids about if they're stressed Now, the second part of that truly is as you're talking to them if they're stressed or seeing things.

Speaker 1: 3:34

This is where Mr Rothweiler comes in. This is where your counselors come in here. Let us know, we'll be glad to help you, because it is a stressful time. If they're clicking on things that we don't know they're clicking on is causing this angst, or they seem to be a little bit, let us know, because I think that that's what we are here for as adults. I don't want to bury the whole. Well, they shouldn't feel that way. Yeah, they can be stressed. I don't want that stress to manifest itself into a mistake is what I'm trying to get at. The second thing, I want you to hear it from me.

Speaker 1: 4:05

When we came back from the summer and in late July, early August, meeting with my admin team, specifically my principals was I always try to look and gauge the year ahead and I love history and I'm not saying this is the most interesting time as far as a presidential election. I always go back to 1860 and how the country was on the brink of a civil war and you had four candidates. Great Civil War Museum, by the way up at Jefferson Barracks, outlines all of this. That was an extremely stressful time in our country, but I think the social media has just jet-fueled this thing for a lot of people. But we had specific that you know between now and November and who knows how the election goes, and there's a lot of uncertainty out there. The one thing to remember is this A lot of people make a lot of money off this time of year to get you to tune in and watch shows, for whatever reason.

Speaker 1: 5:03

But I just indicated that I wasn't sure how it was going to manifest itself, but that our country, our community, our families for lots of reasons inflation is tough on families. It's been tough on us for a long time. The safety that we want for our kids, whether it be just different things going on in our country, that weighs on us as parents. I get that. I live it too as a parent. We talked about that stress. It was going on in our country. That weighs on us as parents. I get that. I live it too as a parent.

Speaker 1: 5:29

We talked about that stress. It was going to be our families this fall. I wasn't. I said I don't know how the manifestation of how it's going to play out, but there will be very stressful events on not only Jefferson or seven school district but our country because of the shape of our country. Right now it's really manifesting itself in this school safety stuff and the fact that social media companies just allow it to run rampant in our kids, and yet the schools are kind of in the crosshairs going. We're not the ones causing this, but we've got to deal with it, and we've kind of become accustomed in this country just to throw rocks at schools when things aren't going well. Well, let's look at the root of the problem and try to fix it, which I think a lot of is what our kids are constantly clicking on. That being said, it is stressful, I'm not going to lie, but it's not a surprise that we're dealing with this. It was going to be something, the way our country is going right now. Lastly, I'm going to close with this Enjoy your kids. I'm telling you right now we're off to such a great start this year with our teachers, our kids across the board.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Again, there's always one-offs. There's always people that aren't happy. I talk to our staff in general about $100 people in life. There's always people you run across in life that you can hand them a $100 bill and they'd say, ah, thank you, but I could really use 520. They're just never happy with what they get. And we talk to our staff. We talk to our admin team. It's okay, that's part of life, that's what makes the world go around.

Speaker 1: 6:53

But, man, enjoy our kids. Come to the games, come to these activities. I think our crowds have been great. Continue to come and enjoy them. Put our phones down. Our kids are only going to be with us for so long before they're off and doing great things. I down. Our kids are only going to be with us for so long before they're off and doing great things. I look forward to tonight's game. If you're watching us for the game, if not, come to our activities. Enjoy your kids, but also take time just to talk with them and if they are stressed, please, we're here. If there's any concerns out there, let us know. It's not a burden at this point. We have to keep our kids safe. It's our jobs. It's not easy, but we can do it as a group, in a community and, again, what I think makes Jefferson unique is we are about our kids. Thank you.