Participatory Processes and Wicked Problems in Schools: Reimagining School Safety

• In Event: School Boards, Choice, and Participation

Abstract

School safety is a wicked problem due to shifting needs and available
information, the diverse actors affected and involved, fluctuating budgetary demands and
ramifications, and relations to broader social and political issues. School safety
challenges encompass a range of factors, including threats of violence and fears related to
school shootings, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health and
well-being, and research and rhetoric on punitive discipline practices and the school-to prison
nexus, especially regarding the use of School Resource Officers (SROs).

Following the murder of George Floyd by police in the Summer of 2020 and the
subsequent civil unrest, several school districts across the United States began to
reconsider the use of police on campuses, with some choosing not to renew contracts
with police departments for SROs. In most cases, school district leaders (e.g., governing
boards or superintendency) unilaterally made this decision without authentic school
community input or participation in inclusive processes and shared decision-making
opportunities.
A diverse, urban high school-only
district in the southwestern United States (SWHSD) that serves 25,000 students, was one of those districts that did not renew its contract with the local police department for SROs. Instead, SWHSD undertook efforts to
reimagine school safety through two parallel participatory processes: School
Participatory Budgeting (PB) and a Safety Committee. Drawing from the literature on
school safety, participatory governance, and student voice, I explore school safety's
historical and current landscape, specifically the use of SROs and punitive discipline
measures, alongside methods of participatory governance within K-12 educational
institutions and the benefits, challenges, and implications of student voice in shared
decision-making processes. I then chronicle the two processes implemented in SWHSD using
the Empowered Deliberative Democracy (EDD) conceptual framework and a case study
methodology. I analyze and discuss the tensions and the transformative potential of
participatory processes that include student and school community voices in finding
solutions to difficult challenges. In conclusion, I summarize the case study and raise
recommendations for using participatory processes to address wicked problems in K-12
educational institutions.

Author

• Tara Lynn Bartlett, Arizona State University