What to Do If A Fight Breaks Out
Guidelines – what to do if a fight breaks out – There is no set of laws or court principles that require you to physically intervene or to put yourself at risk if a fight breaks out at school. Red River United urges you to use your own moral code and common sense. You should, however, take all reasonable steps to deter and dissipate a fight, such as:
- Call/page for security
- Send a student to the office
- Yell and scream
- Wave your arms and gesture wildly
- Stomp your feet and clap your hands
- Do anything but stand still!
You run certain risks regardless of how you choose to break up a fight. Red River United wants you to use your best judgment but to also know the risks involved in getting physically involved in a fight.
If you physically get involved to break up a fight you run the risk of:
- Being accused of using excessive force and charged with battery
- Sued by the parents of the students involved in the fight
- Fired
- Physically hurting yourself
If you choose not to get physically involved you can still be sued or fired. Therefore, it is EXTREMELY important that you take all reasonable steps (listed above) to deter and dissipate a fight.
Contact Red River United immediately if you have concerns in this area.
Show Me the Money
Keep Our Foundation Strong
Red River United is launching a “Keep Our Foundation Strong” campaign. Your school’s Red River United workplace leaders will be distributing “bricks” for you to sign. We want to present the Caddo Parish School Board with a brick wall that represents the solidarity of ALL school employees in efforts to achieve a well-deserved pay supplement for our support personnel. If you do not receive a brick, want more bricks, want to return your brick to Red River United, or if you are interested in hosting a brick signing luncheon at your school, contact us.
Reclaiming the promise of public education will take the helping hand of ALL school employees. PSRPs are our office employees, custodians, maintenance workers, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, food service workers, school nurses and health aides, technicians, groundskeepers, security coordinators, secretaries, bookkeepers, mechanics, special education assistants, and hundreds of other job titles.
PSRPs are “leaders in our unions, foundations of our schools.” This union cannot succeed without the support and leadership of the PSRPs. PSRPs are educators, working every day to ensure that our children are receiving a quality public education. Whether you are a paraprofessional assisting in a lesson, maintenance making sure our schools are running, food service providing a good and nutritious meal, or an office worker helping students, teachers, and parents, PSRPs are essential to the education of our children.
Join the fight! Let your voice be heard! (No, we will not throw the bricks. The bricks are paper not foam.)
Security in Our Schools
Red River United is interested in forming a Security Committee so that your specific issues are addressed.
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The primary mission of American schools is to teach all students the knowledge and skills needed to become full participants in a democratic society, and all students in our schools have a right to positive and productive, safe and secure learning environments without disruptions.
In poll after poll, parents, teachers, and school staff say that school safety and order are their highest school priorities. Educators know that other efforts to improve schools will not be effective without an orderly and safe learning environment.
Fortunately, public schools are among the safest places for children. Studies show that of all the violent crimes involving children, only a very small fraction occur in school. We must never feel comfortable, however, resting on the knowledge that schools are relatively safe environments for students and teachers. We must constantly strive to make the school the safest environment possible. The students we have been charged to educate and the school staff deserve nothing less.
Teachers and school staff, through their unions, can play a key role in establishing effective discipline and safety policies, and can advocate for building facilities that are both safe and conducive to learning.
There is a reason why the majority of security coordinators are members of Red River United. Red River United is determined to be at the forefront of establishing policies and procedures that ensure the safety of students and school employees while they learn and work. Contact Red River United at (318) 424-4579 or at redriverunited[@]redriverunited.org to learn more about how you can help establish guidelines, procedures, and practices that can make your school ensure that students and school employees are safe.