From the Cayman Islands Ministry of Education

On Tuesday,  1^st March a student was involved in an altercation with a staff member at Clifton Hunter High School (CHHS), during which the staff member was assaulted.  The family member responsible for the student’s care was immediately contacted and asked to collect the student in the interest of safety for all concerned.  The staff member was also released for the day.

Statements were collected from both the student and the staff member, as well as all witnesses to the incident, in order to determine next steps.  Subsequently, with input provided by the School Resource Officer (RCIPS) and the Department of Education Services (DES), the following actions have been taken:

·         Exclusion of the student from school

·         Reporting of the incident to the RCIPS by the school and the staff member

·         Involvement by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) with the home as it relates to care of the student

·         Conducting of school assemblies to address the incident and reemphasise expectations of the school as it relates to behaviour

·         Briefings to inform and reassure staff members of the school’s response to the incident

At this time the matter is now in the hands of the RCIPS who will address the relevant issues.

The Ministry of Education and DES are always concerned when a student or staff member is subjected to threatening or violent behaviour, and view such incidents very seriously.  We have taken a number of proactive measures to support students who have behavioural challenges.  However, we also recognise that such extreme behaviour is often linked to various external factors, many of which are difficult for us to influence. 

In the past, students who presented with threatening and/or aggressive behaviour were often excluded from the school population and over the years there have been many reports written on the long term negative impact, social and financial, of these students on our society.  With this in mind the Ministry of Education and DES are constantly exploring more effective partnerships with other government and private entities to help provide viable solutions that meet what are often the immediate, essential and complex needs of this more challenging group of students. 

In addition, the Ministry/DES is continually reviewing the data on school behaviour incidents and student exclusions in order to align resources to needs.  Most recently this has included:

·         Additional staffing to support the introduction of Behaviour Support Service, which was introduced in August 2015

·         Additional staffing to support an increased capacity at our alternative provision units

·         The planned introduction of a Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework to be launched in August 2016.  All schools have a PBIS team in place and the initial phase of this initiative will focus on improving school climate and achievement through:

o   The setting of behaviour and learning expectations;

o   The explicit teaching of these expectations; and

o   The implementation of consequences for positive and negative behaviour linked to a tiered continuum of interventions for groups and individual students.

The Ministry of Education/DES has also developed a training package focussing on risk assessment, de-escalation and the management of serious incidents.  Over the past two years an extensive pilot training has been carried out with a number of schools and all school staff are anticipated to receive this training.

Incidents such as the one at CHHS are isolated, and the Ministry/DES will continue to work with both students and staff members to reduce these occurrences even further.  We remain committed to ensuring that our schools are safe communities for everyone and ask for the public’s support as we find and implement solutions that will benefit our students and faculty.