Safe and Supportive Schools
Commission – Fifth Annual Report
This report is submitted pursuant to Chapter 284 of the Acts of 2014, An Act Relative
to the Reduction of Gun Violence. This Act was signed into law by the Governor on
August 13, 2014 (House Bill 4376). Provisions within this Act relating to safe and
supportive schools are codified as Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 69, Section
1P (G.L. c. 69, § 1P).
February 2020
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 This document was prepared by the
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Members
Ms. Katherine Craven, Chair, Brookline
Mr. Edward Doherty, Hyde Park
Ms. Amanda Fernández, Belmont
Mr. Matthew Hills, Newton
Mr. Michael Moriarty, Holyoke
Mr. James Morton, Vice Chair, Springfield
Mr. James Peyser, Secretary of Education, Milton
Mr. Paymon Rouhanifard, Brookline
Ms. Mary Ann Stewart, Lexington
Ms. Matthew Tibbitts, Student Advisory Council, Ludlow
Dr. Martin West, Newton
Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner
Secretary to the Board
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Human Resources Director, 75 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148-4906. Phone: 781-338-6105.
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-4906 Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner
February 17, 2020
Dear Governor and Members of the General Court:
On behalf of the Safe and Supportive Schools Commission (Commission), I am pleased to
submit this Safe and Supportive Schools Commission - Fifth Annual Report pursuant to
section 6 of Chapter 284 of the Acts of 2014 (the Act), and Massachusetts General Laws
(G.L.), chapter (c.) 69, section (§) 1P (g) that reads in part:
“There shall be a safe and supportive schools commission to collaborate with and
advise the department on the feasibility of state-wide implementation of the
framework… The commission shall prepare and submit an annual progress report
concerning the commission’s activities with appropriate recommendations, together
with drafts of legislation necessary to carry out such recommendations, if any, not
later than December 31.”
Creating and maintaining safe and supportive schools offers a key lever towards engagement
and success for students, families, and staff in districts across the Commonwealth. In service
of academics as well as other forms of learning and growth, it is crucial to ensure teachers and
other educators are equipped with the tools to support and promote their students’ individual
and collective needs. Preparing all students for success in school, the workplace, and civic life
includes developing students’ social and emotional competencies and attending to their health
and wellbeing. Moreover, academic skills and social and emotional competencies (including
those in the realm of self-awareness and self-regulation, social awareness and relationship
skills, and responsible decision making) are mutually reinforcing, and are most effectively
developed in environments that are safe and supportive. These environments focus on high
expectations for all students and on building the capacity to support teachers and staff as they
engage in this process. These environments implement culturally responsive systems of
support that help all students experience success and growth; these environments value the
social and cultural experiences of their students, staff, families, and partners; and these
environments actively address bias related to race, color, sex, gender identity, religion,
national origin, and sexual orientation.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) is committed to closing
gaps in achievement and opportunity, so that all students in the Commonwealth have access
to a great education. In service of that commitment, one of the four themes in my Our Way
Forward report is Holistic Support and Enrichment, which is based on the premise that if we
are to provide equitable access to deeper learning for all (the core theme in Our Way
Forward), we need to ensure that all students receive strong foundational supports and
enriching experiences beyond core academics. As a part of this, all students need appropriate
mental and physical health supports, grounded in safe and supportive school cultures, so they
can engage in and beyond the classroom, ready to learn.
Furthermore, one of the Department’s five core strategies to help prepare all students for
success is to support students’ social and emotional learning, health and safety. Explicitly
aligned with the focus of the Commission and Safe and Supportive Schools Framework law
(G.L. c. 69, § 1P), the Department’s goal within this strategy is to promote systems and
strategies that foster safe, positive, healthy, culturally competent, and inclusive learning
environments that address students’ varied needs in order to improve educational outcomes
for all students.
Additionally, the Department’s District Standards and Indicators include a focus on safe and
supportive school climates and cultures. Additionally, numerous agency initiatives and
guidance documents align with the Department’s Safe and Supportive Schools Framework
and Self-Reflection Tool (framework and tool), including, but not limited to, the Model
Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan, Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training
Guidance, Guidelines for the Implementation of Social and Emotional, Learning Curricula K-
12, and Policies and Protocols for Truancy Prevention Programs. This framework and tool
provide a foundation for the Commission’s work, as described in this report.
In the fall of 2019, aligned with the Commission’s work, the Department competitively
awarded 17 Safe and Supportive Schools Grants for action planning and peer support efforts
through Fund Code 335. The Department also awarded 22 continuation grants through Fund
Code 337 for districts in the second year of two-year grants, to support implementation of
action plans created the prior year. More details on these grants can be found in this report,
and the efforts of these grantees will help to further inform Department and Commission
work related to effective processes for developing and implementing safe and supportive
school action plans, as well as networking opportunities that help build a community of safe
and supportive educators.
This work is of great importance to the success of students in the Commonwealth, and I
continue to encourage collaboration where helpful and feasible between stakeholders
interested in safe and supportive schools, because aligned and integrated efforts often offer
the best chance for our collective success.
I wish to acknowledge Commission members and others with whom the Commission has
consulted for their dedication and contributions, and to thank the Governor and Legislature
for their continued commitment to improving the education of students in our
Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
Table of Contents
Purpose and Context ........................................................................................................ 6
Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 9
Future Directions ........................................................................................................... 19
Commission Activities Undertaken in 2019 ..................................................................... 20
Department Activities Related to G.L. c. 69, § 1P(f) ........................................................ 22
APPENDIX A: Safe and Supportive Schools Commission Members ................................ 28
APPENDIX B: Legislative Charge for the Commission ................................................... 29
Purpose and Context
The Safe and Supportive Schools Commission (Commission) was created by An Act Relative to
the Reduction of Gun Violence. The Commission respectfully submits this Report to the
Governor and Legislature: Safe and Supportive Schools Commission Fourth Annual Report
pursuant to Chapter 284 of the Acts of 2014, An Act Relative to the Reduction of Gun Violence.
This Act was signed into law by the Governor on August 13, 2014. Provisions within this Act
relating to safe and supportive schools are codified as Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 69,
section 1P (G.L. c. 69, § 1P), the Safe and Supportive Schools Framework law.
“…The commission shall prepare and submit an annual progress report concerning the
commission’s activities with appropriate recommendations, together with drafts of
legislation necessary to carry out such recommendations, if any, not later than December
31. The commission shall submit such annual report to the governor and the clerks of the
senate and the house of representatives, who shall forward the same to the chairs of the
joint committee on education, the chairs of the joint committee on mental health and
substance abuse, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities,
and the house and senate committees on ways and means...”1
Safe and supportive school environments are essential in order to reach high academic standards
and other important educational reform goals, including diminishing the use of suspension and
expulsion as an approach to discipline, preventing bullying, preventing substance use and misuse
and providing support for addiction recovery, closing proficiency gaps, and halting the school to
prison pipeline. These environments raise the achievement of all students, by valuing and
empowering each student to feel a sense of competency and agency in each student’s learning.
These environments also help students to self-regulate their emotions and behaviors, support
them to form positive relationships with adults and peers, and support their health and wellbeing.
In order to address proficiency gaps, safe and supportive environments act in an inclusive,
equitable, and culturally sensitive way to provide access to opportunities for all students. In
passing the Safe and Supportive Schools Framework law, the Legislature recognized that
addressing these needs together with actions to make schools physically safe were also integral
to avoiding acts of violence that have devastated other school communities.2
Massachusetts G.L. c. 69, § 1P, in subsection (a), defines safe and supportive schools as schools
that foster safe, positive, healthy, and inclusive whole-school learning environments. These
environments recognize the connections between academic success and students feeling safe
enough to make friends, form strong relationships with adults, and take risks in the classroom
(e.g., speaking up) in order to succeed. Safe and supportive schools teach students to regulate
their emotions, behaviors, and attention so that it is possible for them to focus and learn. Such
1
The full legislative charge and links to the full text of the statute can be found in Appendix B of this report.
2
At the time of this law’s passage, many in the state were particularly concerned about ways to avoid the kind of
violence that had occurred at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. In addition, Commonwealth students
have suffered from other kinds of violence, such as bullying, suicides, and substance abuse. Many felt that creating
safe and supportive school cultures were needed to address safety, social, emotional, and academic needs
holistically. These concerns and beliefs are still relevant today, across and beyond the Commonwealth.
6
schools also strive to address physical, mental health, and disability-related needs that may
interfere with learning.3
However, creating such environments while addressing the needs of individual children is not
easy. Many children come to school having experienced significant adversity. In addition,
schools are often challenged because important policies and laws designed to create positive
school cultures can be narrowly focused (for example, some efforts aimed solely at bullying
prevention, truancy reduction, or behavioral health supports), such that the common skills and
approaches that underlie all such initiatives are not integrated and do not necessarily work
together to provide a solid foundation for safety and learning.
Massachusetts G.L. c. 69, § 1P, includes in part (ii) of the definition, that safe and supportive
schools are also ones that align initiatives in an effective, efficient, and holistic way.4 The line-
item language in the fiscal year 2018 state budget (line-item 7061-9612) related to the Safe and
Supportive Schools Commission additionally called for the Commission to “make
recommendations to the board of elementary and secondary education regarding ways to include
in the self-assessment tool and framework principles of effective practice for integrating student
supports not later than December 31, 2017.” Thus, the Commission developed recommendations
to address the need for integrating services into the school culture, ensuring that students receive
appropriate services at school and connect to community resources outside of school. These
recommendations outlining principles of effective practice were shared through a memo to the
Board in January 2018.5
Massachusetts G.L. c. 69, § 1P also asks the Commission to propose steps for improving schools'
access to clinically, culturally and linguistically appropriate services. As described later in the
report, one of primary focus areas of this year’s Commission work (2019) was on hearing
stakeholders from multiple vantage points (e.g., superintendents, nurses, counselors, social
workers, and more) for their perspectives on strategies and challenges related to students’ access
to services.
Safe and Supportive Schools Framework: To assist schools to align and integrate initiatives and
services, the law called for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (Department) to develop a safe and supportive schools framework to provide a
structure and a guiding resource to help each school develop school-wide action plans that
efficiently align initiatives in a way that fits with the school’s (and district’s) own culture and
3
G.L. Chapter 69, Section 1P specifically defines safe and supportive schools, in part, as “schools that foster a safe,
positive, healthy and inclusive whole-school learning environment that: (i) enables students to develop positive
relationships with adults and peers, regulate their emotions and behavior, achieve academic and non-academic
success in school and maintain physical and psychological health and well-being.” (See footnote 4 for the second
part of the definition.)
4
Part two (ii) of the above referenced safe and supportive schools definition states that these schools also ”integrate
services and align initiatives that promote students' behavioral health, including social and emotional learning,
bullying prevention, trauma sensitivity, dropout prevention, truancy reduction, children's mental health, foster care
and homeless youth education, inclusion of students with disabilities, positive behavioral approaches that reduce
suspensions and expulsions and other similar initiatives.”
5
The Board Memo and attachment outlining principles of effective practice for integrating student supports can be
found on http://www.doe.mass.edu/bese/docs/FY2018/2018-01/item10.html.
7
locally identified priorities. The topic areas of the Safe and Supportive Schools Framework are
aligned with those in the Behavioral Health and Public Schools (BHPS) Framework (created by
the BHPS Taskforce in collaboration with the Department pursuant to Chapter 321 of the Acts of
2008). These topics address the following areas of school operations: leadership, infrast