A Spot in the Kitchen: The Important Role Parents Play in School Safety

As communities across the country grapple with challenges of physical safety and youth well-being, Chicago leaders gathered in November for the 3rd annual Gun Violence Prevention Expo hosted by Strides for Peace. This year’s Expo brought together youth, elected officials, resource providers, and community organizations to discuss how to make the city safer and support its youth. 

Traditionally a youth-focused event, this year’s program expanded to include how parents, caregivers, and other adults in youths’ lives are vital partners in reducing violence across our city. As a headline presenter for the adult-centered programming, Kids First Chicago’s session featured a presentation and panel highlighting themes of social emotional well-being and school safety. 

The session, titled Student Well-being and Whole School Safety: Creating Safe and Supportive School Communities, showcased K1C’s 2025 State of CPS report, specifically the Student Well-being section, and Chicago Public Schools’ Whole School Safety Policy. The panel brought together parents, a representative from the CPS Office of Safety and Security, and a CPS principal to discuss the importance of creating safe, welcoming school communities and the essential role parents play in ensuring whole school safety.

Student Well-being and Whole School Safety

The presentation first highlighted the Student Well-being section of K1C’s annual State of CPS report. Using 5Essentials and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data, the report section examines how CPS students’ emotional well-being has changed before and after the pandemic and provides a valuable look into the state of education in CPS. The presentation featured data on students’ connection to their peers, teachers, and school communities, parent-teacher trust, and student reports on violence and mental health. The data from both surveys show us that CPS students, across demographics, are struggling with their social and emotional well-being and feelings of belonging in school. 

The question that emerged from the data is how school communities can leverage the support of teachers, administrators, staff, parents, and community members to support kids best. 

The presentation then turned to the CPS Whole School Safety Policy as an opportunity for schools to collaboratively design a unique vision for school safety and outline the necessary steps to achieve that vision. The Whole School Safety Policy, adopted by the Chicago Board of Education in July of 2024, expands the traditional definition of safety to include emotional safety and relational trust. It builds on the work that many schools are already doing to support kids’ social emotional development following the pandemic. 

K1C provided an overview of the Policy and explored what it will look like at the school level. Schools will establish Whole School Safety Committees tasked with developing school-level plans. At least two parents of current students must serve on the Whole School Safety Committees. In addition to parent seats, the Policy dictates several other opportunities for parents to engage in the Whole School Safety process. Oftentimes, policies outline opportunities for engagement that don’t always translate into authentic and consistent parent and community engagement in practice.

Panel Discussion: Parents as Partners in Whole School Safety

To further explore how school communities can partner to ensure parent voice in the Whole School Safety planning process, K1C hosted a panel featuring parents, school leadership, and district personnel. The panelists discussed community awareness of the Whole School Safety Policy, the district’s hopes for implementation, and how school administrators can work alongside parents, caregivers, and students to co-design a school’s Whole School Safety Plan. 

A quickly identified theme was limited awareness of the Whole School Safety Policy among parents and community members. Parents are ready to partner with school administrators, teachers, and students to create safe, welcoming school environments, but must be aware of the opportunities to do so.

Consistent communication between district and school officials and parents is an essential tool to support community awareness and the successful implementation of the Policy. As schools redefine what school safety looks like, parents must be authentic, full partners in the conversation.