09/29/2026
When it comes to our students, there should be no tolerance for inappropriate behavior. Every concern should be taken seriously, reported, investigated, and addressed.
I appreciate Dr. Bernier’s recent reminder to teachers and staff that this behavior is not tolerated and that concerns should be reported every time.
As a former teacher and a parent, I know how important it is for educators to understand their responsibility to protect students and to know they will be supported when they speak up.
DCPS has policies and training in place around professional boundaries and reporting. The question I believe we have to keep asking is: Are those systems working as well as they should?
Student safety cannot begin when something goes wrong. We have to look at the entire system that surrounds our students, who is working with them, how they are screened, how they are trained, what
professional standards they are held to, and whether those standards are consistently enforced.
Not everyone who works with our students comes into our schools through the same path. We have professionally certified teachers, substitute teachers, support staff, and employees of outside organizations and contractors.
Regardless of how someone comes into our schools, parents should be able to trust that they have been appropriately screened, understand professional boundaries, and know exactly what to do when something isn't right.
We also need to make sure our training is meaningful. If we have policies and required training but they aren't changing behavior, recognizing concerns, or making people more confident about reporting, then we need to examine the process and improve it.
Student safety should never be reduced to checking a box.
Parents have a role, too. We should give families clear, age-appropriate information about healthy boundaries and encourage our children to speak up when something doesn't feel right or when they witness inappropriate behavior.
As a School Board member, I will ask the hard questions about whether our policies and processes are actually keeping students safe.
I will advocate for strong screening and professional standards for everyone who works with our students, meaningful training for educators and staff, and clear accountability when those standards are not met.
We can support our educators while maintaining high standards, we can listen to parents while protecting students, and we can examine the entire system instead of simply adding another requirement for the teachers who are already doing the right thing.
Our children deserve nothing less.
Student safety isn't a policy. It's a responsibility.
