Nodaway County schools aren’t necessarily in the mix with other districts identified to have "significant weaknesses" in safety policies, programs and procedures by a recent education audit.

Instead, district leaders –– along with parents, students and teachers –– are meant to take heed of listed concerns and ensure everything possible is being done to address them.

Samantha Brewer, public affairs coordinator for the Missouri State Auditor’s office, said the purpose of the Safe Schools Initiatives audit is to bring awareness about possible weaknesses in area school district and Missouri State Department of Education policies and procedures concerning violence and safety.

The audit also concluded the state department of education representatives, "Should better monitor school districts’ policies and procedures related to safe schools issues, ensure school districts report complete and accurate data, and increase the level of discipline incident detail in the system."

It wasn’t, she said, meant to accuse all districts of being deficient.

For the audit, 25 school districts of varying size and enrollment were reviewed concerning school safety issues that include discipline policies, violence, safety, training and whether students , faculty and support staff felt safe in school.

None of those districts reviewed were from Nodaway county.

"There are over 500 school districts in the state, so there’s no way we could review them all," Brewer said. "What we did is went through and took a sample of schools from rural, city, suburb and other areas."

However, she cautions district leaders and others shouldn’t simply discount the study.
Instead, she said patrons and even students should become more involved to plan what improvements districts need to make.

With times having changed and more education issues popping up almost every year, Brewer said patrons and school district leaders have to be more proactive.

"It used to be that if Timmy was acting like a twit in school, he’d get in trouble and then everyone would know about it," Brewer said. "Even his mother would know about it before he got home from school.

"But things aren’t how they used to be and not everywhere are people knowing what’s going on or watching out for each other."

In Nodaway County however, with some of the seven school districts that sometimes have an enrollment of less than 300 students, that isn’t believed to be the case.

School officials who could be contacted by press deadline Wednesday from North Nodaway, West Nodaway, Jefferson and Maryville agree they believe they do communicate with patrons and are up-to-date with school safety initiatives.

All seven district Web sites also offer patrons copies of policies and procedures –– whereas the state audit claimed districts have "inadequate communication of said policies."

Many of the area districts also offer a cell phone text system for patrons to alert them of school closings and other district happenings.

Joan Bolon, superintendent of North Nodaway, added policies are updated throughout the year and that she believes school officials, in both hers and other districts, are very vigilant to look for signs of troubled students and other problems.

John Zeliff, assistant superintendent of the Maryville school district, said officials are also always on the lookout for things they can improve upon.

"Are there things we can do better on? Of course," Zeliff said. "But I think all of us are trying to stay on top of things."

Meanwhile, Brewer said it’s up to school district patrons ensure districts and even the state department of education follows through with audit recommendations –– as her office has no jurisdiction over them.

It is possible however that over time, her office will review whether state and local officials heeded the audit or ignored it.

For more information, go to the Office of the Missouri State Auditor at www.auditor.mo.gov.