Health & Fitness
MAPS Shows the Way to Reducing Manchester High Arrests
Erica Bromley and Heidi Macchi, Coordinators of the MAPS Arrest Reduction Project, discuss how arrests have been reduced at MHS this year.
In 2010, Manchester was among six towns in Connecticut having the most arrests in schools. There were . Citizens and town officials were surprised and concerned over these embarrassing statistics. The and an interim adminsitrator was hired. One year later, in the Fall of 2011. This steep decline is attributed to an initiative by MAPS (Manchester Agencies, Police, Schools) Reducing Juvenile Arrest In Schools. The project is co chaired by Erica Bromley, Director of Manchester’s Youth Service Bureau and Heidi Macchi, Outreach Social Worker at MHS. The project has been highlighted in local papers and on . Now you can hear first hand from the coordinators of this project.
Bromley and Macchi appear on Manchester Review in February to discuss the details of how arrests have been, well, arrested. Asked “has student behavior actually changed or have the adults just changed their reaction to it?” Bromley and Macchi assert that it’s both. Strategies have been implemented that avert arrests and programs have been put in place to change student behavior.
They describe the problem (an astounding number of juvenile arrests at MHS in 2010) and the specifics of the project designed to reduce arrests. A collaborative group composed of resource officers, teachers and administrators developed the program. School climate training, and diversion programs were designed. Alternatives to arrest include the graduated response model, Play By the Rules Program, School Safety Review Board, alternatives to suspension, substance abuse programs, and family outreach.
Implementation of the program this year contributed to the dramatic decline in arrests. Although more work needs to be done, Bromley and Macchi feel that the program is working to interrupt the school to prison pipeline. Of course all this is being done with the help of the administration and outstanding teaching staff at Manchester High who have been without a permanent principal now for over a year. Given continued success with reduction in arrests and improved student behavior, perhaps when the new Principal arrives (hopefully very soon), he/she will have the time to focus on improved learning and closing the achievement gap rather than having to run around trying to keep a lid on the chaos.
Tune in to Manchester Review in February to get more details about the project. Manchester Review airs on Monday nights, 9 p.m. on Cox PATV channel 15.
