The Administration recommends that the Board of Education, acting in its capacity as Board of Directors of Philadelphia Intermediate Unit No. 26 (IU 26), authorize IU 26, through the Executive Director or his designee, to execute and perform a contract, subject to funding, as follows:

With: 

QBS, Inc.

Purpose:

To provide Safety-Care training to all District teachers and staff through a train the trainer delivery model

Start  Date:  7/1/2020

End Date:    6/30/2021

Compensation not to exceed:  $300,000

Location(s): 

All District schools; Administrative Offices

Description:  

The District seeks to provide staff working directly with students with a highly effective skill-set to handle, protect, and support students with self-injurious, dangerous, and aggressive behaviors, and to replace these behaviors, through the application of positive reinforcement, de-escalation, and modeling with appropriate responses. The Pennsylvania Department of Education recommended that the District train all of its teachers and staff who directly work with students in de-escalation, positive reinforcement and non-restraint techniques and suggested QBS and the Safety Care program. This program is used by many other school districts throughout Pennsylvania as a training provider.

To accomplish the task of having all student-facing staff trained in Safety Care, QBS will train and certify designated District staff-members as Safety Care Trainers. Trainers are authorized by QBS to train teachers and staff in Safety-Care methods and to certify staff who successfully complete training as Safety Care Specialists. It is the goal of the Office of Specialized Services to have a QBS certified Trainer in every District school, so that school-based teachers and staff can receive certification as Specialists. District principals select the Trainer for their building from their school-based personnel. Under QBS certification guidelines, Trainers and Specialists must be retrained and recertified every year.  To date, there are over 340 Trainers in schools, and the District’s offices of Transportation, School Safety, and Specialized Services. Since the inception of this program, District Trainers have certified 2,500 teachers, principals, staff, and administrators as Specialists who are now skilled in de-escalation techniques. To maintain and exceed current levels of Safety Care training and certification in the 2020-2021 school year, QBS will need to recertify and certify approximately 420 Trainers. This includes the annual recertification of the 340 Trainers and the certification of 80 new Trainers needed to cover the remaining schools without Trainers, and the schools and administrative offices that lost Trainers due to transfers, staffing changes, leaves, and retirements. 

Anchor Goal(s) Supported: Anchor Goal 1 – 100% of students will graduate ready for college or career.  Anchor Goal 3 – 100% of positions are filled by great principals, teachers, and employees.

Funding Source(s):

FY21 IDEA