Results from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and Relationships Effort Aspirations Cognition and Heart (REACH) Survey were presented at Thursday’s school board meeting.

Dr. Carolyn Patton, Benicia Unified School District’s special services director, presented a quick overview of the two surveys’ results. The reports come out publicly in November, so Patton initiated a preliminary discussion with some highlights locally.

The CHKS is administered to seventh, ninth and 11th-graders every two years to capture behavioral data in the areas of substance abuse, school safety, social/emotional wellness and student/teacher relations.

Patton noted that mental and physical health indicators were stable with a small decrease in substance abuse among students surveyed. She said the district defined substance abuse as “binge drinking” and “binge usage of marijuana,” although she was not able to say if chronic use had decreased.

“The kids who are saying they’re using excessive amounts on a daily basis is starting to go down,” she said.

Patton also pointed out that school engagement, namely connectedness with teachers, had declined.

“We did see some increases in specific areas at Benicia High School,” she said. “We are looking closer at data for the middle school and looking at what we can do to make sure the kids are feeling engaged with their teachers and the staff at the middle school.”

The item that drew the most discussion was a statistic that 63 percent of ninth-graders feel safe or very safe at school, making school safety data considered “stable.” Trustee Celeste Monnette asked how this data compared to 10 years ago. Patton said she could send that information back in a board report.

Trustee Peter Morgan asked why data indicating that 37 percent of students feel unsafe at school was an acceptable number. Patton said this was not the case, as the next lowest level was students feeling neither safe nor unsafe.

“When you get to those numbers, then we are getting about 90 percent of those kids,” she said. “We’re not getting kids who are saying, ‘I feel very unsafe at school.’”

Nonetheless, Patton said the district was working to increase the number of students who feel safe or very safe. Morgan asked how the data compared to other districts, and Patton said BUSD was considered in the higher level among districts throughout the state.

Morgan felt safety should continue to be a concern.

“If 37 percent of the kids cannot say they feel safe, we have a problem,” he said.

Monnette felt the numbers were a reflection of the current cultural climate.

“I think we do have a responsibility around the safety issues, but I’m sure these numbers also reflect the cultural conscience around safety with all that’s been going on,” she said. “I don’t want to minimize our responsibility around safety, but I think there’s aspects of this that are broader than just the school environment.”

Board President Diane Ferrucci suggested having schools highlight how they plan to reach out to students regarding safety plans and bring it back to the board in a report. Morgan felt active shooter drills would not make students feel safe and that the district should engage students and parents more to discuss such issues.

In regards to the REACH survey, Patton said teacher connectedness and opportunities for students to talk about their interests had decreased, the number of students putting in effort and having positive visions of their futures was continuing to do well, and the ability of students to managed their own thinking remained stable and high.

The full reports can be accessed at https://calschls.org/reports-data/results/.