O-18 Perceived Safety in U.S. Virgin Islands’ Public Secondary Schools: Implications for Student Learning and Overall Student Health

Methods: In late spring of SY2022-2023 and early fall SY2023-2024 306 students  attending public secondary schools across USVI and 72 staff teaching at schools wit students in grade 7-12, participated in this study. The Safe Schools Survey – secondary students’ version (grades 7–12) and the Safe Schools Survey – staff version was used for data collection. SPSS 28 was used for data analysis.

Results: Responses rates were modest, at 72% for staff and 61% for students. Most survey subscales yielded acceptable to excellent reliability (a=.81) for USVI study participants. Yet, reliability of some subscales was fair (a=.61) to poor (a=.49). The findings reveal that most students do not feel a sense of belonging in their schools. Most do not feel that they can go to school staff for support and assistance. They do not feel particularly safe at their schools. Staff felt a higher sense of belonging in their schools (78% vs 26%) compared to students and differed markedly from students in that teachers worked hard to make students successful (91% vs 38%). Staff were more inclined to agree or strongly agree that students engaged in incivility and disruptive behaviours than students perceived. Discrepancies in perceptions of staff and students on approximately 50% of survey items ranged from an 11% discrepancy to a 53% discrepancy. There were significant differences in the mean scores for staff and students on Belongingness (t=6.6, p<.01) and Incivility/Disruption (t=-3.0, p<.05).

Conclusion: There may be a need for intervention, particularly around getting an understanding as to why students feel disconnected from their schools, while staff perceive that they are available for adequately support students.