School district addresses safety

Parents and members of the community were invited to a public informational meeting at the auditorium on Monday to hear about the safety measures that are in place and the next steps in the process.

“We built these buildings so the students could learn,” Superintendent Dustin Hunt said. “We need to keep students and staff safe while they’re in here.”

The purpose of the meeting was to primarily deal with active shooter situations and what the district has done to be prepared.

The first line of defense is the ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate) training the employees have gone through, followed by building changes and district priorities.

“Our worst enemy is denial,” Hunt said. “It is unbelievable and unfortunate. The Columbine shooting seemed so isolated, but we absolutely need to be prepared. We have a moral obligation to keep our students safe.”

Just as there are layers of safety measures with fire – fire drills, rendezvous spots – we will have layers of safety for students in an active shooter situation.

All of the school personell have been through the ALICE training and there are currently four certified trainers in the district who can not only train new-hires, but continue with regular training of all employees.

Hunt said they have been doing not only the physical drills themselves, but mental drills with different situations as well.

“We sit down and create scenarios,” Hunt said. “Then we say ‘if this happens, what do we do?’ We have crisis teams five deep with plans as well as an emergency medical team and a team to get students to their parents (recovery team).”

Hunt said when he first arrived in the district the security plan was several inches thick, kept in a large 3-ring binder. Now, they have condensed the crisis model down to a flip chart to make the answers easier to find for whatever situation may come up.

Building and Structural Changes

Schools were awarded grants from the state a few years ago and Maintenance Supervisor Jere Apland applied immediately and the district was awarded a good chunk of money to begin safety upgrades.

Before we could use it, though, the state took it all back and changed the rules on the distribution of the funds.

“We knew we couldn’t wait,” Hunt said, “so we made some changes to our planning to be able to do it through our general fund so we could get going on it.”

Classroom and exterior door locks have been changed and the keying system for all the doors has been changed as well.

There are single points of entry and secured vestibules for all of the buildings, however, the elementary school is the only one currently using the buzz in-buzz out system. The electronics for the remaining buildings will be installed soon, so parents can expect to start next school year with a new routine.

Along with the main entry systems there is also a visitor management system that allows the secretaries in each building to see not only who is at the main door, but in the parking lots, on the sidewalks and even on the playgrounds through a multi-screen monitor.

Some of the cameras in the district have already been updated to give a clearer view and the remaining cameras will be updated as well.

The district has an intercom system that will allow messages to be broadcast throughout all the buildings. If there is a situation at the middle school, the message can be broadcast at the high school, RWE and the administration building to keep everyone informed.

In all, over the last five years, more than $600,000 has been spent to get these pieces in place.

Upcoming changes

There are still more changes and upgrades that are coming for the district.

For example, Hunt said they are going to be putting in window treatments that make the windows virtually unbreakable.

Those window treatments are a type of film that goes on the glass and even if a shooter were to shoot through the window, they would not be able to break it out, giving those inside extra time to vacate the premises.

They will also be implementing interior electronic locks. These locks work like a panic button, immediately closing everything down.

One item that is upcoming will need some outside, expert help.

The district would like to implement some secondary escape routes from each of the buildings. Hunt said this is something they will definitely be calling in an expert for since no one in the district has that kind of training.

Other steps the district is planning include an increases partnership with law enforcement and emergency services.

“We are hoping to learn more from them,” Hunt said. “This is not a time to be prideful, but to accept that we don’t know everything.”

To that end, residents will notice more of a police presence at events like concerts, games and the like. They are being invited to attend events throughout the district.

The next step is an audit of all the buildings where law enforcement, fire, emergency personnel and first responders will be coming in during times when school is out to thoroughly go through all of the buildings, looking for things that need corrected, learning where all the corridors and exits are and where to turn off electricity or water.

To go along with the tours, Apland intends to create a photo book for emergency services to refer to when needed.

Training is going to continue will all of the staff, students and even the community about the new protocols and fix the bugs that will inevitably crop up. Continued adherence to drills and education regarding best practices are paramount.

“We can’t do this without you,” Hunt told parents. “You are the first teachers in our community. I’m asking, as we go through this whole process, that you have patience and grace with us since it may be inconvenient at times.

“There will be added layers of security as we go along, just something we have to do to keep our children safe. These are public buildings and we want you to have access to your children as much as we can, but we have a moral obligation to keep them safe, even as we work through the bumps along the way.

“We just cannot be in denial that it cannot happen here.”

Hunt added that most of these situations start and stop in three to five minutes and every second we can hold them back is another second the first responders are closer.

“I know we have terrific response time,” he said. “There was an accidental 9-1-1 call a few days ago and they were entering the building within minutes.”

The district has also added a ‘rumor control’ area on their facebook page where folks can go if they have questions or have hear a rumor and want to confirm it.

The question of arming teachers arose during the question and answer period and Hunt had this to say, “We have not considered that yet. We are talking with some of the other districts that have decided to (arm their teachers), getting their suggestions before even thinking about going in that direction.

“We want to be very careful going down that road until after all the other safety pieces are in place. That’s not to say its not something we won’t consider down the road, just not right now.

“We can learn from the other schools and how it goes for them.”