District Administration - May 2007 - (Page 59)

A father holds a Pocket PC with a message from his son, 15, at Platte Canyon High. which we are responsible for kids,” he says. To harden the targets, the school has dramatically altered its access points. Now students are admitted in the morning from 7:45 a.m. to 8 a.m. At 8 a.m., the doors are locked and persons seeking access must ring a buzzer. The entrance is equipped with an intercom and video camera, which a school secretary can look at using a video monitor. To help screen visitors, the receptionist each day receives a list of people who have appointments at the school, such as building-and-ground crews and salespeople. The receptionist also can ask visitors to wait at the entrance until a person at the school who knows them can come to the oﬃce and identify them, using the monitor and intercom, Andres says. Teachers use access cards to gain admittance. The 355-student district paid for the $38,000 door system through a grant, donations and the district budget. The physical aspects of safety, such as building access, are important, but as in any school, the school climate is another vital consideration for security—speciﬁcally breaking the “code of silence” among many students, some who may know about looming trouble. That “involves making sure staﬀ are available for kids,” says Andres, who was not superintendent at the time of his district’s tragic incident. “Does every student have at least one adult they can go to?” The Weston district hired an armed school resource oﬃcer after the incident to ﬁll that role—to give students a perwww.DistrictAdministration.com son they will feel comfortable talking with about potential security situations. The students get to know the oﬃcer, who walks the school perimeter on a regular basis, through his classroom visits, presence during lunchtime and break times, and his presentations on bullying and harassment, Andres says. Improving communication between kids and staﬀ members is important, but so is ensuring that school staﬀ can communicate with one another during security crises, Andres adds. The Weston school continued to be in lockdown after the incident because it was a crime scene. “It would have been good to be able to communicate in some places we couldn’t is an aware staﬀ that is on the lookout for potential security situations. “Make sure that your safety plans and crisis plans are up-to-date, and that people are aware of them,” he advises. Since the incident, staﬀ members of the 1,270-student district have become even more alert and aware of what’s going on at the school sites. Safety committees of staﬀ and administrators are reviewing possible methods to upgrade security and are expected to hear from outside experts this summer, Fitzpatrick says. And Fitzpatrick adds that it’s important for a district recovering from a security incident to carefully weigh options and study what really works before mak- “They were in lockdown for two hours not knowing what was going on.” —Tom Andres, acting superintendent, Weston School District, Cazenovia, Wis. communicate,” Andres says. “They were just in lockdown for the two hours not really knowing what was going on.” To improve communication, the district bought 16 two-way radios, adding to the six they originally had, and expanded the radio coverage to include all areas of the property. Also, there is now a phone in every classroom that teachers can use to call the main oﬃce, local numbers or 911, depending on the situation. In emergencies, teachers are to call 911 and the main oﬃce, Andres says. Moving Ahead Thoughtfully Last August at the end of a summer inservice day, a 27-year-old man entered Essex Elementary School in Vermont and shot two teachers, killing one. The man was looking for his ex-girlfriend, also a teacher, who was in another part of the building at the time of the incident. The Essex Town School District staﬀ had previously undergone security training, including lockdown procedures. Practice drills are vital. “According to people on the scene, [they] saved lives,” Fitzpatrick says. The best defense for districts ing decisions—and not rush into anything. “We are trying to be thoughtful about it,” he says. “We want to make the facts of the situation drive the decisions, not fear.” Coordination with ﬁre and police departments also is essential for any school security plan. “In the event of a crisis,” he adds, “whether it’s a ﬂoor or ﬁre or whatever, those diﬀerent agencies have to work together.” Community Outreach Last December, a 16-year-old male student entered Springﬁeld Township High School in Oreland, Pa., with a shotgun concealed in a duﬀel bag. After ﬁring into a ceiling, he turned the gun on himself. Prior to the incident, the district had undergone training for lockdowns and already developed a close relationship with police—two important steps, says Nyiri, district superintendent. “I think probably the most important thing that helped us through this is the fact that we had been practicing lockdowns,” she says. It’s important in the wake of security incidents that districts reach out to the May 2007 59 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2007

Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profi le
Focal Points for Pre-K8 Math
Games Students Play
Healthy Choices
Tragic Lessons
Learning with Personal Media Players
New Products
Computer Literature
Problem Solution
Professional Opinion
Speaking Out
Online Edge
Calendar of Events
Research Corner

District Administration - May 2007