District Administration - May 2008 - (Page 16)

BRIEFINGS Security Chicago Police Target Troubled Schools By Zach Miners AS GUN VIOLENCE CLAIMS A GROWING LIST OF victims in Chicago’s public schools—last month the number of students killed in gunﬁre hit 20 since September—new police patrols from the Chicago Police Department are in place at the 435,000-student district, with 50 other oﬃcers leaving desk jobs, in an eﬀort to stem the rash of killings. “We’re targeting our resources at some of the troubled schools to address gang retaliation and other violence,” police superintendent Jody Weis announced at an anti-gun Ill. Gov. Blagojevich speaks at a rally where students, rally in March. school oﬃcials, politicians and church leaders gathered to Deployed at Crane High School followremember classmates killed by gunﬁre, with shoes atop desks ing the fatal shooting of a student there, and and a mock coﬃn memorial. Inset: Rally-goers raise signs. in the neighborhoods of several other highThe situation has become so dire conﬂict schools where oﬃcials know prob- CPS press secretary Michael Vaughn. lems exist, the oﬃcers are targeting school The response unit will also have live that Rev. Michael Pﬂeger, a local activist bus routes in an attempt to keep the peace access to about 4,500 security cameras priest, has announced that protestors will convene in the Thompson Center plaza during arrival and dismissal times, says mounted outside and inside schools. after every fatal shooting to demonstrate for increased state gun control legislation. Shooting Survivors Sue Security Company One such rally was held in April after a student was killed in the Simeon Career A GROUP OF NEARLY TWO DOZEN PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE 2005 Academy parking lot. shooting at the Red Lake (Minn.) School District are suing Burnsville, Minn.“This doesn’t happen in other counbased MacNeil Environmental Inc., the company that had been hired to come up tries,” district CEO Arne Duncan said at with a crisis management plan for the district. the gathering of several hundred Chicago The lawsuits say the consulting and engineering ﬁ rm lacked qualiﬁcations students, politicians, school oﬃcials and to sell the school its emergency preparedness plan and failed to follow through church leaders. “We just value our right on developing and implementing a plan that would have helped school oﬃcials to bear arms more than we value our respond better when the shooting took place. children, and our priorities are fundaThe plaintiﬀs include the families of people killed or injured in the massacre in mentally backwards.” addition to a handful of former high school employees. Each plaintiﬀ is seeking more Still, some worry that no amount of than $50,000 in damages. gun control or boosted police presence can “MacNeil sold a security plan that didn’t work,” says Elliot Olsen, a Minneapolis really help turn the tide of gang retaliation attorney who represents Steve Cobenais, who survived the shooting but was left and violence in the district. with a severe brain injury. “We intend to show that had MacNeil done its job, these “We can try to do the best we can, but deaths and injuries would have been prevented.” we cannot control the illegal guns that are Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, getting into the hands of the wrong peoagrees that security management ﬁrms must be held accountable in training today’s ple,” police spokeswoman Monique Bond schools in both prevention and response strategies, but he adds that simply having a told the Chicago Tribune. crisis management plan is worthless if the school does not continually test it. A reward has been set up that will oﬀer “The template must be implemented through professional development and $5,000 every time a young person in Chistudent exercises,” he says. “Fine tuning the plan’s nuts and bolts could make or cago is murdered and information leading break how well you respond should an actual crisis occur.” to an arrest and conviction is given. 16 May 2008 District Administration AP PHOTOS / CHARLES REX ARBOGAST

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2008

District Administration - May 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Security Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Book Excerpt
Addressing Food Allergies
Algebra: Changing the Equation
Stopping MRSA
Resources to Support Disabled Learners
Web Tools: The Second Generation
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Speaking Out
Supervisor’s Opinion
Professional Opinion
Leadership Books
Research Center
Calendar of Events
Products Showcase
Understanding the Times

District Administration - May 2008