School violence: Not taken lightly by officials
Violence in schools is not just happening in larger school districts. After a one-room, Amish school house became the scene of violence this past week, the question was asked, "What about the schools in Marion County? How safe are they? Are school personnel prepared for the worst?"
In the past, when Hillsboro USD #410 Superintendent Gordon Mohn was in school, administrators didn't have to worry about these types of scenarios.
"There were just bullies then, no terrorists," he said.
Marion-Florence USD #408 Superintendent Lee Leiker said a crisis intervention plan has been in place for a number of years. Recent events have spurred the district to re-examine it.
"After the situation that happened in Pennsylvania, I brought our principals together and we reviewed our plan," he said.
Leiker said they paid particular attention to procedures which building personnel should use if there is an intruder.
Mohn said USD #410 wrote its first crisis management plan in 2000. The district also participates in a district-wide lock-down drill every year.
Tom Alstrom, superintendent of Peabody-Burns USD #398, said he and other administrators are well aware of the heightened interest in school safety following recent shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
"I believe (grade school principal) Ken Parry already had an intruder drill scheduled for this week," Alstrom said. "We go through this procedure at both buildings. We do this several times a year, just like we practice for a tornado or a fire."
Parry is head of the district's crisis team and coordinates the effort at the schools.
At Goessel USD #411, recent events have added a fourth "R" to the responsibility of teachers and administrators — readiness.
"We often feel like we're insulated," said John Fast, superintendent of USD #411. "Many of us are familiar with the Lancaster area. Something could happen any place, any time, wherever. Everyone has to take precautions."
Fast, with superintendents from other Heart of America League schools, spent two hours addressing security issues at a meeting this past week. The discussion focused on what each district was doing to prepare for potentially violent events.
Centre USD #397 has a similar crisis intervention plan. Superintendent Bob Kiblinger was hesitant to divulge too much information for security purposes.
Crisis procedures
"We call for a lock-down of the building," Alstrom said. "The most important part is to quickly get the students into their rooms, away from a possible intruder."
Several years ago, a bomb threat was phoned-in to Peabody-Burns High School. Students from both buildings were evacuated to the Baptist and Christian churches where they were released to their parents. No bomb was found.
In the event of a potentially violent intruder at Goessel schools, the crisis plan lists specific steps teachers should take to lock students safely in classrooms. The plan also names the designated adults who will clear hallways and check bathrooms, Fast said.
If a crisis occurs in the Marion-Florence school district, six staff members, who have received specialized training, are ready to guide the district's response to the event. These individuals are on a list which makes them available to assist other districts with crisis intervention.
If a gunman enters Centre schools, students will be secured in classrooms, away from the hallways.
Classrooms can be locked from the inside in Hillsboro schools.
"We changed almost all of our inside door locks to ones that have a locking knob or button on the inside," he said. "It used to be that we didn't have those, so if you didn't have the key you couldn't lock the door from the inside."
Security measures
"All of us are keeping our doors locked except the main doors, with some exceptions for doors near student parking lots," Fast said. "All doors, not primary entrances, are kept locked."
If a building has to be evacuated quickly, Fast said, arrangements have been made to rush children from the school to a local bank, nursing home, and church. If parents should hear about a crisis and want to check out their children from school, a checkout system has been established.
Goessel also has considered buzzer entries on doors, but want to be careful not to push the "panic button" and frighten the children.
USD #408 attempts to control access to buildings by regulating where people can enter. Some entrances are monitors by cameras.
"We ask staff to be in hallways, watching. We ask them to look for things that don't seem quite right — a student who doesn't seem quite right — or looking for things that are out of the ordinary," Leiker said.
"In both buildings, we lock all outside doors except the main entrances to the elementary," Mohn said, adding that for security reasons he wouldn't say which doors, specifically, were left open during school hours. "We do lock most of the outside doors at the high school and middle school, too."
Security improvements include a security camera, new locks on classroom doors, and replacing office walls with windows.
Alstrom said each building has only one door that remains unlocked from the outside during the school day. A camera system at the high school allows office staff to view anyone coming into the building.
"We talked about cameras and a system that provides for 'buzzing in' people who are at the school for legitimate business, but not those we don't know," Alstrom said. "We certainly are concerned about the safety of our children and staff, but sometimes security solutions have the potential to be a problem."
USD #398 also has been looking at updating security since a recent break-in and theft at the high school.
"The systems are expensive," Alstrom said, and geared more for night time surveillance.
Centre School District also follows basic security procedures with student and staff safety a high priority.
All in all, superintendents and school officials are well aware of their responsibilities of maintaining a safe learning environment.
The small, closely-knit districts have the advantage of knowing most parents and visitors.
"So many people know one another, know each other's children, and know if something doesn't fit," Leiker said.
"We have to have a positive, calm environment, because without that you can't learn," Fast said. "Teachers and staff have enough to think about with state assessments and getting their students to the next grade level. Now we have to be prepared for a worst-case, bizarre scenario we hope will never happen."
Alstrom said the school board will be looking at options to upgrade security systems.
"It's never far from our thoughts," Alstrom said.
Mohn certainly is not taking it lightly.
"If it can happen in Amish country, it can happen in Mennonite country," Mohn said. "We're not immune from that."
