Practical PR
Communications Must Balance Physical, Emotional Aspects of Security
By Kristine Liptrot
During the aftermath of a school shooting, two things are guaranteed to be in abundance: profound sorrow and widespread blame. While the feeling of sorrow is shared between individuals and communities across the country, blame is divisive. It is spread between the shooter, school security efforts, gun control legislation, parenting issues, mental illness, bullying, and more. As school leaders, we need to help our communities see past the blame and come together to develop and refine security processes and procedures to protect future students and employees.
How? By recognizing the importance of both the physical and emotional aspects of school security.
While school security often focuses on “physical” safeguards such as entrance restrictions, visitor lanyards, metal detectors, security guards, alarms, and lockdowns, “emotional” matters such as a positive climate, trusted adults, strong role models, supporting student voice, and mental health and wellness are equally important.
Parent fears result in demands for armed guards, metal detectors, zero-tolerance policies, and harsh punishments for students who are unkind. In an attempt to ease parents’ fears, keep students safe, and still provide a nurturing learning environment, statements should be crafted that balance both aspects of a district’s security efforts. Below are some examples of how this balance is achieved in Yorkville CUSD 115 procedures and the resulting communications.
“The district’s security plans have been developed and are annually reviewed in collaboration with the local police and fire departments, the county’s emergency management division, and city officials.”
School districts are experts in education, not law enforcement, critical medical care, and school security. Building relationships with those who have the expertise, and communicating that collaboration within the parent community, will give a security plan a stronger foundation and greater credibility. Allowing first responders to train in the schools on non-attendance days and to evaluate and participate in school drills while in session are visible reminders that school safety is a community responsibility.
“Our school security personnel are trained law enforcement professionals with a history of serving the youth in the community.”
The school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was the deadliest high school shooting in United States history. However, the aspect of the massacre that sticks with many is the failure of the security guards to protect the students. With this failure in mind, Yorkville CUSD 115 Superintendent Timothy Shimp, Ed.D., created a district security team that balances experience with relationship-building attributes.
Ideal candidates for the armed school security officers in Yorkville are recently retired police officers with “excellent communication skills and a strong ability and desire to develop positive working relationships with staff members and students.” This information was included in all communications, fliers, and postings. A “find the person” instead of “filling a position” mentality meant that interviews would equally concentrate on their experiences handling crises as an officer, and their experiences working with youth as a coach, mentor, or club leader. A major component of the job is to be visible in the schools — having a presence within classrooms, reading books to younger students, attending district events, and visiting with students at their lunch tables — and serve as a trusted adult for students.
“Please review the Parents’/Guardians’ Guide to Weather & School Emergencies to understand the district’s procedures for making and communicating school schedule changes/closures and what parents can do to prepare for such situations.”
Parents not only need to know what the district is doing to keep their children safe, but what they can do to assist. Information regarding what parents should and should not do during a school emergency ought to include their responsibilities as guardians prior, during, and after the event to make them a partner in the process. Information should also contain the district’s general procedures, as well as the methods the district will use to communicate with parents during a crisis. Providing this information to parents reassures them that the district has processes in place, and gives them a critical role to play in ensuring their children remain safe.
“All student safety reports sent to the district are anonymous and investigated discreetly, and any necessary support and resources are provided.”
It is important to provide students, employees, and parents a safe platform in which to report concerns. Beyond contacting a district or school administrator, in Yorkville CUSD 115, those with concerns can report them anonymously or by name using the district’s Bullying Report Form (on the district website and hard copies available at school) or the “Y Not Say Something Tip Line” (on the website and district mobile app). Submissions to either system are responded to within 24 hours, and follow-up is provided to the individuals who supply their names. The more comfortable individuals are to share a concern, the more quickly a potentially volatile situation can be reported, acted upon, and prevented.
“The safety of students is a priority whether they are in the classroom or off campus. District administration uses various screening tools to monitor students’ wellbeing and any concerns are immediately reported to parent/guardians.”
The district employs a variety of tools to monitor student interactions—both online and personally.
All student Google accounts are equipped with a monitoring tool that scans Gmail and Google Drive for inappropriate content. This ranges from inappropriate words or conversations to inappropriate images. As an additional safety measure, the district also uses an education-focused software management and web-filtering system to monitor content on Chromebooks. By using this software, the district has the ability to filter and block/unblock websites being accessed on district devices, no matter where the Chromebooks are being used. These consistent security measures have helped ease parent concerns about online predators and the misuse of the district’s one-to-one computer initiative by students.
Additionally, a proactive review of students’ emotional well-being is addressed through the district’s social-emotional curriculum, which includes a Signs of Suicide screening for all students in grades 7, 8, and 10.
A quick response by district employees to issues discovered through these screening tools is important to maintain the district’s reputation as an organization that cares for and protects its students physically and emotionally, as well as inside and outside of the classroom.
Successful school security plans are not featured on the evening news because the potentially dangerous situations are addressed before they ever become violent. Through school security communications that avoid blame and strive to inform and unite all facets of the community in the process, Yorkville CUSD 115 has developed a multi-faceted system that has proactively identified issues and saved lives.