ERIC ED449654: School Security Roundtable, 2000.

26 Pages·2000·1.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
EF 005 847
ED 449 654
Agron, Joe, Ed.; Anderson, Larry, Ed.
AUTHOR
School Security Roundtable, 2000.
TITLE
2000-00-00
PUB DATE
25p.; A special supplement to "Access Control & Security
NOTE
"American School & University"
Systems Integration" and
magazines.
General (020)
Collected Works
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Elementary Secondary Education; *Public Schools; School
DESCRIPTORS
Community Relationship; *School Security; *Surveys; Trend
Analysis
ABSTRACT
A roundtable discussion is presented revealing what experts
say about school_5ecurity problems and how they are being addressed. Also
included are trend data from the School Security 2000 survey revealing top
security concerns, strategies, and security equipment preferences; how site
surveys can be used to keep schools safe; and how creating a partnership
between schools and the community can provide substantial benefits in
preventing school violence. The final section provides Internet web sites
devoted to school security issues.
(GR)
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Minor changes have been made to
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Points of view or opinions stated in this
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II
I
,,,,
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/441Fr
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Circle No. 295 on reader service card
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The writing is on the wall...schools are using their
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year repairing vandalism. Then add in your total asset loss.
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Circle No. 297 on reader service card
II "It
I Al
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School security insights
from those on the front lines
.5
111
I
1
n Jacksonville, Ha. , two seventh-graders, ages 12 and 15, are questioned by
authorities relating to an incident in which rat poison is sprinkled on salsa
and ingested by 34 students at Paxson Middle School Hospital authorities
say the students apparently ingested small amounts of Talon-G, a rat poison
fatal to humans only in large, repeated doses. Packets of the poison were spread
around the school to control a rodent problem.
In Miami, a 13-year-old honor student shoots and kills his English teacher
, ,
after the student is suspended for 10 days for throwing water balloons. The stu-
41
dent, who had dreamed of being a Secret Service agent, retrieves a .25-caliber
ii
is
semiautomatic pistol he stole from his grandfather's house and returns to the
school. "I thought I'd never catch up at the beginning of the next year," he says.
"All of my friends would leave me behind. I thought my future was ruined." He
is being tried as an adult, facing life in prison if convicted
and others rang:-
We're sure you have seen news coverage of these stories
ing from the unusual to the tragic to the just plain scary. The media is full of
accounts of the latest strange behavior by students, teachers and parents, all
II
centering around what we have traditionally considered safe havens of learn-
our schools. That almost anything can happen at school these days
ing
doesn't come as a total shock schools, after all, tend to reflect the societies
they serve. But the burden of preventing the unpredictable, of keeping students
safe in a time when the most bizarre antisocial materials are only a mouse-click
away, seems greater each day.
In our continuing efforts to prepare education and security professionals to
and even to deal
do battle against the darker elements of school society
with the everyday ways that students can step out of line
we present the
School Security-2000 Roundtable. In this-third-installment of a collaboration
between AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY magazine and ACCESS CONTROL
& SECURITY SYSTEMS INTEGRATION magazine, we go to the experts for guid-
ance in dealing with school security problems. Our roundtable of school pro-
fessionals takes on diverse topics and offers new insights into the problems of
security at street-level, so to speak. These participants speak from experience,
and their words shed important light on the topic at hand.
Also in this special supplement, being published in both magazines this
month, we offer more trend information from our exclusive School Security
2000 survey (see page SS12). We also provide several informative sidebars,
including a list of school safety and security-related Web sites
s
I
As always, we welcome your comments about what the supplement includes
and what it doesn't, especially if the omissions point to opportunities to
include information in future supplements.
Stay safe.
.(1.
,,
.:,
oe
Larry Anderson
Joe Agron
Editor in Chief
Editor/Associate Publisher
ACCESS CONTROL & SECURITY
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
SYSTEMS INTEGISTION
School Security Roundtable0=.,
protection
This should be all the
your
students need.
job to
The truth is school violence is a real issue. As an administrator, it is your
and staff is
provide the first level of protection. The education of your faculty
critical as a deterrent to violence on your campus.
The Law Enforcement Television Network and the Professional Security Training Network,
leaders in providing cutting-edge content directly into the workplace since 1986, offer the
training your faculty and staff need to provide a secure-campus. A-few of the many video-
based titles include:
Crisis on Campus
How to Handle Bomb Threats
Identifying Gang Members
Effective Crisis Intervention
What are you going to do to protect your students?
For your FREE information kit on Campus Security and Law Enforcement Training,
please call 1-800-568-9111.
N®
AFFILIATES OF
PRIMEDIA WORKPLACE LEARNING
,
Professional Security Training Network
Lew Enforcement Television Network
6
www.letn.com
www.pstn.com
Circle No. 298 on reader service card
h
School security is a critical issue for today's
administrators. With recent high-profile
incidences of school violence, parents and
communities want to know what schools
are doing to protect students and staff.
American School & University and Access
Control and Security Systems Integration
recently brought together a panel of promi-
nent school administrators to discuss key
security concerns and how they are being
addressed.
By Joe Agron and Larry Anderson
7
helicopters flying overhead and a
How have recent
more on the preventive aspects and
events
Q
reporter on campus interviewing
improving staff communication.
impacted your schools' secu-
Robert Van Zanten, Yorktown
people.
rity preparedness?
I think the biggest mistake we
Central School District, Westches-
Ron Jandura, Burlington Area
made was how we dealt with students
In June of last year,
School District, Wis.:
About five
ter County, N.Y.:
we had a bomb threat in our high
on the outside of our building, with
months prior to Columbine, five stu-
school. A device was found taped
their classes and their teachers, when
dents at my school put together a plot
in fact they didn't evacuate the build-
onto a window that looked like a stick
to kill 15 to 16 students, staff and
ing together. When the teachers went
of dynamite with a clock attached to
administrators. The students actually
out with whatever kids were in the
it. We thought we were really pre-
used the district's crisis plan as a
classroom, and the other kids were
pared for this type of incident. We
mechanism to implement their plan,
coming onto the campus, we weren't
had a plan of action, an emergency
and had we not had a student step
able to effectively control the situa-
management plan. But boy did we
forward and contact the police, I'm
learn that we didn't know anything
tion. That was a real test for us
convinced the plan could have suc-
One of the things that we never
about what was about to happen.
ceeded.
thought about was who would enter
While the device was not real, it
When the shootings at Colum-
the building under a situation like
really mobilized us to address it. Most
bine occurred, it was devastating to
this. The custodians didn't want to
of the district's buildings were wide
our staff and students because they
go into the building to help search.
open until that happened. There was
had literally walked through a dress
The fire department was a volunteer
no security in the buildings, there
rehearsal of what could have hap-
fire department and they didn't want
was no one really at the front door,
pened at our school.
to go into the building to help search.
and all the doors of most of the build-
Similar to what happened at Col-
The police department, of course,
umbine, the incident spurred phe-
ings were accessible. Since the bomb
was ready to go, but they didn't know
scare, we've changed that drastically.
nomenal media pressure. We were
the building. So we ended up taking
Now we have a single point of entry
lucky enough to have a decent set of
administrative staff to go into the
to our buildings, and someone sta-
procedures in place. One of the
building and help search And when
tioned at the front door.
things that really helped was our com-
the administrative staff was in the
When the incident occurred, we
munication with law enforcement.
building, there were no administra-
not only evacuated and checked the
All of our radios are monitored by
tors out on the campus So things
building, we also had the county
the police dispatch center, so as far
that you didn't think of, the type of
police dogs go through and check
as instant communication with the
control that you would automatically
every space; every locker. It was a
police department, it's right there.
want or expect to be there, really
In the aftermath, we focused a lot
scary situation, and from my perspec-
wasn't there.
tive it was even scar-
Kelvin Lee, Dry Creek Joint Ele-
ier because I thought
_
mentary School District, Roseville,
that we had arranged _
We had a bomb threat at one
for emergencies in a
Calif.:
way that everyone
of our sites and ran into a similar situ-
ation. The local sheriff's department
advocated. Little did
and fire department said that because
we know that within
20 minutes of the
they didn't know the complete area
I
of the school, they wouldn't enter
bomb threat happen-
ing, the radio sta-
the campus without our site admin-
8
istrators working with them. On top
tion was announcing
of that, they required every one of
that this had taken
place and parents
our students to leave their book bags,
everything, in the buildings
were rushing to the
So not only did we have to go
school to pull their
I
through with an officer and check
kids out. To further
every building, but we had to check
complicate the situ-
every one of the book bags as we went
ation, half of the stu-
through the school building While
dents had not arrived
I
the school
we were able to get everybody out in
yet at
because it happened
our fields protected, we had no capac-
at the very opening
ity to go back in and help the officers
of the school day.
search.
Marilyn Layman, DeSoto Uni-
Shortly after that, we
had televir news
What
fied School District, Kan.:
oc=irilfirg
Roundtable Supplement
Columbine and some of the other
we are properly prepared for an emer-
events did for us was trigger the need
gency.
Working with our local police-
to redo our crisis plan. And I agree
department officials and a bomb-
with you
you're never quite ready
you just know that it's not going
threat manual published by the Boston
to happen in the best of circum-
Bomb Squad, we've come to realize
that in the case of a fire drill, alarms
stances, that you'll probably never be
totally prepared. But in the process
go off, bells ring, lights flash on and
off, and people immediately rush out
of redoing our crisis plan and involv-
ing teams in each of our buildings,
of the building. You leave everything
behind and exit the building as fast
teachers began to say, 'I'm going to go
back in and search for that bomb?'
as you can. For a bomb threat, how-
ever, the alarms don't go off and we
'Who said I am responsible for that?'
'Where does it say that in my con-
ask everyone to carry as much of their
personal belongings out of the build-
tract?' Because depending on where
ing as they reasonably can. And, more
the device is located
outside, inside
a trash can
maybe you're taking
importantly, we want the teachers and
kids right into it. There has to be
other staff members to go back into
the building and check their rooms to
some method of checking first before
you send kids and teachers into an
tell us what's out of place.
We assume that if the children
area to ensure they are safe.
Gary Burton, Wayland School
and staff carry out their own belong-
ings, there's less to search. We're told
District, Mass.:
That's correct. You're
that if you bring in a trained bomb
not sure anymore whether you are
squad, it could take up to three or
taking children from an unsafe loca-
four days to properly check a building
tion to a safe location.
depending on its size. This is largely
That's scary, because
Van Zanten:
because the bomb squad officers have
think
for
that,
most
no idea what's out of place. So with
a bomb threat you literally have to
like to
parents, they'd
have everyone carry as much out of
the building as possible. I know this
see the dollars invested
sounds illogical, but it is, we're told,
on prevention; it's the
the most logical response to a bomb
threat. The custodians then have to
most effective.
go in-and-check-the boiler- rooms,, -the
cooks have to go in and check the
Ron Jandura
cafeteria and kitchen, the librarians
check the library, and so on. They're
the only people who can then point
to something and say 'that's out of
in one incident kids were sent out
through a fire drill and there were
place, that shouldn't be there.'
From the staff perspec-
people sniping at them from the out-
Layman:
tive, we're just trying to encourage
side. Now, our teachers were never
asked to go into the building, but
folks to look at their area, and take
action if a suspicious or unknown
we did ask the custodians to go in
package that doesn't belong there in
because normally they know what's
the usual course of events appears
out of place. In our emergency man-
agement plan, we do have a provision there.
that speaks to when you leave your
Every book bag is suspi-
Burton:
take a quick look around to
room
cious.
How do you know
see if anything is out of place, that
Van Zanten:
what's in those book bags when the
you just don't recognize, and report
kids take them outside? We had a
that to an administrator once you get
out of the building.
problem where a youngster left a book
bag inside a hallway and all of a
Burton:
We've had no bomb scares
of late,
but we've had numerous
sudden that became the focus. Is that
the device? So it's really a Catch 22.
administrative discussions on whether
'_3.
griarart
9
Roundtabre
School. Securit
0
the other unlawful acts. That has, in
itize a certain area, put the youngsters
Adis Swartzendruber, Waterloo
fact, been the case. We've had very
there, search the rest of the building
Community School District, Iowa:
and then go back to your normal
few acts of vandalism, and very few
There needs to be preparation for the
acts of violence.
extreme examples that we talk about.
day.
When an incident of national
When we announced at a board
But school violence is actually on the
importance raises the issue of secu-
of education meeting that this is how
decline. Schools today are safer than
rity in our community, there is little
we were going to handle it, there
our children's living rooms.
debate about trying to close our
was an uproar in the community and
We address the types of incidences
school campuses. And I hate to say
the board said that they wanted the
that could occur with a common-
this, but often there is a false sense
building evacuated whether or not it
sense approach. For example, having
of security, that it wouldn't happen
was a hoax. They wanted to make
a single point of entry, name tags for
sure that the building was checked
here.
all staff members, and the list goes on.
But a number of our staff and com-
without youngsters in that building.
With bomb scares, we work with our
munity members have talked about
So here was public pressure giving us
police department and have imple-
things that we can do. We've insti-
direction as to where they wanted us
mented a tracking system that can
tuted a crisis-response plan. We insti-
locate a call and have a squad car at
to go.
tuted photo identification badges that
Our situation was just
Jandura:
the call source within three minutes.
are state-of-the-art, and everybody
the opposite. We've got an excellent
Besides requiring staff drills and train-
wears them.
relationship with our police liaison
ing, the bomb scares have required
Our school district operates on a
program. Every bomb threat is evalu-
a realignment of our phone system.
multitrack year-round schedule, so we
ated with police involvement and we
Since we have implemented the pro-
always have children in the commu-
cedure, we have not had a bomb
take action from there. In some cases
nity that are "off-track." When you
we ignore it and some cases we take
threat. Prior to the tracking system,
see a child out in the community
action, or someplace in between. The
we were responding to a threat via
during the week, that child may not
board was aware of the procedure and
phone calls all over the district. We'd
be truant. That child may be on vaca-
they supported it. But you're right,
have to evacuate; and then we'd have
I think every response has to be
tion. So we have student-body cards
to deal with book bags and lockers.
with track colors along with their
unique.
I think there's a hysteria that ema-
I think we do have to
pictures, so law-enforcement officers
Layman:
nates from some of these incidents.
know when a child is out of school
respond to the hysteria that comes
Let's put it in perspective and consider
legitimately.
as a result of these other events. The
the overall safety and then how we
But the impact of certain high-
community pressure for us to install
prepare for those unique situations.
profile school violence raises the con-
metal detectors and security cameras
There are some situations where iso-
cern of our community, so we have....
was amazing. But we want a calmer
lated incidences of violence are far
to deal with it. I think the one thing
approach. Several years ago our dis-
more dramatic and more serious than
that's caused a secure feeling amongst
trict committed to high- schools -no
ever before. But overall, actual vio-
our constituents is the fact that we
bigger than 1,000 students, middle
lence, fighting, expulsions and suspen-
do have plans, we do practice them, .
schools at 750 and elementary schools
sions for violence have dramatically
and we do really want to make it very
fully under-
no larger than 550
declined.
standing the financial commitment of
public.
We always had open
this decision. This way there will be
Van Zanten:
How does public pressure
9
schools, where people could just walk
a competent, caring, qualified adult
impact the way in which you
in at any time. There was no person
to connect to those kids in a smaller
with security?
ea
d
even at the door checking in a visi-
school population. We've not yet gone
We had quite a to-do
Van Zanten:
tor unless he went to the office to sign
to security cameras or metal detec-
about what our reaction would be
in. Since the bomb scare, our parents
tors.
to an actual bomb threat. New York
did some heavy-duty pushing, trying
We build a new school about
Lee:
state had advised us that we would be
to force the district to assign a secu-
every 18 months, and most of them
able to do a number of things in order
rity person at the front entrance of
are associated with the community
to avoid having to evacuate a build-
each building. And since we did go to
park. They're open campuses, there
ing. One of the things that they men-
single point of entry, every building
are no fences, no single entry points.
tioned was that you could sanitize
up to the middle school has someone
It was the desire of the community
a building if you searched the build-
there.
and the trustees to build schools that
ing before anybody came in, and if
We had a situation
Jandura:
would be used seven days a week, 24
you would then check book bags as
recently where limited access to the
hours a day. And in a larger sense
youngsters came in during the day.
building worked against us. The kids
of things, they felt that ownership of
Then, if a bomb threat were to be
are all out on the playground at noon.
the school would reduce the number
called in, you would not have to evac-
A couple of kids thought they saw
of violent incidences, vandalism and
uate the building. You could also san-