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SLI Plenary Session

Safety expert: School safety basics may cost nothing – but could cost everything if not followed

Kentucky School Advocate
July/August 2018

By Vickie Mitchell
Contributing writer

Dan Orman, training coordinator for KCSS

To understand how much time and attention Kentucky schools are placing on safety and security, check the odometers on Dan Orman’s and Jon Akers’ cars.

Since Jan. 24, a day after two students were killed in a shooting at Marshall County High School, Akers, executive director for the Kentucky Center for School Safety, and Orman (right), the training coordinator there, have driven 15,000 miles to advise and train teachers and school staff.

In his work, Orman has noted a shift in school responses, from panic toward practical, preventive measures.

“It seems to be a feet on-the-ground, calculated approach,” with less talk of patrols by “dad volunteers” and “arming every second-grade teacher,” Orman told his audience during the plenary session at KSBA’s Summer Leadership Institute.

Kentucky superintendents are organizing community forums and multi-district regional task forces and meeting with first responders. They are calling KCSS to conduct trainings for teachers and staff. Some are hiring mental health professionals. Others are ensuring that rules already in place are being followed – for example, going door to door to make sure that all classroom doors are locked, and when they find one that is not, having a talk with the teacher.

“What I have seen is that school boards, administrators and superintendents are really beginning to pay attention to the cornerstone that mentors have taught me and that is the concept of commitment over compliance,” said Orman. “It takes a commitment. As school leaders, that commitment starts with you.”

Orman reviewed practical measures that improve school safety when they are followed. And, he reminded board members and other educators, “most of these actions don’t cost anything.”

Locked doors
Spending money on more secure door hardware and security vestibules is meaningless if the delivery people or kitchen staff prop open the kitchen door.

“When we prop a door open, for whatever reason, we compromise the safety for everyone in the school,” Orman said. Schools should remove wedges, rocks, milk crates or other objects used to prop open doors. Unlocked doors must always be reported, he said. “When we see anything that compromises safety in a school, it is everybody’s business.”

Unlocked classroom doors continue to be a problem, in spite of a state law (KRS 158.162) that says classroom doors “should” be locked. Because of that wording, some schools regard the regulation as a suggestion. “When someone is hurt or killed, can you answer the question of why you didn’t lock the door? Because it said ‘should?’” Orman asked. “Why close and lock an exterior door and then leave the second layer vulnerable?”

Metal detectors and wanding
When these security measures are used they must be applied fairly, without bias. “They have to be truly random,” Orman said. When students feel they are being singled out, their relationship with the school’s leaders and staff is damaged. “There is no emotional safety if you know you are going to be the one wanded,” said Orman.

Access control
“Set a visitor protocol, and stick to it,” Orman said. “Do whatever you can do to avoid automatically buzzing people in.” People that school staff know – parents, teachers’ spouses, former students and others – can pose threats.

Teachers have been killed by angry spouses, Orman reminded attendees. “You never know what went on at their home the night before.”

No one, not even a superintendent or school board member, should be allowed to enter without going through the protocol. “Do whatever you do with any visitor,” he said.

The procedure can be a simple set of questions asked in a friendly way, such as “What brings you here to visit?” “How long do you plan to stay?” “We’ll need your keys so we can give you a visitor’s badge.” Such a process can slow down or frustrate a potential shooter to the point they exhibit odd behavior or other reactions that would alert school personnel to potential danger.

Staff ID badges
In small schools, where everyone seems to know everyone, badges can seem unnecessary, but they are extremely valuable to first responders in an emergency. Orman pointed out that during the Parkland, Fla., shooting, officers from 31 departments responded. Staff badges are also helpful to students or parents who are new to a school.

Quality supervision
Schools must have sufficient staff to supervise large gatherings of students. Early morning assemblies are particularly vulnerable and have been a target of some shootings, Orman pointed out.