SAFE SCHOOLS

Utah Schools Make Safety Improvements Ahead of 2018-2019 School Year

Aug 14, 2018, 10:15 PM | Updated: 11:59 pm

HEBER, Utah – School safety has been on people’s minds for decades, but six months ago, the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida was a solemn reminder that violence in our schools is still a huge concern. Immediately following the Parkland shooting, many schools in Utah were faced with their own school threats – although none materialized into actual violence.

Wasatch High School in Heber had two social media threats of gun violence in less than a week.

“It brought it home to us a little bit,” said Superintendent Paul Sweat. “It made us realize it can happen here. It can happen in Utah. It can happen in this beautiful little valley that we live in. It could happen to us.”

While neither threat materialized, the Wasatch School District held an emergency meeting and took action anyway.

Sweat says changes for the 2018-2019 school year include:

  1. A secure front entrance at Wasatch High, meaning not just anyone can walk through the doors.  They must first enter the office to be vetted by staff.
  2. Employees can lock down the entire school immediately with a couple taps of their badge.
  3. Bullet-resistant film is being added to the windows of one elementary school.  It could stop a gunman from shooting out windows.  The film is a test for now, but it may be installed at other schools in the future.
  4. A full-time school resource officer at each of the district’s eight schools, plus two officers at Wasatch High.

“Anyone coming to harm our children should know that they will be dealing with an armed officer,” said Sweat.

“It made us realize it can happen here,” said Wasatch School District superintendent Paul Sweat. “It can happen in Utah. It can happen in this beautiful little valley that we live in. It could happen to us.”

But maybe the biggest shift for the district is an awareness of its students’ mental health. Dr. Ben Springer, Wasatch District’s Director of Wellness, says that’s a huge step forward.

Dr. Ben Springer, Wasatch District’s Director of Wellness.

“It’s always been a thing. It’s not like it just showed up. But we’re starting to pay a lot more attention to it,” said Springer. “If there’s an upside to the tragedies that have been happening nationwide and locally here in Utah, particularly with the suicide rates, it’s this awareness.”

Springer says Wasatch District has a school counselor in every building, two school social workers and three school psychologists. They hired a new one just this year.

While the physical and emotional changes at Wasatch may not prevent tragedy from striking, that’s not stopping the district from trying.

“We’re not naïve enough to think that any of it is full-proof, but we do feel like we’re doing everything that we can,” said Sweat.

“We’ve got to go help kids now,” said Springer. “It’s not something that you wait for.”

With the majority of Utah schools soon to be back in session, KSL checked with major school districts in the state to find out what new security measures they’re taking this year.

Alpine School District

  1. Two new elementary schools opening with push button systems, keyless/card entries.
  2. Mountain View High School has added secure entry (designed to have guests enter through the office), new camera system installed.
  3. Timpanogos High School had a new camera system installed.
  4. Polaris High School had a new camera system installed.
  5. Summit had a new camera system installed.
  6. Pleasant Grove Junior High School added a new push button classroom system (added safety feature for teachers) for communication, replacing the old intercom system.
  7. Only 16 elementary schools still need to have keyless/card entries installed out of our 59 total elementary schools.
  8. Hired four elementary school counselors (all new positions).
  9. Increased School Resource Officers so that every secondary school has a resource officer.
  10. Working towards greater visibility of officers in the elementary schools.
  11. New emergency protocol cards distributed (SRP – Standard Response Protocol) to every school this summer.
  12. Visitor signs posted on every door.
  13. Hired one additional social worker and school nurse.
  14. SafeUT app reviewed this summer with secondary principals, and studied the individual school use data from the previous year.

 

Canyons School District

  1. Armed School Resource Officer assigned to every school (16 total officers for the district).
  2. Recently updated all crisis-response plans.
  3. All schools practice lockdown and shelter-in-place drills throughout the year.
  4. Elementary students participate in these drills at least once a month; secondary schools hold quarterly drills.
  5. Focus on changing school culture. School psychologists and counselors and/or social workers are assigned to every school to support staff in reinforcing positive behavior.
  6. SafeUT partner.
  7. Secure vestibules are being installed at schools to force visitors to go into the main office and check in before being approved to enter the school. Designs for new schools and schools being renovated call for secure vestibules.
  8. All elementary schools and six of the eight middle schools have the security vestibules, with plans to install the vestibules at the remaining two when they are rebuilt with money from the voter-approved 2017 bond or renovated with ongoing capital-facility money. Three of Canyons’ five high schools are currently being rebuilt with proceeds from the 2017 bond, and the blueprints for all of them call for the security vestibules.
  9. Schools are being rebuilt with seismic controls, state-of-the-art surveillance systems, and automatic locks. District strives to locate schools out of visibility of main roads and landscapes so that playgrounds are shielded and people can’t easily see inside the school, while employees working inside have a clear line of sight down the halls, and to the parking lot and front entrance. Entryways and exits are strategically located.
  10. Emergency Management Committee formed to review and refine all emergency plans and investigate ways to make schools safer than they already are.
  11. Last year, Canyon View Elementary piloted use of a “panic button” mobile app called DIR-S, which allows teachers and staff members the ability to communicate in real time via a mobile app loaded on iPads and phones.  During an emergency, teachers can use the app to let authorities know whether they are safe or need assistance by simply pressing a button the app. From the app, they can see if there are parts of the school that are in state of emergency and can communicate with the principal and even law-enforcement. The Canyons Board of Education has now approved a contract with the company to implement the use of the mobile app in schools across the district.

 

Davis School District

  1. 24-hour security monitoring.
  2. Enhancements to the district’s video monitoring system with the addition of hundreds of cameras throughout the district.
  3. Standardized the drill schedule across the district involving lockouts, lockdowns and fire drills.
  4. Continual addition of secure school vestibules.
  5. Continually establish positive relationships with students.
  6. Encouraging students and parents to be the eyes and ears of the school. If anything appears out of the ordinary, report it.
  7. Continued emphasis on locking doors, limiting access to buildings, and staff being present in hallways during class change.
  8. Continual use of SafeUT app and follow-up of reported threats.
  9. Continual collaboration with area law enforcement.

 

Granite School District

  1. Computer sign-in system that does background check on visitors – expected completion in 2020.
  2. Passed bond to help pay for security upgrades.
  3. Working to retrofit every elementary with buzz in/locked doors – expected completion in 2020.
  4. Twenty member district police force works in conjunction with local agencies to provide coverage at all 90 of Granite’s schools.

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Utah Schools Make Safety Improvements Ahead of 2018-2019 School Year