Jordan School District Teams Up For Kids Safety

In three weeks school gets underway in the Jordan School District and one city in that district is teaming up to make sure kids safety remains a top priority.

But it’s not just physical safety they are concerned about, it’s also dealing with issues like anxiety, depression and social media.

“It’s really hard to have a drill when a kid comes in and says I want to hurt myself,” said Donna Hunter, the principal at Oquirrh Hills Middle School in Riverton. “I want to make sure every kid feels like they are welcome here.”

One thing that gives her peace of mind is that she knows she’s not alone. Not only does she have the support of her district, but also the city mayor and city police chief who all attended a city safety summit with educators to talk about school safety.

“To have that shared responsibility really lifts a load because a lot of times the perception is that the school should be doing everything,” said Hunter.

Mayor Trent Staggs says he started the yearly city-wide safety summit because he wanted to make sure that everyone was working together to make kids safe.

“These are all our kids and we want to make sure they are safe in school,” said Mayor Staggs.

Part of that effort is to have several community gatherings a year they call “Live in Real Life Events”, which deal with the emotional issues kids may also be facing.

“It’s a different day, it really is a different day in which we live,” he said. “Anxiety, depression and mental health it’s a community issue.”

City Police Chief Don Hutson who just got the city’s first police force up and running on July 1^st says they too are preparing for more than just physical safety.

“If we can perhaps identify someone who is maybe on the verge of a mental health crisis maybe we can prevent some of these events from occurring,” said Chief Hutson. “I don’t know if there is a more important duty that we have other than to protect the children of this city.”