Keeping Our Students Safe: Symposium Findings

Schools, Police Compare Notes On School Safety

The Platte Canyon shooting is prompting schools to rethink best practices.

Background

On Thursday, March 1, 2007, the Foundation for the Prevention of School Violence presented a one-day symposium entitled, "Keeping our Students Safe." The symposium was held on the campus of Johnson & Wales University, Denver, Colorado. Several hundred school and youth safety experts from across Colorado joined together in discussing issues and best practices for providing a safe learning environment for our students.

These discussions were groundbreaking in that this was the first time in Colorado that there was an open forum including participants from grade levels K-12, colleges, universities, school safety officers, counselors, and law enforcement organizations to meet in one place and learn from each other.

There have been various other conferences on these issues, but they were held within separate geographic locations, and did not attempt to integrate all interested parties.

It was clear from the discussions that best practices in Colorado have been identified and studied since the April 1999 attack at Columbine High School. However, the recent tragic incident at Platte Canyon High School brought a new dimension to school safety: hostile acts by individuals not directly connected with the school community.

Sheriff Fred Wegener, Park County Sheriff's Office, was the keynote speaker, and pointed out the need for preparedness and partnerships between law enforcement and educators. Another speaker, Bryan Krause, Principal of Platte Canyon High School, outlined his cooperation with the Park County Sheriff’s Office and the readiness levels of his staff for a violent confrontation within the school setting. John Nicoletti, Ph.D., spoke to the group about identifying violent behavior and post traumatic stress syndrome.

Discussions at the conference and afterwards have found many participants, school safety experts, parents, and the broader community of Colorado convinced that more than federal, state, or local guidelines are needed to keep our students safe. Participants felt that a proactive approach must be taken to prevent violence. There was some agreement that an internet web site of "best practices" is needed, and the Foundation is committed to that vision, to ensure that there is one central location for the gathering and distribution of needed information.

Break-Out Sessions

After having the opportunity to hear various speakers, participants were broken into sections by interest: K-6, Middle Schools, High Schools, Rural Schools, and Colleges and Universities. Each group was instructed, "Tell me about security in your school."

Symposium Findings

The following is a summary of the groups' findings:

1. Professional associations in education at the national and state levels for school boards, superintendents, principals, teachers, and school staff should incorporate training on school violence prevention, security, and emergency planning in each annual conference agenda and in special workshops. While many associations have done a consistently good job at maintaining these topics on their programs, other offerings have been sporadic at best, especially in light of demands for sessions on improving test scores.
   
   
2. Law enforcement professional associations should incorporate and maintain training on rapid response to active shooters, school emergency preparedness planning, and school-law enforcement partnerships as an ongoing part of their annual conference and workshop offerings. These programs were popular after Columbine but appear to have fallen by the wayside in recent years, particularly post-9/11 and with funding shifts for terrorism and homeland security.
   
   
3. Emergency management agency professional associations should include training components incorporating K-12 school emergency planning into overall community emergency management plans into their annual conferences and professional development workshops.
   
   
4. Education, law enforcement, and emergency management associations should include articles at least once a year in their professional publications to help members stay updated on school violence prevention, safety, security, and emergency preparedness trends and best practices.
   
   
5. Colleges and Universities should incorporate school safety training into undergraduate teaching training.
   
   
6. Colleges and Universities should require school safety training for any graduate student seeking school administrator certification credentials.

Bridging the Gaps: Finding Solutions

1. All of the groups agreed that the first part of arriving at any solutions to preventing school violence is to admit that there is a problem, and begin to reduce the apathy within the community about school safety.
   
   
2. Each school should conduct a safety audit and publish within the organization, at appropriate levels, needs, concerns, and recommendations.
   
   
3. Each school must evaluate their cultural climate and determine if that climate adds to the possibility of violent acts within the school.
   
   
4. It is not enough to have rules and policies if they are not followed and enforced.
   
   
5. Develop a plan to collaborate with police and other entities that impact school safety and form an open dialogue among all parties.
   
   
6. Develop a proactive approach to school safety that includes the entire community, teachers, administrators, police, fire, health care, students and parents.
   
   
7. If schools cannot afford to expend funds for safety concerns, reach out into the community to develop alternate streams of funding. Encourage local businesses to assist in development of school safety programs that are meaningful and appropriate.
   
   
8. Use the resources that currently exist within schools and the community to make schools a safe environment for students, staff and teachers.
   
   
9. Continue to hold state-wide symposiums to seek solutions and develop dialogues for the prevention of school violence.

About the Foundation

The Foundation for the Prevention of School Violence (FPSV) is a non-profit organization devoted to the research and advancement of policies related to the prevention of school violence. The Foundation was formed in December of 2006, and has a threefold mission:

First, to become known as the "Premier Resource" for the State of Colorado for the prevention of school violence by collecting research literature and resources on the causes and prevention of violence. The Foundation provides direct information services to the public by offering topical searches on customized databases. Additionally, FPSV will provide an annual symposium to discuss, develop and further identify areas that will assist in the prevention of violence in our educational institutions.

Second, FPSV offers technical assistance for the evaluation and development of violence prevention programs.

Third, FPSV will maintain a basic research component through data analysis and other projects on the causes of school violence and the effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs.

To read more group notes from the Symposium, click the link below.