Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
NWA schools address security
Districts evaluate safety amid local threats, Florida shooting
About 150 Prairie Grove eighth-graders sat in focused silence as their school resource officer talked about the threats, the bomb search and the reasons they need to know what to do if an active shooter gets into school.
“Ultimately, I am here for one reason — make sure you get home to mom and dad,” Cpl. David Faulk said Tuesday at the middle school. “In the midst of chaos, it’s life or death.”
A student wrote “Everyone will die” on a weekly agenda on a classroom board at Prairie Grove High School. Another student made a bomb threat a few weeks later on March 7. The school went into lockdown while police and a bomb dog searched the campus, according to a police news release.
These were two of many reported threats to Northwest Arkansas schools over the past month.
“We’ve all made a stupid comment before, but I’m here to tell you the state of Arkansas does not care if you were just playing. That stuff is not accepted,” Faulk said. “I promise you, you are going to be handcuffed. I promise you, you’re going to be charged with felonies. I promise you, you are either going to be suspended or expelled. Do we get it?”
School administrators in the region are evaluating the
safety and security of campuses because of the local threats and the latest mass shooting at a school. Administrators said the conversations are ongoing and not just driven by the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Fla., though the deadly tragedy has propelled concerns to the forefront.
“I feel like this has been a turning point in school shootings for us. It might just have always been lingering in the back of our minds, but this is the turning point,” Fayetteville High School senior Ty West said. “I’m glad it’s been getting the attention of so many people.”
Administrators and police in the four largest area school districts are doing and considering many things to increase safety — upgrading security systems; adding more student resource officers or private security; improving emergency drills and procedures; and finding better ways of tracking and communicating with students.
“We will do whatever we can to help protect our students,” said Charles Lee, assistant for general administration for Rogers Public Schools.
SECURITY SYSTEMS
The majority of campuses in the four large districts and at least some of the smaller ones have locked-door policies and buzz-in intercom systems. These systems require an employee to allow a visitor through the doors.
Newer school buildings and many of the retrofitted older ones have the visitor entering through the main office, adding another set of doors someone has to go through before accessing a hall or classroom.
All 31 schools in the Springdale School District have buzz-in systems and keep all other entrances locked after classes start, said Jared Cleveland, deputy superintendent for personnel and facilities.
Bentonville schools keep all doors locked except the main door and is finishing the addition of audio-visual, buzz-in systems at elementary and middle schools, said Steve Vera, safety and energy coordinator for the district. The systems are already in the high schools and junior high schools.
Bentonville uses the Raptor Visitor Management System to check in visitors, replacing the paper-based sign-in sheet and keeping a sharp eye on the comings and goings of a visitor. The Raptor system scans the visitor’s name, date of birth and photo using a driver’s license or other state-issued ID, according to the system’s website. Other schools are adapting similar sign-in systems.
Fayetteville is installing buzz-in systems during spring break at the only two schools that don’t have them, said Cpl. John Foster, a student resource officer.
Rogers has the system in its newer buildings and some that have been retrofitted, said Charles Lee, assistant for general administration for the district.
Some of the money from a recent millage increase is being used to improve technology and safety and security issues, Lee said. Entrance safety systems will be enhanced and security cameras added as well as finishing installing fences at all elementary schools over the next couple of years, he said.
Some districts are considering whether to consolidate spread-out campuses to decrease the times students have to walk outside between classes and the number of entrances an intruder could access.
Fayetteville schools incorporated this concept when it built the new high school, which dropped the number of exterior doors from nearly 70 to less than a dozen, Superintendent Matthew Wendt said.
Prairie Grove middle school is tearing down several buildings and plans to build one seventh-eighth grade building next year, Faulk said.
RESOURCE OFFICERS ON DUTY
The Prairie Grove School Board approved hiring a second resource officer to spend time at the middle school level and allow Faulk more time at the high school. The district also wants to hire a third officer.
“I try to be at every single building every single day, but that’s just not practical,” Faulk said. “I feel if we catch kids early, we will have less trouble and develop relationships.”
Foster said he and the other resource officers walk the halls of Fayetteville schools daily. While most of the time it’s to make sure students are not skipping class, it’s also for their protection.
“We check doors to make sure they are secure. Most days include breaking up fights, helping kids with home issues, thefts, parking issues, parking lot accidents and teaching classes,” Foster said.
Springdale is the largest school district in Northwest Arkansas and has 18 resource officers. Two were added this school year and more are being considered, Cleveland said.
The officers are the liaison between schools and law enforcement. Cleveland said following their lead for safety and security is essential.
“Having professionals who do that kind of work relieves staff and lets teachers focus on their work,” he said. “They need to be allowed to do their jobs at the highest level, and we need each other to succeed at teaching and protecting kids.”
Rogers has three officers, one at each high school. Lee said the district is working to strengthen its partnership with police. Representatives from the district and the department met Monday to discuss increasing the number of officers at schools.
No district in the region has an officer at every school.
Bentonville is taking a slightly different approach. The district has five resource officers and is asking for another. It also has four civilian security workers who are district employees. They are not armed, but play an important role by making sure doors are locked, walking the halls and reporting possible problems, Vera said.
“They are our extra eyes and ears,” he said.
Schools in the area have the RAVE 911 alert system set up on phones and email to alert administration, resource officers and local law enforcement about any emergencies, including an active shooter.
Most police departments, through the cities, split the costs of school resource officers with their school districts. However, it varies by city.
DRILLS, PROCEDURES
Three of the four large districts use a national program called ALICE — Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate — to train faculty and students. It is an active shooter/lockdown procedure that teaches a variety of tactics on how to communicate and protect oneself amid chaos.
Bentonville schools don’t use the program, but a very similar one used by the local police and the Walmart Home Office, Vera said.
This isn’t the “hide under desks” technique the nation has seen fail, several resource officers said.
“We are teaching empowerment. This is life or death. Run. Fight when you can’t run,” Faulk said.
Faulk gave the rundown of several scenarios to about 150 eighth-graders Tuesday, which included a handful of them launching foam balls at him as he played the active shooter. Students can throw anything available and try to get away the moment a shooter gets into the school.
Amanda Ritchie, an eighth-grader, said, “I know I’d be able to fight, but it’s scary for me. It’d be hard not to pause. It’s scary, but the drills help us learn what we need to know.”
Happy Hollow Elementary School in Fayetteville ran its first active shooter specific drill soon after the Florida shooting. Principal Dondi Frisinger and some teachers worried if they should continue as planned, but she said they decided it was even more important to do so. The scenario practice went well, she said, and they learned a few things that need to be done better in future drills.
“It’s sad, but it’s necessary,” she said. “Yes, we are here to educate kids, but we have to keep them safe in order for that to happen.”
Sara Alderson and Kate Meyers, who teach fourth grade, said their students have had a lot of questions and concerns, but, overall, the drills helped them feel a little more at peace.
“They have a lot of what ifs, endless,” Alderson said. “Their minds just go crazy with all the things on TV. We always debrief with them.”
Several teachers said the mass shootings have changed how they see their jobs, and it can be emotional or intense. Bottom line, they will do whatever they can to keep their kids safe, they said.
Frisinger equated the drills to sports. No one can predict how the game is going to play out, but practicing hones skills and redefines instincts, so when it happens, those involved react quickly and as best they can.
The Fayetteville School District and police dogs and officers work together and schedule monthly random searches for drugs, paraphernalia and weapons. Resource officers do unannounced lockdown drills at random schools throughout the district.
Springdale schools don’t have active shooter specific drills with all the students, instead focusing on educating teachers and administration, said Springdale Lt. Jeff Taylor, who supervises the school resource program.
“If it’s a student wanting to come back and do it, he knows exactly what you’re going to do,” Taylor said. “If you teach the teachers and administrators, they’ll know what to do, and, in the midst of an incident, they can lead the students right then.”
As an example, Taylor referenced one of the first mass shootings, which took place in Jonesboro in 1998. The two shooters, who were 13 and 11, pulled the fire alarm, knowing everyone would stream out of class. They knew exactly where to be to effectively open fire. They killed four students and a teacher and wounded 10 other children.
Springdale does some lockdown drills, Cleveland said, but it’s a balance of not wanting to raise anxieties and wanting students prepared.
TRACKING, COMMUNICATING
Visitors cannot walk into Springdale High School without a name tag or some form of identification. They will notice the students and faculty are all wearing IDs.
Springdale started requiring mandatory lanyard IDs about three years ago. It was a big adjustment for everyone, Cleveland said, but it has been beneficial.
Faculty can quickly check if someone should be in a certain building, he said. It also has helped during emergency situations, he said. For example, a student may be having a medical emergency, and a teacher can quickly identify the student to speed up aid.
Bentonville is considering providing lanyards for students next year.
Cleveland said Springdale is trying to increase its tracking measures by adding radio frequency identification — better known as RFID chips used on retail store tags — to school IDs, allowing the school to track where people are on school property at all times.
The tracking won’t go beyond school property, except on school buses, for practical and privacy reasons, he said.
Coupled with installing Wi-Fi on the buses, the system would allow tracking in case of emergencies. Cleveland said the Wi-Fi would make it easier for new and substitute bus drivers to navigate the routes and give students more time to work on homework.
Cleveland said it’s a lot of data, but he thinks it’s a creative and proactive way to have real-time information.
With all security and safety measures in place, school officials said safety really comes down to each person, including students, doing his and her part.
Schools have implemented “see something, say something,” campaigns and actively encourage students to be alert and tell an adult if they see or hear something suspicious.
Bentonville added a confidential tip line for students who feel uncomfortable telling someone in authority in person. Vera has received several student and parent calls about threats that have led to investigations.
Luckily, none have revealed serious threats, he said.
“Whether it’s a hoax or joke or not, if a threat is made, it will have consequences,” he said. “It takes all of us to keep our schools and kids safe.”
School officials said they’re evaluating how to take every practical and possible measure of safety and security needed.
The pervasive mentality of police and school faculty throughout in Northwest Arkansas is it’s not “if” but “when” something like what happened in Parkland is going to happen closer to home.
“There are some things you can learn. There are some things you can change,” Taylor said. “But you can’t prevent everything. Unfortunately, there are bad people out there. There are times there is nothing you can do but be prepared.”
“I feel like this has been a turning point in school shootings for us. It might just have always been lingering in the back of our minds, but this is the turning point. I’m glad it’s been getting the attention of so many people.” — Ty West, Fayetteville High School senior