School safety report examines preparedness
A Shelby County task force aimed at improving school safety has released its first report, calling for enhanced local review of individual schools’ plans and the number of resource officers in every building.
The task force, organized by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, met four times since a shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day.
Luttrell said the report is a baseline for examining the current training, procedures and personnel in place to ensure schools are safe and as prepared as possible for major incidents.
“We really didn’t go in with the idea of reinventing the wheel,” Luttrell said. “We went in to take a look at what was in place, and if what we had in place was adequate and if it was functional.”
The task force included leaders from agencies like the city of Memphis, Shelby County, local law enforcement, Shelby County Schools, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The report will be available to any public or private school in the county.
The mayor said he is recommending the safety plans that each schools is required to submit to the state also be given to the local Homeland Security office for centralized access and review.
“Homeland Secuirty would make sure they are current, everything is addressed,” Luttrell said.
The report includes recommendations for training for multiple hazards, including specific active shooter drills, for students, teachers and staff in partnership with law enforcement. Training should be done at least annually, the recommendation says.
Luttrell said the possible psychological effects of training, especially on younger students instructed to hide from the possibility of a person coming to harm them, was not discussed. Training should be done with sensitivity, he said, but the emphasis needs to be on safety and the mechanics of the drills.
“I don’t think we can minimize the training for fear of traumatization,” he said. “I think you just have to factor in how you’re going to deal with the traumatization.”
The report includes some commonsense recommendations such as keeping exterior doors locked and continuing the use of metal detectors. But it doesn’t say if every school should have metal detectors, or how they should be distributed.
SCS Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said one of his biggest concerns is access points into schools, especially those with large student populations and multiple buildings.
“If you make one entry point with 2000 kids, it’s going to be hard to have school,” Hopson said.
Other suggestions in the report are more vague, including, “Schools should continue to review their student cell phone and mobile device policies to determine best practices for acceptable use and allowable possession during schools hours.”
The report also doesn’t call for additional school resource officers or additional counselors who specialize in mental health.
All middle schools and high schools have resource officers, who are full law enforcement officers. The ones at middle schools also patrol the elementary schools in their area, Hopson said.
He said the district generally has a good ratio of students to officers, but given the reality of neighborhood issues spilling into the schools, more would be better.
Luttrell said the number of law enforcement personnel in schools should be reviewed on an annual basis and adjusted as needed. For counselors, the report says, “Ensure guidance counselors and teachers continue address behavioral and mental health concerns, and respond to critical incidents on short notice.”
Board member Chris Caldwell said many of the recommendations in the report are in line with the board’s priorities for the next budget.
“The number one priority we listed was schools safety and climate,” he said, including adding mental health support and guidance counselors and improving technology like cameras in schools.
As far as legislative recommendations, the task force’s report notes only that districts should support legislation that improves school safety.
Luttrell said the task force will continue to meet, and will take positions on or propose legislation as needed. He said the group did discuss the idea of arming teachers.
“To add additional responsibility to our teachers was not appropriate at this time when it comes to arming teachers,” he said.
Hopson said he was glad to see the legislature this year did not approve a bill that would have armed teachers. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other necessary measures or holes to fill, he said.
“I’m comfortable that we’re following best practices but I’m not comfortable saying there couldn’t be more that we could do,” Hopson said.
Reach Jennifer Pignolet at jennifer. pignolet@commercialappeal.com.