District outlines safety efforts

School district issues response to violent threats

Since February, there have been three separate shooting threats to Willoughby-Eastlake schools, with a handful of suspected perpetrators facing charges as a result.

Although the ideal situation would be to have zero threats and zero emergencies, the recent incidents fortunately did not escalate into violence. Both WilloughbyEastlake Schools and local police played a part in diffusing the situations.

Two of the most recent threats were made via social media.

“(Social media) is probably more often than not the way we receive them,” said Superintendent Steve Thompson.

He said that the school is often the last to be notified of a social media threat and that releasing premature information can obstruct a police investigation.

Thompson said that the school district follows an “emergency communication timeline” in the event of a threat, in order to communicate with police and handle the incident:

• Complete intake of report(s) —

If report is given by local law enforcement agencies, assist to identify source of threat.

• Verify all facts with individual(s) reporting incident — If students are in session, determine impact on student safety; act accordingly and monitor students through all steps.

• Notify law enforcement agencies and district crisis team members.

• Monitor additional incoming reports and continue to ensure that law enforcement agencies have new information.

• Respond to all law enforcement agents and identify contact information so that police can interview/ investigate pertinent parties.

• Collaborate with law enforcement to determine timeline for informing community and parents. (If immediate threat to students, police may need to investigate first. Information to the public may jeopardize police investigations and locating source of threat.)

• Allow law enforcement agencies to investigate and assist as requested.

• Determine appropriate

information to be released based on police recommendations.

• Create parent and community messages. Review threats to students and student safety. (If safety is in question, send students home as soon as possible.)

• Notify parents and community of details of emergency.

• Continue to evaluate threat and assist police with questions. Answer community questions.

“The timeline is typically longer than what some people would like,” Thompson said, “but we a) don’t want to impede an investigation and b) we want to make sure we’re putting out factual information.”

The school district is currently working on and plans to work on initiatives that are designed to increase student safety, as well as improve threat response and stop active shooter situations.

One of the efforts includes the installation of “bullpens” at the entrance of each district building. Bullpens are a set of two doorways, which essentially requires visitors to pass through two entrances before coming into contact with students and faculty.

Willoughby-Eastlake is currently switching their internal radios to a digital system, which will allow radios to communicate all across the district.

“I will also have the ability to override everyone’s radio and talk to everyone who has a radio in the district,” Thompson said. “Our first batch of orders is 60 radios to go across the district. So it’s an incredible communication system that we currently don’t have.”

He highlighted that they are the same radios that police officers carry. In addition to their internal communication, the district would also be in contact with police via radio, in the event of an emergency.

New safety film is also scheduled to be installed on district building windows and doors this summer. The safety film helps prevent an intruder from breaking or shooting through glass and is invisible to the naked eye.

Other initiatives include ALICE training, safety training with law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, increasing presence of security cameras, cloud-based floor plans to help first responders navigate school buildings, MARCS radios and a Raptor

Visitor Management System, which screens all district visitors against registered sex offender databases nationwide.

Thompson said that the district is working to bring in additional mental health providers to offer professional assistance to students, through Crossroads behaviorial health services.

“Right now we have six budgeted and appropriated for,” he said, “and we (currently) have three full-time Crossroads people.”

The district is introducing Sandy Hook Promise programs and training, which helps encourage students to “say something” if they “hear something.”

“There’s an app that the Sandy Hook Promise has that were hoping to get,” Thompson said. “We’re lined up for those programs, we just haven’t received it yet.”

He said that the app would be much like the S.T.O.P. app that Willowick has introduced to students.

The superintendent also mentioned that the school district has recently increased the presence of school resource officers.

“SROs certainly give you a police presence in the building,” he said. “I think, more than anything, it just makes people feel safer.”