Community Consolidated School District 21

Todd Rohlwing

Student Safety Authority

Being a School Safety Director is a purpose-filled journey. One must lean on life experiences as the best way to serve a school district. Three aspects of my life that have helped me address school safety come from three perspectives. My law enforcement experience has allowed me to see a school with my knowledge on dealing with the criminal element that threatens the safety of our schools, with emphasis on prevention and response to threats. The second life experience was spending time in a high school as a Safety Officer. This allowed me to realize that school has vastly changed from when I attended school. The importance of meeting students where they are at is at the base of a good school safety culture. The biggest challenge to a positive school safety culture is the existence of social media in the daily lives of today’s students. Finally, my last life experience is that of a parent of two students who moved through the public-school system. You'd better understand a parent’s perspective when you interact with them because you have shared experiences. This most importantly includes addressing the fears of parents in today’s educational setting.

Addressing parents and the community on school safety concerns requires a delicate balance to not be an alarmist, or on the other hand, someone who is weak on school safety. Schools are not designed to be prisons where movement in and about the building is strictly monitored and managed with safety systems. One should always remember that as a District we prioritize school safety, but the priority of a school district is to provide a highquality education. Best practices should be the compass for a layered approach to school safety. A well-trained staff is at the base of the safety pyramid. The other various layers of the pyramid include locked doors, safety upgrades, cameras, threat assessment, and other safety plans drilled with fidelity. The partnership with first responders should not be discounted. Our first responder partners should help develop and assist with the implementation of school safety plans so that if a real incident were to occur, everyone is on the same page to response.

"The biggest challenge to a positive school safety culture is the existence of social media sown into the daily lives of today's students."

Threat assessment is where a school district can make the biggest impact beyond locked doors and other established physical safety measures. Threat assessment allows threats to be addressed before an actor commits school violence. Having avenues to report disturbing behavior, such as hotlines, is essential. A school that has established a positive school safety culture allows students to feel comfortable sharing with trusted adults any information they may receive on school violence. The threat assessment team's concepts lean on the various viewpoints on a student to properly assess the threat as being credible or not credible. The professional experience of team members, such as administration, counselors, social workers, teachers and law enforcement, will all have different perceptions of a report of planned school violence. This collective think exercise allows the best chance to effectively address the threat and support all students.

School Safety is not solely the responsibility of the administration of the school district. Internally, school safety is the responsibility of all staff members, including administration, teachers, support staff, custodial staff, and food service. This encompassing approach means that all staff needs to be trained on protective actions and responses to various threats. The community partnership involves local government, the community and the parents of students. It is incumbent upon the school, through outreach, social media and effective web page communication, to reach out for assistance and stress the importance of the community partnership

There isn’t a magic wand or secret potion for school safety. School Districts need to be proactive in preventing school violence. The partnership of the school with the community and law enforcement is important to form a multi-tiered defense against school violence. When school violence happens in the country, too often school districts seek out gadgets and various safety products that placate the fears of parents and the community. Proven best practices and a well-trained staff go a long way to formulate a formidable safety wall. We must be aware that those who do school violence are learning from those who do mass killings or school shootings. We must learn and always stay one step ahead of the next evil person. When it comes to school violence, the good guys must get it right each and every time, while the bad guys need to only get it right once.