School officials: Security is an ongoing concern

Security at local schools is an ongoing concern, officials said Friday in response to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut that leftat least 20 children dead.

“It’s all of our worst nightmares,” Springfield City Schools Superintendent David Estrop said.

“You do everything you can to make the children, staff and the volunteers who work in our buildings as safe and secure as you can possibly make them,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s no way to prevent all of these kinds of things from occurring.”

Estrop said school officials strive to balance security with allowing parents to have access to their children and offering public school events such as plays, concerts and basketball games.

The district’s new schools are normally locked during school hours. Visitors have to push a button and talk into an intercom to state their business before gaining access, he said.

Estrop said the district took the additional step a couple of years ago of requiring photo ID badges and background checks for the 650 volunteers who work in the 16 school buildings.

Students also routinely go through lockdown drills, required to be held at least once a year. Even preschoolers, ages 3 to 5, participate in them.

“We want to make sure staff and children are all trained, just as we would for tornados and severe weather,” he said.

State law requires all Ohio school boards to adopt a comprehensive school safety plan for each school building. Districts must have a protocol for addressing serious threats to safety and any emergency events that could compromise the safety of students or staff.

That plan, often created with the help of local law enforcement officers, must be updated at least once every three years. Copies of the school safety plan and blueprints must be filed with local law enforcement agencies and the fire department, and filed with the attorney general’s office.

Ohio Acting Superintendent Michael Sawyers said Friday that the Ohio Department of Education also encourages all school districts to go beyond the minimum requirements of the law.

“Schools cannot do this without a partnership between parents, communities and local safety officials,” he said. “Please continue to be proactive in doing everything possible to protect students.”

Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said fortunately the community hasn’t had a tragic situation like what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., but local law enforcement has prepared for emergency situations at schools.

“If we did have a situation like that, we have been through training with the Springfield Police Department and South Vienna,” he said. “One of the great things about our new radio system is that we can just go to one frequency and we can talk to Springfield and everybody in the county can be on one frequency. We can talk immediately.”

Urbana Superintendent Charles Thiel said school officials will review what happened in Connecticut to see if there is anything they can learn to improve their security.

Though schools are required to do at least one lock-down drill per year, Urbana schools do them multiple times.

“You hope to never face it, but it’s good to go through the exercise,” said Thiel, former principal of Urbana High School. “The more you do them, the less anxious and fearful the students become.”

Thiel knows that some students may want to talk about what happened when they return to school Monday. Guidance counselors and teachers will be on alert to look for those signs and respond appropriately.

Mary Beth DeWitt, a psychologist at Dayton Children’s Medical Center said it’s likely that children will see the news coverage and hear others discussing the tragedy and they will have questions and concerns.

“Children have the same anxieties and uncertainties that we have when hearing this devastating news,” she said. “It gives us a nice opportunity to talk to them about having those emotions and how best to cope with those emotions.”

She said some children may feel scared or unsafe going back to school.

“You need to reassure them that the teachers are there to keep them safe,” she said.

Staff Writer Katie Wedell contributed to this report.

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