When Will More be Enough?

To state that what happened in Perry last Thursday was tragic almost seems inadequate. It was supposed to be the routine start of a school day following a holiday break. I suppose it started out like any other day would; with kids enjoying their breakfast. In this case that meant catching up with friends and sharing adventures from their holiday break. Then the unthinkable happened. To say it was shocking is an understatement.

Perhaps most unsettling for many of us was the proximity. We have employees with connections to Perry. A friend who works there. A classmate from college. Family. Colleague. Those relationships and the short distance away have made this all the more difficult to comprehend. Truth be told though, saying 'the unthinkable happened' is false. We all know this is not a new phenomenon. Yet perhaps in the past, as we have seen this same story unfold time and again in other parts of the country, the distance between them and us have lulled us into this false sense of 'it can't happen here'. Indeed that mirage has now been shattered. 

The pattern that has emerged, and one that will unfold in the coming days is predictable. In fact it has already begun. There will be calls for legislation. Some will say there is a mental health problem and others will say there is a gun problem. Schools will revisit safety protocols. Parents and community members will advocate for the hardening of buildings. That's not to say those responses are unwarranted. They are. In fact, those conversations and questions are not only appropriate, but they are necessary. 

But at the same time, we need to consider whether or not actions we can take as communities are feasible and effective. Schools, school administrators, teachers, and everyone who works in them will do everything in our power to make our schools safe. So when there are calls to 'do more to make our schools safe', parents and community members have a common ally with their local public school. Yet I wonder, is that energy misdirected? The common response after a tragedy of this magnitude goes a bit like this: 1.) The school should.... 2.) Let's add.... 3.) Why didn't the school....

We can transform our campuses into veritable fortresses where everyone is searched before they come into our buildings through a single point of entry. We can add more cameras, more bullet proof glass, more police officers, and more barriers. More is better, right? In so doing of course, we make our public schools a little less public. Should we? And I'm not really being rhetorical here, I'm asking an honest question because frankly I don't have the answer. 

Our professional staff is highly trained to be observant and vigilant. They meet regularly to discuss students and concerns if/as they arise. The professional counseling staff is trained to intervene when needed, to provide support to students, and work with parents. A year ago, to strengthen this system we added a school social worker who not only carries a caseload of her own, but is able to connect students and families with services above and beyond what can be offered here locally. But we didn't stop there. Fortunately we are blessed with an incredibly supportive community who helped us to add a full-time school resource officer (SRO) last year. A uniformed officer and squad car parked on campus daily is an added comfort, deterrent, and layer of protection. Is that enough?

Physically, our school buildings are designed with safety features and are highly technical. For starters, the campus is locked down beginning at 8:05 daily. If one of the doors doesn't lock, it sends an alert to the building administrators and maintenance department. As an added check, our SRO patrols the campus for a physical security check. During the day, visitors to the building are routed through a single point of entrance where they are forced to go through the main office at each attendance center. Long gone are the days when one could come in the building without checking in at the office. Once in our buildings, a highly sophisticated surveillance system monitors all the common spaces throughout the district. In the event of an emergency, this monitoring system can be transferred to emergency personnel. (Note: our surveillance system is being upgraded this spring and summer.) Is that enough?

It probably wouldn't surprise you to know that we have developed plans and procedures to address a whole host of emergency contingencies in our school district. We have fire drills, tornado drills, and [even] in September have ALICE week where we discuss with our students what to do in event the unthinkable happens. Is that enough?

In my view, we have done quite a bit to improve safety and security of our buildings. For certain this is not the same school it was 15 years ago. Can we do more? Certainly we can. The question of course is at what cost, and I'm not necessarily talking about the financial implications. Those are questions that we need to answer together. At the same time, we need to ask ourselves, when will more be enough?