INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — As teachers are finalizing lesson plans and students are stocking up on school supplies in preparation for another year of “school as usual,” a whole other layer of processes are underway in Indian River County to ensure the school year proceeds without a hitch.
School safety is a hot topic among parents, students, and School District staff. As scary and disturbing violent acts continue to pop up at schools throughout the country, it is difficult to avoid the question, “What if ‘it’ happened here?”
Sgt. Ladell Young, head of the Indian River County school resource program, said the District is continually and consistently moving toward better safety policies and equipment.
According to Young, every high school and middle school, as well as the freshman learning centers and the alternative center, are staffed with full time resource officers who are first to respond to an emergency on school grounds.
“During the week prior to school or the first week of school, the school resource officers meet with their principals and staff and discuss the emergency preparedness for that year,” Young said.
Additionally, the officers undergo regular “active shooter training” during which they simulate a scenario of a live shooter invading a school campus or school bus. But the simulations do not end once students cross the threshold.
“All the schools do at least one Code Red a semester or a Code Yellow, to make sure their staff is prepared just in case something happens,” Young said. Codes red and yellow refer to threatening situations on campus in which students and staff have to take particular actions to increase their likelihood of staying safe.
Though resource officers are able to address many “school grounds” safety concerns solo, if an emergency raises to a level that calls for additional law enforcement, Young said police would be on site in a matter of minutes.
“You want to get there as quickly as you can,” Young said. “Our response time would be within minutes.”
This year, the District has been approved for new security equipment and technology that will be in place by the time class is back in session. Though Young could not disclose details about the new equipment in order to keep it as secure as possible, he said it was a great addition to the District’s safety infrastructure.
But school security covers a much broader area than just keeping students safe from spontaneous acts of violence. For example, the “Raptor” system is used District wide as a means of checking school visitors in and out of the building.
For the most part, Young said, the “Raptor” system is meant to keep registered sex offenders from ever making it past the front office.
In order for the system to function properly, all foot traffic must be funneled through the front office to begin with, not always an easy feat for campuses that have open, outdoor layouts.
“Depending on the campus, some are more secure than others as far as their perimeters and gates around the schools go,” Young said. “Those who don’t have that in place now are attempting to put some kind of perimeter around the school. We’re still catching up when it comes to that.”
Bill Fritz, assistant superintendent for human resources and risk management, agreed with Young’s assessment of a portion of the District’s campuses.
According to Fritz, every campus in the District is actively addressing their vulnerabilities around their respective perimeters, and within the next two school years, intend to have better systems in place that will require all campus visitors to enter and check in through the front office with the “Raptor” system.
Another aspect of school security is reassuring parents and guardians they will be notified if, and only if, his or her student is in danger.
“We make that decision on a case by case basis,” Fritz said.
The District’s superintendent Dr. Fran Adams gave a statement last April after multiple bomb threats were issued by the same caller to Vero Beach Elementary after school hours.
“We’re not here to alarm 750 parents,” Dr. Adams told VeroNews.com in April. “You make a call as to when to make people fearful…We want [parents] to be reassured that if there was any issue of safety that [the School District] would notify them.”
Fritz supported Dr. Adams’ statement and said nothing in the District’s parent notification process had changed.
“We want parents to know if their student is in danger,” Fritz said. He went on to explain an electronic phone call system that is utilized to notify parents and guardians of any emergencies. “But if students aren’t in danger, we don’t have a need to alarm people.”
In the end, Fritz said the physical safety of students, faculty, and staff across the District is a very high priority.
Fritz said, “Our goal is to educate all of the children in our community. If children aren’t feeling physically and emotionally safe, we can’t serve them educationally.”
