This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

S-Cubed: Safety, Security and School Climate

It wasn’t just the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown that initiated the increased push for changes in legislation and building requirements for safe schools, but it did reinforce the probability of unseemly occurrences that could happen in any school building. Safety, security, and school climate have all been a growing concern as the needs for our children and communities change. East Haven has implemented safeguards to improve the safety and climate of our buildings.

Every parent wants to ensure that his or her child is safe when attending school. Safety means assurance that their child will arrive at school, go through the routine of the school day unharmed, and return home to them untarnished. For many of our children, school is a refuge, a place to escape issues occurring at home. In the school setting, we not only have to be concerned about the physical safety, but the social and emotional wellbeing of our children. Staff must be cognizant of the interactions among children that occur in the school setting, but many times there are issues occurring outside the school within the home or community that impact the day-to-day learning in school.

Safety starts with what we’re teaching our children—how to limit our children’s exposure to harm, mainly harm from others that comes in the form of bullying and the unpredictable harm that may come from random violence. Bullying is not a new issue, but is a growing epidemic primarily due to students not knowing how to set boundaries for themselves, self-esteem issues, and a sense of empowerment over another that gives importance to them. East Haven has a policy to deal with such issues that occur in schools, but that doesn’t stop the behavior. We find that building a child’s character and instilling values is key to not only success in school but in life—for instance, understanding that each individual has a purpose in life and learning to respect others and their differences. It is those differences that make us unique.

Is anything really secure these days? The school district has set in place many precautions to safeguard against crime, attacks, breach of confidentiality, and danger. Children are technically in our custodial care while attending school. Within those 6 ½ hours, we want to create an environment that’s secure, but not one that mimics a prison. Imagine sending your child to a building whose classrooms look like jail cells with bars on the windows and locked doors. What message does that send?

The East Haven School District received a $331,519 grant with a town match of $159,610. This money has been earmarked to purchase radios, improve lighting, and install electronic doors, entry systems, surveillance cameras for both interior and exterior, and a centralized management system that will eventuality tie our system into the centralized dispatcher office of the East Haven Police Department and East Haven Fire Department.

The district has a School Safety, Security, and Climate Committee that is composed of key stakeholders representing the administration, Board of Education, teachers, social workers, nurses, Fire Department, Police Department, youth services, and parents. This committee is charged with the responsibility of making key decisions and recommendations in regards to safety of our school buildings and grounds. At the school level, each building has a committee responsible for making decisions in their schools. Each building, as well as the district, has a model plan for “safety in place” drafted on the model that Homeland Security has provided and drafted with the assistance of the Police and Fire departments. Monthly, schools are required to conduct drills and, at a minimum, two lockdowns per year. Every school has been in compliance with conducting these drills and a record of these drills is kept in the superintendent’s office. Additionally, our middle and high schools have security guards. Of our seven “Blue Shirts” security guards, four have 20 or more years’ experience as a state correction officer, and one has 16 years.

Criticism is a part of the life that leaders endure. However, in leadership one has to have a clear view of the larger picture. Parents think of their individual child, teachers are concerned for their class of students, principals are concerned about the students in their school, and the superintendent is concerned about all of the children in the district. When it comes to safety, perspective-wise, we don’t want intruders in the building; the first line of defense is to ensure we have electronic doors, a monitoring entry system, and protocols for entry into the building.

Consolidation of our buildings, and renovation to the buildings we maintain, would additionally allow more changes to optimize safety in the areas of the school site’s perimeter, parking areas, pedestrian routes, roofs, and recreational areas; improved communication system; and critical assets such as utilities. If designed properly, building renovations will address these issues to produce buildings that are both aesthetic and functional. This is called crime prevention through environmental design.

Trusting and working with those who have been in law enforcement, social services, and directly in the trenches of working in dangerous situations is pivotal in developing plans, protocols, and procedures that help with the decisions surrounding safety of our children. A true community composed of individuals who work together, rather than causing dissension, disharmony, or distraction, is truly the foundation of creating an environment that is safe, nurturing, and welcoming. We at East Haven Public Schools want an environment where children can learn without fear, trepidation, or anxiety.