Aug 20, 2018 6 min read

A sign in front of Gastonville Elementary School in Finleyville reads, “Warning: Ringgold School District Students and Staff are Protected by Armed Police Officers.”

It is a sign of the times we live in.

Following February’s mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead – one of many school shootings since Columbine in 1999 – schools across the country beefed up security and bolstered school-based mental health services.

As students get ready to head back into classrooms, school districts in Washington and Greene counties are continuing to address school safety.

Central Greene School District has purchased handheld metal detectors, giving the Greene County district one more resource at its disposal to include in its safety plans.

Carmichaels Area School District is hiring a second school resource officer, who will be assigned to the elementary school.

Trinity Area School District, which has added safety features to every building in the district, hired two additional social workers, bringing to four the number of social workers available this fall to address the social and emotional health and well-being of students.

In September, Peters Township School District is collaborating with community-based Character Counts to launch Rachel’s Challenge, a national nonprofit program designed to help stop bullying, isolation and thoughts of suicide.

Rachel’s Challenge, started by the family of Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim of the Columbine High School shootings, teaches people to replace acts of violence, bullying and negativity with acts of respect, kindness and compassion. Scott’s father, Darrell, will address students and their families at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at South Hills Bible Chapel.

“We’ve made a lot of physical changes to our buildings, so a lot of our efforts lately have been on prevention, how we can train our students and teachers. (Rachel’s Challenge) falls more on the prevention side, and we’re really excited about bringing it to the community and our students,” said Shelly Belcher, communications coordinator for Peters Township School District. “We are making more of an effort to try to reach kids before there’s an incident. A program like Rachel’s Challenge tries to change the culture and ties into what we’re trying to do.”

Throughout the region, school districts have implemented an array of security measures: door buzzers, cameras, tinted shatter-resistant glass, safety doors.

“We are constantly assessing what we can do to make our schools safe,” said Carmichaels Superintendent Fred Morecraft. “I think we have a pretty good plan in place. I hope we never have to use it.”

A growing number of schools have started using systems like RAPTOR and School CheckIN that scan visitors’ drivers licenses and print photo ID badges.

Increasingly, schools are adding secure glass vestibules at the entrance.

Trinity has installed vestibules in all of its school buildings.

Trinity Superintendent Michael Lucas said student safety ranks as a top priority, and the district has been proactive both in enhancing security and focusing on mental health services to prevent possible problems.

Lucas ran through a long checklist of enhanced security features: increasing its police force to seven officers and purchasing a school security dog; implementing School CheckIN software; installing kick plates and door jams to improve the strength of classroom doors; providing emergency safety buckets containing hammers, bungee cords, door ties and other items in all classrooms; equipping exterior doors at all of the elementary buildings with an alarm system that activates when unauthorized exits or entrances to the buildings occur; purchasing a communication system, separate from the phone system, to enable communication at all times; providing every classroom with a folder that includes a safety route; designating and equipping “safe rooms” in each building; and adding and upgrading security cameras in each school building and on each school bus.

When school starts Sept. 4, the two main high school entrances will be reduced to one, and new student parking and transportation procedures will be implemented to provide a safer perimeter around the building.

Local schools also are focusing on awareness and training, with many using ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate), a training program that teaches students and staff how to handle an active shooter situation.

Like other administrators in Washington and Greene counties, Annette Vietmeier, director of academic accountability and innovation at Central Greene, said close relationships among students, parents, teachers, staff, police and the community play in important role in school safety.

Keeping schools safe, they believe, is a shared responsibility.

Said Joseph Orr, superintendent of Jefferson-Morgan School Districct, “I think one of the most important pieces we’ve found is the ability for kids to buy into the idea that we’re all in this together. Our students are the first to know if there’s an issue. We’re reinforcing the fact that if they see a classmate in distress or struggling, they can communicate that to us, a teacher, a principal, a parent, so we know there’s an issue so we can take steps. And our students have done a good job of keeping us up to date on that.”

Increasing school safety comes with a price tag, and the Pennsylvania 2018-19 state budget includes $60 million in funding for school safety and security, a 700 percent increase over the $8.5 million provided last year.

“There’s no more pressing issue,” said Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., R-Cambria, last week in a phone conference.

Each of the state’s 500 school districts will receive $25,000 to boost school security. Lawmakers are allotting $7.5 million to community violence-prevention efforts, and school districts can apply for the remaining money, which will be awarded by the Pennsylvania School Safety and Security Committee.

State Sen. James Brewster, D-Allegheny County, a member of the school safety committee, said the money likely will start being distributed sometime after March 2019.

School districts will have discretion in determining what to do with their funding.

Many parents and educators appreciate their districts’ efforts to provide safe schools, but concerns remain.

Marti Caskey of North Strabane Township, who has two daughters in Canon-McMillan School District, said she worries about her children’s safety.

“I don’t feel safe sending my children to school. I feel we have a very serious societal issue that can’t be solved overnight, but I think we can teach our children how to be safer in an active shooting situation,” said Caskey. “This has been an issue for 15 years, pushing 20 years. You can’t stop it from happening, so children need to be trained in that situation. All you can do is reduce the number of casualties.”

Carmichaels’ Morecraft understands how she feels.

“I have two children in the (Carmichaels) district, a second- and third-grader. As a father, I think it’s something I shouldn’t have to talk to my kids about. It’s a shame our kids have to grow up so soon,” he said. “But at the same time we want them to be safe, and we want them to be able to be aware and to react. And if we give them the skills, and it saves one life, we’ve done our job. In this day and age, we’d be remiss if we didn’t prepare them.”