School Safety

The tragedy at a Parkland, Florida high school last week has refocused the nation on school safety.  I support the current efforts at Clinton Community Schools to ensure that students and staff can teach and learn in a safe environment:

• The school district schedules meetings with law enforcement four times a year as a district to review current/future concerns and best practice procedures.
• The school district and the city employ two school resource officers that work proactively to keep a safe school climate.
• The school district has been trained in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) intruder training and plans to expand the depth of the training.
• Each building restricts access inside by secured entryways, requiring identification to school personnel and identification tags for visitors.

One of the major lessons from Florida is that we need to encourage parents, staff, and the general public to inform school officials and/or law enforcement about observed questionable or threatening behaviors.  Parents, please reinforce this lesson with your child.  We need everyone’s commitment for school safety to ensure a basic right for all students.