MV schools addressing security, troubled kids after Newtown shootings

Staff report

Mahoning Valley schools are taking steps to reach troubled kids within their walls and to keep outside trouble from getting inside.

Since the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., security protocols are being updated and building changes are being considered in some places. And when a threat is made, school and police teams quickly take an interest.

School psychologists, meanwhile, are focusing on identifying and counseling alienated or troubled students to prevent potential violence — even though the killer of 20 first-graders and six teachers and administrators in Newtown was not a student.

“Since the shootings, parents are making calls, teachers are concerned, and administrators are calling to our attention kids who may be disruptive,” said Richard Montagnese, director of the Trumbull County Educational Service Center’s school psychologists.

“There needs to be some ways of communicating concern and dealing with these issues before they become major.”

Several fatal school shootings — particularly at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 and Chardon, Ohio, last February — were perpetrated by students. Montagnese, who has been director for 25 years, said the Newtown tragedy has intensified the focus on reaching out to specific groups of young people.

“There are small signs, such as kids who are isolated, alienated, rejected and not involved in activities,” Montagnese said. “Over time, it does fester and you tend to get a reaction.” Troubled students, he said, tend to send out warning signs that are noticed either by their friends or their teachers.

The director said that his 13 psychologists who serve 20 Trumbull school districts from pre-school through high school work closely with teachers.

“The teachers are in the best position to talk to those students and provide the information to us,” Montagnese said. “We’ll talk to those kids that are referred to us, hear their concerns and discuss them with the teachers.”

Montagnese said the student outreach may help make troubled students feel less alienated. “We need to do a better job of making everyone including the kids understand that we are a community and responsible for each other,” he said.

Meanwhile elementary- school psychologists face another challenge: calming children worried that a similar incident might happen at their school.

“I had to talk to several children who were fearful and scared,” said Mary Ognibene, one of two Niles City Schools psychologists. Ognibene said that the school district has posted a letter from the National Association of School Psychologists on its website that recommends ways to address these worries.

Among its suggestions: return to a normal routine when possible, let children know that “it’s OK to feel upset and angry,” and encourage children to express their emotions.

Dealing with threats

Earlier this school year, a Boardman Middle School student overheard another student say he would bring a gun to school The student told his mother, who called the school, which in turn notified school resource officer Sgt. Chuck Hillman. He followed up with the student who made the claim.

“That’s exactly what needs to happen. Too often I find the students are reluctant to do that. They either assume that it’s just him, that’s just his attitude and he would never really do that. In today’s world, students and adults cannot assume that when someone makes a comment that it’s not real. The appropriate way to react is for students to come forward immediately and share specific information,” Hillman said.

Students have different motivations for talking about bringing a weapon to school or circulating threats of violence, he said.

“It may be as simple as anger [at] the school for getting suspended. It might be they know in some instances, depending on how it’s taken, it would cancel class or disrupt the school day,” he said.

In the case of the middle-schooler, “he had no explanation other than he wasn’t serious and was just joking. Kids make an offhand comment and oftentimes if you are able to identify them, they can’t explain to you why they did,” Hillman said.

When the source of a threat is identified, juveniles and adults could face charges, such as inducing panic, making false reports or menacing, depending on the circumstances.

The Struthers school district and city police investigated a possible threat last week that was unsubstantiated, said police Chief Tim Roddy. A high school student reported Dec. 14 that she thought she overheard a fellow student remark about it being the end of the world, so “why not just shoot people?”

Roddy said police found that the student was not even at school. He was with a relative in Pennsylvania.

Joe Nohra, who will become schools superintendent after the end of the year, said that after the Connecticut shooting, the district immediately convened the Struthers Safety and Security Emergency Crisis Team. It consists of the mayor, police chief, the schools’ administrative team, the fire chief and the city safety services director. It will meet at least once a month.

He also said issues at buildings, such as doors that don’t close properly and questioning of visitors, were also immediately addressed.

At Lowellville, Superintendent Rocco Nero also said a new safety committee has formed. It includes the village mayor, fire chief, police chief, himself, a principal and two board members. He also said police have increased the length of their morning and afternoon visits to the schools.

Building security

School districts also have made brick and mortar changes.

At Campbell, Superintendent Tom Robey said the district has an advantage because its buildings are new. “Security and safety and technology were all part of the plan,” he noted.

“Our plans are more about lockdown drills and reaction. That’s been the focus, and we continue to work with police,” he said.

At Canfield Schools, plans to add a buzz-in system are scheduled to be completed in January 2013, said business manager Rich Archer, but school resource officers and members of the Canfield Police Department already are making regular visits to the school.

Steve Garstka, school resource officer for Canfield schools, said patrol officers have been hitting the schools harder since the Newtown shootings, but for the most part things are business as usual.

Youngs-town Schools Superintendent Connie Hathorn said the district doesn’t plan any changes in the aftermath of the Connecticut tragedy. A letter was sent to parents and guardians Dec. 17, explaining the procedures.

Visitors are directed to enter schools through one entrance only. All school exits and entrances are locked throughout the day.

“We also use video monitors, metal detectors, radios and cellphones in all schools, and we have security guards at our secondary schools,” the letter says. The district’s middle and high schools are equipped with metal detectors.

“Each of our buildings has a crisis plan; we conduct regular drills, including those for a building lockdown,” according to the letter.

Western Reserve Schools Superintendent Jeff Zatchok said that his district, which moved all students into a new kindergarten through 12th-grade building a year ago, is equipped with many safety measures. “We have computer-controlled locking doors that open at a certain time and then automatically lock at a certain time when the students are in the building.”

To gain access to the building, visitors must press a buzzer and school personnel, who can see the person on camera, may buzz them in. Once inside the vestibule, they have to be buzzed in a second door to enter the school.

“All of the classrooms are individually keyed,” Zatchok said. “They can be locked from the inside or outside.’’

The district doesn’t have a school resource officer although before the Connecticut tragedy, Zatchok spoke to representatives from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office about the possibility.

West Branch Superintendent Scott Weingart said the district hasn’t made significant changes. “For the last decade, we’ve had an agreement with Goshen Township Police to have a school resource officer assigned full time to us.” The officer’s office is at the middle school-high school campus because that’s where the majority of the students are, but he spends time at the two elementary schools also.

Before 2000, the district included five elementary schools, an old junior high school and the high school.

“When we went to four buildings in 2000, they were designed with state-of-the-art security...” the superintendent said. Buildings are equipped with surveillance cameras, and visitors must be buzzed into all school buildings.

SAFETY IN ACTION

Weingart said security is something that all superintendents in Mahoning County are mindful of, and he shared an example of how security strategies are working.

He attended a meeting last week with other Mahoning County superintendents at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center. He and another superintendent arrived early and tried to open a door to the building. It wasn’t the door they were supposed to enter for the meeting, he said, and it was locked.

“An employee came by with a key to get in, and here’s these two guys in suits. I asked if she would be comfortable letting us into the building,” Weingart said. “She said, ‘No. I’m sorry I can’t let you do that. That violates our safety protocol.’ I was very impressed.”

Officials at the Austintown elementary schools are doing general maintenance and “making sure all the locks are secure and things are all working well,” said Mal Culp, supervisor of facilities and operations.

At Frank Ohl Intermediate School, the reception desk and secretaries’ office is being moved to the south entrance of the school to prevent anyone from being allowed to get into the school without first passing the office. The buzz-in system that was already in place at the school will be moved to the entrance along with the reception area.

Hubbard Superintendent Richard Buchenic said the school has not made any major changes. “What we’re doing is following protocol for emergency procedures, which correlates with our reaction plan,” he said.

The school opened a K-12 campus this fall, where visitors must be buzzed into the building. However, the school does not have a full-time police officer.

William Ryser, Girard senior high principal, said the school has a full-time officer devoted to two campuses. At one campus, which houses the intermediate and elementary schools, Ryser said there is one entrance for both buildings.

The senior and junior high building, which opened in 2010, has a surveillance system that allows the secretary to view visitors before they are buzzed in.

Ryser believes an increased rapport among teachers, staff, students and parents should be stressed. “The emphasis we would like to see is on the relationship that is fostered between the students, the adults in the building and within the community,” he said.

Liberty Superintendent Stan Watson said the district is reviewing safety policies and procedures. He said teachers and staff have undergone training and an emergency response plan is in place. Watson said school officials have talked about introducing a resource officer.

“We work very closely with the police department and the chief, and one of the problems you come across by dedicating an officer to the school is a manpower issue.”

Plan and practice

Warren schools officials will review the crisis plan and ALICE training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) with its staff after the winter break, said Aaron Schwab, communications coordinator. All staff members received ALICE training at the beginning of the school year.

In Poland, Interim Superintendent Don Dailey plans to put together a task force at each building to identify weak points in that school’s security. Some buildings need secure entrances, and Dailey said he is collecting information for additional security cameras.

The district also is seeking to work with other government and private agencies to secure funding to bring a resource officer back to the schools.

In Springfield, Superintendent Debra Mettee said the district is wrapping up construction of a secure high school entrance.

“For 10 years we’ve had the buzzers and enhanced cameras. We’ve done as much as we can with aging facilities, and we feel we have done very well. We have a resource officer and that makes a big difference,” Mettee said.

She added that communication is key.

“All of our teachers have gone through the ALICE training. They’re not afraid to ask someone who they are and make the principal aware of a new person,” Mettee said.

STATE, NRA PROPOSALS

Failing these measures, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine indicated last week that he is open to local school boards allowing trained teachers, principals and staff to have access to firearms as a means of responding quickly to shooting incidents.

The National Rifle Association, at its first public event since the shootings, called Friday for armed police officers to be posted in American school to stop the next killer “waiting in the wings.” Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the nation’s largest gun-rights lobby with 4.3 million members, said at the Washington news conference that, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Associated Press reporting and Vindicator correspondent Jordan Cohen also contributed to this report.