Havasu schools use multifaceted approach to security

On the eighth anniversary of the Columbine shootings - and with the massacre at Virginia Tech still fresh in the nation's mind - school violence seems like an issue that won't go away.

Beth Howard, the emergency response coordinator for Lake Havasu Unified School District, agrees.

“And it's not going to go away,” she said.

Howard's job is to organize security procedures and training at the district's nine schools.

“We realize that we're responsible for the safety of the children when they're in our care,” she said.

It's a responsibility the schools take seriously, Superintendent Gail Malay said.

Crisis management planning has been a priority at the schools the past three years, she said.

The planning has resulted in a multifaceted approach that relies on a number of resources and procedures:

€ Each school has a crisis response team and an individual emergency response plan, which includes the use of phone trees to communicate quickly and efficiently.

€ School resource officers from the Police Department are on-site to provide support and advice on security issues.

€ The schools regularly practice lock-down, shelter-in-place and evacuation drills in addition to monthly fire drills.

€ All the district's schools, except Lake Havasu High School, have a single point of entrance. At LHHS, part-time security officers keep an eye on who is coming and going on campus. At all the schools, visitors must sign in at the front office and receive a pass.

Besides the procedures already in place, Howard said the district soon would start using school-specific video simulators to train teachers and staff to react under pressure to threats like a shooter on campus.

“Everything that can be done is being done to make the schools safe,” Howard said.

But emergencies caused by outside threats such as gas leaks, natural disasters and menacing strangers are different from what happened at Columbine and Virginia Tech, where the danger was posed by the schools' own students.

Malay said Havasu's schools react quickly to intervene when staff hears rumors of planned school violence.

“Sometimes (parents) will get upset with us, and we have to explain the context in which we operate is we have to take these things very seriously,” Malay said.

The schools also emphasize anti-bullying training to prevent the atmosphere that often results in violence, Howard said.

“Bullying is one thing these shooters have in common,” she said.

The schools don't have statistics about how successful anti-bullying training has been, but Howard said she personally has not observed it in the schools, even though she spends hours each day at different campuses.

The assertive communication style of today's students, along with school training in conflict management, helps kids stand up to bullies, Malay said.

“One thing we tell students is, ‘If you're getting bullied, tell an adult. You don't have to take that,'” she said.

Malay said she was “horrified” when she found out about the Virginia Tech shootings. As a school superintendent who is responsible for the security of more than 6,500 students, the incident hit particularly close to home.

“Schools were never set up to keep gunmen out,” Malay said. “Whenever people take advantage of a school where people are learning and they're safe Š”

She shook her head, at a loss for words.

You may contact the reporter at dparker@havasunews.com.