Cazenovia — The Cazenovia Central School District is continuing its focus on improving district preparedness and emergency procedures in the case of a school shooting incident and, as part of that effort, recently held its first district-wide active shooter lockdown drill. The board of education not only discussed the issue during its Dec. 21 regular monthly meeting, but also heard the results of a study researched and presented by AP Government and Politics students, as well as the students’ recommendations for further actions by the district.
The report examined the history of school shootings, as well as the causes, warning signs, school responses and potential solutions to such incidents. School board members found the report not only impressive and educational but also, as one member said, “chilling.”
Study results
According to the students’ study, “Making Our Schools Safer: History, Causes and Responses to School Shootings,” the first recorded school shooting occurred in 1764 in Greencastle, Pa., when four Native Americans entered a schoolhouse and shot the teacher and about 10 students. More recently, the number of school shootings has increased from four in 1984, to three in 2005, to 26 in 2013 and 52 (so far) in 2015 – this indicates that the number of school shootings has tripled since 2011, according to the report.
The modern trend of frequent school shootings began with Columbine High School in 1999 when two teenage students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, killed 15 and wounded 24 in what was “arguably the massacre that started this trend in shootings,” according to the students. Other major shooting incidents occurred at Virginia Tech University in 2007 and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Of the 52 school shootings that have occurred so far in 2015, 15 of those have occurred in high schools, according to the report.
continued — The students research determined that the major causes of these mass casualty incidents include the “contagion” of the media, where shooters seek to emulate previous attacks are seek instant stardom; bullying, from which shooters often seek revenge against their tormentors (which was the case at Columbine); and mental illness.
Some of the warning signs that peers, parents and teachers should look for in potential school shooting attackers includes people with a fascination with previous school shootings, threats of violence and pictures of violence being posted on social media and students who foreshadow their attacks in the content of their school assignments.
In the aftermath of school shootings, many states, including New York, have gone straight to passing stricter gun control laws but have done little or nothing to prepare school districts for potential attacks. Some states, such as Ohio, New Jersey and Michigan, have begun requiring schools to perform live shooter lockdown drills, the report stated.
The students also found that school districts with financial resources have provided their schools with funding to increase physical security, while districts without financial resources – such as many in New York state – have taken it upon themselves to increase security through simple and cost effective actions, such as increasing school entrance security, conducting more lockdown drills and increasing dialogue and communication between students and staff.
What do students think?
As part of the study, the AP students conducted polls of their high school peers to gauge their thoughts on certain actions the Cazenovia district could take to improve security and preparation for active shooter situations. The results of those polls showed that a majority of Cazenovia teens (96 percent) feel that familiarizing law enforcement and first responder personnel with the layout of the school would be an effective response, as would more lockdown drills (88 percent), while the hiring of armed guards in Cazenovia is not a necessary precaution for the district (87 percent).
continued — The study authors also found through their research that both hiring armed guards and installing metal detectors would not only be expensive but not well received by students, while more lockdown drills and familiarizing law enforcement with school layout are both inexpensive actions that would make students feel safer.
The AP students’ conclusions to the information they gathered in their study was that school shootings are a complex phenomenon with multiple causes and potential solutions, and increased awareness of the causes and warning signs can help prevent tragedies. The students declared that regular, realistic lockdown drills and familiarization with law enforcement of the Cazenovia school buildings are effective ways to prepare for potential attacks.
“School shootings are something to be taken seriously,” the students told the school board. “Last week’s lockdown drill was an excellent start to addressing this issue.” The students added, however, that they felt they needed more direction in how to act in a shooter situation.
New York State currently requires 12 fire drills per year but has minimal guidelines to prepare its schools for the much larger modern threat of a school shooting event, according to the study.
The AP students responsible for the study were: Helen Barna, Sophia Carroll, Kaylee Cunningham, Graham Demo, Alex Dubin, Leah Enders, Kevin Frega, Mimi Gabor, Ava Gurney, Ryan Haley, Liam Johnson, Alli Karmis, Colby Lucas, Morgan Mapstone, Vitaliy Moskvich, Matthew Reeve, Kaitlin Rossier, Jake Shaffner, Taylor Spires, Maria Stalder, Jack Strong, Taylor Treece, Mya Walters and Brittany Wright.
The students told the board that their work is not done with the completion of the report. They plan to “galvanize change” in Cazenovia and have the school district be recognized as a “paragon of school safety” in Central New York.
School board and administration reaction
Members of the board of education and district administration declared themselves impressed with the AP students’ study and presentation, and had a discussion about the issue towards the end of their meeting.
continued — Superintendent Matt Reilly said that, consistent with the recommendations included in the student presentation, the district has begun conducting live shooter lockdown drills and will continue to do so, that it will invite first responders to tour the district schools to become familiar with their layouts and has invested in other school security measures as part of the Smart Schools Bond Act funding the district has received.
“Those changes will include opportunities for public comment,” Reilly said of the spending of the state grant money. “I look forward to hearing from people on this topic.”
Reilly said he was impressed with the AP students’ level of engagement and research, but also with their appreciation of the physical and financial limitations of the school district in potentially taking certain actions.
“They had a very mature view of the topic and the complexity of the issues,” he said. “I look forward to working with them on this.”
Board Member Lisa Lounsbury said the district appears to be taking the appropriate actions concerning the issue and needs to continue communicating to the students, staff and community what it is doing. She said a majority of comments she receives from community members concern school security.
Member Jennifer Parmalee said the students did a “great job” linking serious emotional disturbance and how it can translate into school shooting behavior.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Heard the first reading of a proposed revision to the student health policy to allow the district to administer Naloxone, a medication used to treat narcotic overdose, especially in emergency situations. The proposed revision is in response to a state law passed earlier in 2015 to allow for the policy. Reilley said he felt the change in policy was “wise,” while district nurse Cynthia Hirt agreed and said opioid overdoses have tripled, in general, in the past few years. Hirt said the medication is not a controlled substance and, if approved by the school board, would be stored with other emergency medical materials. The board will likely discuss the proposed policy change against at its January meeting.
—Approved the 2016-17 budget calendar, which is the board’s first formal step in the budget process.
—Unanimously voted to add a second public comment period at the end of every regular meeting of the board. Currently, the board agenda contains only one public comment period at the beginning of each meeting.
—Announced that its next meeting will be a board work session at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 4, during which the 2016-17 budget will be a primary topic. The meeting is open to the public.