Since 17 students and staff members were killed and 17 more wounded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, parents across the country have wondered just how safe their kids are at school.
According to Liverpool Central School District Superintendent Dr. Mark Potter, Liverpool is no exception.
“I have been flooded with a wide range of phone calls and emails asking for some specific details as to how we [would] deal with similar situations in Liverpool,” Potter said. “The unfortunate part is, it’s hard to give out details and make people reassured and comfortable that their child, coming to school, is here safe. Giving out all details of our safety plan, you could certainly sacrifice or jeopardize that.”
In order to assuage the fears of the community, Liverpool hosted a forum on March 21 at the high school where Potter invited participants to share their questions and concerns about district security. Those in attendance were broken into groups, each led by one or two LCSD administrators who both responded to questions about security procedures—while keeping specifics confidential—and collected questions and ideas from community members that will ultimately be compiled into a document to be posted to the district’s website.
Potter said this format allowed the district to get the perspective of as many people as possible in a short time.
“[We’re] giving the stage to everyone by dividing into smaller groups rather than doing a forum where only and handful of folks could speak, with a possible restriction of time if it were a large audience,” he told the Star-Review. “I also felt, given the gravity of the events over the past month along with the number of emails and phone calls I’ve received, it was important to allow a venue where parents could provide us with their questions, concerns and suggestions for possibly improving or implementing future changes.”
At this point, Potter said, the information from Wednesday has been collected, but no one has had a chance to review it yet. Once they have, a response document will be posted to the district website and shared via SchoolMessenger, with hard copies available at the district office. Potter said he would also utilize the School Bellto share the information.
Meanwhile, he told the Star-Review that district security is currently undergoing a number of upgrades, which were previously planned.
“We have quite of bit of security initiatives currently being installed—new door hardware throughout the district,” he said. “We are also awaiting SED approval for a new digital security/camera systems. We are adding new ‘hardening” devices in many of the buildings. We are also replacing the Public Address Systems throughout the district, which will ties directly into the new digital telephone system.”
Potter said while people’s minds these days automatically go to an active shooter situation when thinking about school safety, that’s not the district’s only concern.
“This conversation can’t always be from a single context,” he said. “Here’s an example — we have a fire in December and it’s 12 degrees outside and the kids are in swim class. Where do you put them? Or, it wasn’t that long ago that a chemical spill in the chemical storage room, in the 400 and the 500 wing of [the high school]. It was a number of years ago that there was a natural gas leak that got into the ventilation system. How do you deal with that?”
Potter said any safety protocol or hazard plan needs to be broad enough to consider a variety of situations, as well as a variety of settings.
“We all know that in our elementary, middle school, high school classrooms, we get desks, we get tables, and we get 20, 25, even 30 students in the class and that’s one context of making sure and planning for the safety and security of the kids and the adults,” he said. “We also need to think about offices and elevators and stairwells…. the library, the band room, the chorus room, senior lounge, locker rooms, storage rooms, the gymnasium. The gym holds 3,000 people. How do we manage that?”
Potter said the district does have procedures and plans in place, but they can always be improved. In May, LCSD voters will decide on a proposition asking to set aside $2 million as needed for security hardening or upgrades. The administration will take any suggestions made at Wednesday’s event under consideration and likely implement more changes as a result.
“I think its important for all of us to feel like we are engaged in the situation. We are here to try to talk about what it is we think is important — what we know, what we don’t know and what we want done, what we believe,” Potter said. “I think we all can be part of the solution.”
