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Procedures put to test last week in the Akron and Revere districts
By Carl Chancellor
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Oct 22, 2007
When a Roswell Kent Middle School student threatened to shoot and kill his classmates last week, school administrators immediately leaped into action, initiating a detailed districtwide emergency plan that Akron school officials are confident keeps students and teachers safe.
It was a 12-year-old schoolmate who alerted school authorities last Tuesday to a threat made by an eighth-grade boy, who said he was going to bring a gun to school the next day and shoot people.
''We take every threat very seriously and we responded,'' said Karen Ingraham, spokeswoman for the Akron district. She said the response at Roswell Kent included immediately isolating the eighth-grader, notifying Akron police, contacting the boy's parents, assessing the seriousness of the threat and removing the young man from school.
The steps had all been rehearsed by administrators through a scripted mock-emergency scenario played out during a training session in August at North High School.
The administration at every school is equipped with a detailed flip-chart emergency plan, outlining the steps to be taken for any type of threat ''a tornado, a called-in bomb threat, a shooter in the school,'' Ingraham said.
She said the flip-charts include lock-down procedures, evacuation plans, communication procedures, phone-tree lists and more.
Other incidents
The day before the threat at Roswell Kent, the 3,000-student Revere Local school district locked down three of its buildings after the reported sighting of two criminal suspects in the vicinity.
The SuccessTech Academy shooting in Cleveland on Oct. 10 put school officials everywhere on alert. Student Asa Koon, 14, shot and wounded four people before taking his own life.
Revere Superintendent Elisabeth McNicholas said school officials must remain vigilant when it comes to security.
''You just never know. You have to take every precaution,'' McNicholas said.
The superintendent said she was pleased with how her schools Revere High School and Middle School and Bath Elementary reacted during last week's lockdown.
''It went very well and the staff was key in that,'' McNicholas said.
She credited the performance to the at least once-yearly emergency procedure reviews conducted with school staff and administrators and local police and fire personnel.
In addition, McNicholas said the district's recently installed Alert Now messaging system kept parents informed with constant phone-mail updates.
''Every phone number a parent has given us home, cell and work was called and kept updated,'' McNicholas said.
Quick response
When word of the Cleveland school shooting broke, Akron school officials immediately reviewed their security procedures, Ingraham said. The review proved timely.
When the threat was made at Roswell Kent, several members of the 19-person Akron schools' security staff were sent to the middle school and an additional walk-through metal detector was deployed.
Akron police also beefed up patrols at the school on the morning the threat was to have been carried out.
Charles Rowles, Akron schools' director of student services and security, said that in response to the incident at the middle school, all building officials and security staff were told to be on special alert.
Building administrators and school security officers were provided with a list of all suspended students, so they could be identified if they came onto school property.
Rowles said members of the school security staff, affectionately nicknamed ''highlighters'' because of the fluorescent green shirts they wear, have been key to keeping schools secure.
''They act as another pair of eyes and ears for administrators and police officers,'' Rowles said, noting that each district high school and middle school has a school police officer.
Threat assessment
Another major thread running through the Akron schools' security tapestry is its threat assessment checklist, a document that all school administrators, counselors and school psychologist are trained to administer.
''We have procedures in place to help staff determine if a threat is a significant threat,'' said Dr. Perry Clark, Akron schools psychologist.
''We get background information on the student making the threat, student record, behavioral history and discipline records.''
The assessment includes written statements from everyone involved the person making the threat, witnesses, teachers, staff, anyone who has come in contact with the student making the threat.
''We call the parents of the student and schedule a conference for that same day. . . . We want to know if the student has access to weapons, if they are aggressive, their mental history and family history,'' Clark said.
While the assessment is being conducted, Rowles' security staff searches the student, his or her belongings and locker for weapons.
''We do all of that as soon as possible when a threat is made,'' Clark said.
And according to Clark, all those procedures were followed on Tuesday at Roswell Kent.
However, Clark noted that very few threats rise to the level of the one at Roswell Kent.
''Threats come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are very vague and sometimes they are specific. . . . I see all the threats and most of them are of the 'I'll kick your butt' variety and not a Columbine-type threat. . . . But we take all threats seriously,'' Clark said.
Rowles feels good about the security measures in Akron.
''We have taken every prudent step to make sure that our schools are safe,'' Rowles said.
Akron school officials declined to share specifics of the Roswell Kent incident because of privacy concerns. However, the eighth-grader apparently is facing an expulsion hearing.
Carl Chancellor can be reached at 330-996-3725 or cchancellor@thebeaconjournal.com.
When a Roswell Kent Middle School student threatened to shoot and kill his classmates last week, school administrators immediately leaped into action, initiating a detailed districtwide emergency plan that Akron school officials are confident keeps students and teachers safe.
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