One of the biggest obstacles in preparing a school safety plan in Colorado is the notion that a mass shooting cannot happen locally, an expert on the subject said Thursday.
“It’s a mindset we find all the time,” John McDonald, executive director, Department of School Safety for Jeffco Public School told a school safety panel. “Schools often struggle in believing it could happen to us.”
School officials also often don’t give enough time for students and staff to recover from a mass shooting or disaster, McDonald said. “Sometimes schools struggle with the idea that this is a long-term process. They will bring in counselors for a couple of days thinking this is all they need.
“It’s actually an ongoing effort,” McDonald said, and one that should support “kids and staff for years to come.”
McDonald is among a group of K-12 and higher education security experts who helped write the state’s new Crisis Guidelines which aim to help schools, colleges and universities in Colorado prepare for and respond to large-scale emergencies.
The Crisis Guidelines do not anticipate all situations, said Chris Harms, director of the Colorado School Safety Resource Center in a news release. “However, knowing what worked previously and what educators had wished were in place before an emergency can help others before tragedy strikes,” Harms said.
Officials said the Crisis Guidelines do not replace each district’s emergency plans and can be changed with new information gleaned from each new emergency situation.
The roughly 40 page document includes specific recommendations for preparing for a crisis, what to do during an emergency and steps following a critical event. It also details ongoing crisis support for responders, crisis teams and staff from both K-12 schools and institutions of higher learning.
The Crisis Guidelines call for all K-12 districts and university campuses to put together updated emergency plans. They should have district and school administrators working together to review and exercise response procedures. They should also clarify roles and means of communication during and after a response.
Schools must also identify safety teams and train them regularly. Core planning teams should also be formed on college campuses and come from offices and departments across the campus, the Crisis Guidelines state.
Colleges and their sometimes sprawling campuses present a unique challenge in developing emergency plans, Greg Busch, emergency manager of the Colorado Community College System, said. Front Range Community College is one of the largest members of the CCCS.
“We have student housing, our population size is higher and our campuses are much larger than most K-12 schools would be,” Bush said. “We have different things to worry about.”
The Crisis Guidelines are among the first put together in the United States, Harms said, adding they will be shared with other school districts across the country.
“We just hope that schools and districts find them helpful,” Harms said.
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