Published: December 09, 2007 10:28 pm      

Raleigh schools set to finalize safety plan

Although Gov. Joe Manchin’s School Access Safety initiative calls for the state’s 55 counties to ensure school safety from outside threats, Raleigh County Schools director of pupil services Miller Hall and assistant director Jeff McClung say they are working on a “comprehensive” safety plan, taking into consideration the outside as well as inside environment.

“When I say ‘comprehensive,’ it covers all things on the outside and on the inside such as school climate,” Hall explained.

Through the initiative, each county school system was allotted a specific amount of funding, approximately $490,000 in Raleigh County, for technical devices that will limit access to the schools.

A team has been meeting for several months to develop a plan for securing the county’s schools.

When in place, McClung says, a closed campus policy, which he says is basically already in effect, will prohibit students from leaving campus during school hours without permission from a parent or guardian or school administration.

Loitering has never been permitted on school campuses, but McClung says signs reminding visitors of that will be placed around school grounds.

As for accessing the school, McClung and Hall say visitors, with valid business in the school, will be buzzed in through one entryway, exchanging a photo ID for a visitors pass and receiving permission to go anywhere in the building.

“If you come to the school and don’t have business there, you’re going to be asked to leave school grounds,” McClung said. “If we have problems, we’ll call 911 to get assistance.”

Although there will be just one entrance, McClung and Hall say they “are not locking anyone in,” as other doors can be used for exiting.

Also, should there be a problem inside the school and a lockdown situation is called, all classroom doors will be capable of locking.

In addition to the technology planning, students at the Academy of Careers and Technology are working on designing floor plans for each school, to be used by school officials and emergency responders in case of emergency.

Despite all the safety access planning, Hall and McClung both say the inside environment is equally important.

“If you don’t have a good school climate, you’re going to have problems,” Hall said.

Important aspects of creating a positive school climate, Hall said, are intervention and prevention programs, which are already in place.

Hall and McClung say programs like Respect and Protect, for which Stratton Elementary has been a model, stress the importance of caring for everyone inside the school, from administration to custodians, teachers and students.

“Once those young people get in the building, you must focus on those things,” Hall said. “What you focus on is what you become.”

Students, who McClung says are the best first line of defense, are encouraged to report any bullying, threats and mistreatment of others. If a student hears of someone who might bring a weapon to school or learns of any activity that might be detrimental to anyone inside the school, the student is encouraged to tell someone in charge.

In creating the access plan, surveys have been distributed to teachers and students, in hopes of revealing any security issues in need of addressing. These surveys, McClung and Hall say, may also help both students and teachers who might not verbally usually report a specific problem to do so.

“Students may report something in that survey they wouldn’t otherwise,” Hall said. “The surveys will help us find out what the problems are.”

Also, the West Virginia Safe Schools Hotline is a great help, McClung and Hall say, as students and parents alike can call and anonymously report trouble.

The men say it is important for parents to take active roles in ensuring the safety of the children.

“Sometimes parents will call and say, ‘I think so and so is bringing a weapon to school,’” he said. “It’s great they’re getting involved.

“It (ensuring safety) needs to continue outside the school setting,” he continued, adding teaching students respect and proper behavior should be a group effort, not one that falls only on teachers. “When students leave the confines of that building, someone just has to latch on to them and help them.”

Teachers will also receive training on how to handle different situations, McClung says, as their actions can influence the students.

“The toughest challenge for educators is to be respectful and to model ethical behavior when children are not doing the same,” he said. “We need to be able to train and help people adopt skills because they’re going to be in situations where children are going to be aggressive, challenging and disrespectful and the decisions we make can affect their lives.”

The access safety team will meet today to finalize the plan, which will be presented to the board of education for approval Tuesday night. The plan will then be submitted for approval to the School Building Authority in Charleston.

Each county has 18 months to complete the project. McClung and Hall say they hope to have it completed by July 2008, but would have an additional six months if not.

“We’ve got a big, tall task but we’re working on it,” Hall said. “We’ll get it.”

— E-mail:

mjames@register-herald.com