How the Columbine shooting changed school safety procedures, and what that looks like in the Greeley-Evans School District 6 – Greeley Tribune

In news releases, the district said the decision was made out of “an abundance of caution.” For Gates, it was the right decision.

Superintendents across northern Colorado decided collectively to close their schools, Gates said, and when considering the safety of children he said an abundance of caution is necessary.

This week, Gates said, the district remained extra vigilant,
and reports through Safe2Tell — the anonymous reporting system through which
students, staff and parents can deliver tips about student safety — have risen,
but he said they’re up this year in general.

A lot of that is due to increased awareness about the
system, he said, although the content of the reports this week might in part
correlate to the 20^th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.

He’s also staying attuned to the students’ anxiety, and said he recommended advice be sent to parents to help them talk to their kids about school safety.

The closure of District 6 schools this week, he said, was unprecedented.

How things changed

Before the Columbine shooting, Gates said, schools were what he called “soft targets.” Ease of access, lack of security guards and other factors made schools fit that description.

“It’s my job to harden the target,” he said.

People can’t just walk in to schools anymore. At most schools in the district, an Airphone system allows the front office employees to talk to people who are outside the school’s doors, and to view them before allowing them in to the building.

The high schools, which don’t have the Airphone, have security guards, school resource officers from the Greeley Police Department, and cameras that district security personnel can monitor.

This school year, the district added the Raptor system, which requires visitors to the school to scan their ID, which will be checked against the sex offender registry. The system then prints a name tag with that person’s photo, name and where they’re headed in the building.

Funds from the mill levy override district voters approved in 2017 were also used to add cameras at schools, so school security personnel can monitor who is coming and going.

Schools also do lockdown drills each year, so the buildings and students know what to do in the event of an active shooter.

The drills are not state or federally mandated, Gates said, although fire drills are, and he said no child has died in a school fire since 1956.

Drills do cause some anxiety among kids, Gates said, but he’s found having drills more often makes them less stressful, which is why he asks each school to do more than one a year.

Principals send home information for parents after drills, he said, so they know one happened, and can talk to their kids about it.

While the landscape of school safety shifted after Columbine, Gates said keeping students safe is a constant conversation among school safety experts and public safety personnel.

— Emily Wenger is the public money reporter for the Greeley Tribune, covering education and government in Weld County and keeping an eye on how they’re spending your money. You can reach her at (970) 392-4468 or ewenger@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter at @emilylwenger.