PARKLAND, Fla. – In the wake of the February 14^th Parkland school shooting tragedy, the Broward County School District is presenting new security measures as a new school year approaches for students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High (MSDH), site of the mass shooting.

The district initially sought to require students to wear transparent backpacks to school, an idea which was met with both skepticism and criticism of its overall effectiveness.

Presently, the school has made changes by requiring students to wear identification badges, increasing campus security and reducing the amount of entryways. Now, the campus will be introducing their next safety solution.

The district will no longer be pushing the formerly proposed clear backpacks and will instead be installing metal detectors into MSDH to clear all students upon campus entry.

A district spokeswoman, Jaquelyn Calzadilla stated that Miami-Dade County has “a districtwide random weapons search program that is conducted with metal detector wands and is exploring the feasibility of expanding the program based on school size and student population,” adding that the district is also exploring the possibility of stationary metal detectors.

Metal detectors being used as a security tool is nothing new in schools, with the technology frequently implemented in metropolises. Various school districts, including ones in South Florida, have long rejected this solution, putting their focus on mental health and possible warning signs in students.

MSDH will also add four additional security officers, more school resource officers, an extra 52 cameras and more gates and locking mechanisms.

MSDG student, Gabriella Figueroa told CBS Miami that she feels a lot safer since no one is going to bring [weapons] when the schools has metal detectors.

The League of Cities Task force wrote in a June report that it “strongly recommends” that the district consider metal detectors countywide while tackling the challenges of ensuring the fairness and consistency of their use.

“The physical deployment of these must be uniform across the district,” the report says, recommending the district study how the detectors are used in other districts with large schools. The report said the district should create methods to check students, while maintaining respect for their privacy and personal belongings.

Drew said the district will not violate student privacy by requiring all students to go through the metal detectors to ensure efficiency and impartiality.

District officials haven’t yet clarified exactly how the metal detectors would work, including whether students will walk through them or be scanned with portable wands. It’s also uncertain whether the district would begin installing them in other schools.

Photo License: Creative Commons.

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In our efforts to better understand issues facing stakeholders in school safety and security, School Construction News corresponded with campus safety expert Dr. Kathleen L. Kiernan, a 29-year veteran of Federal Law Enforcement and CEO and founder of Kiernan Group Holdings Inc. (KGH), a global consulting firm.

Dr. Kiernan’s curricula vitae speaks to her lifelong commitment to safety in academic settings. She served as the assistant director for the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), where she was responsible for the design and implementation of an intelligence-led organizational strategy to mine and disseminate data related to explosives, firearms and illegal tobacco diversion as well as the traditional and non-traditional tools of terrorism.

As an educator, Dr. Kiernan completed her doctorate in education at Northern Illinois University, which she complemented with a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence at the Joint Military Intelligence College in Washington, D.C. In short, Dr. Kiernan’s bona fides represent a comprehensive understanding of the perils faced by our nation’s schools during this period of unparalleled awareness of the problems and possibilities to come.

Moreover, Dr. Kiernan’s company, KGH, innovated the Preparedness Without Paranoia approach to campus safety management, which is intended for use by the average citizen. The program advocates for an “educated, engaged and resilient citizenry that, once trained, will be prepared, confident and capable of reacting appropriately and effective to address any type of active threat that may present itself, whether in the form of an active shooter, terrorism or workplace violence,” explained Kiernan.

We were able to discuss the latest trending topics in school security to get a better idea of what’s next for campus safety.

Q: What kinds of on-campus threats are we likely to see in the future?

Dr. Kiernan: Threats to security on college and university campuses of the future will still include those types of problem sets that have received a lot of attention over time and which can result in grievous injury: mischief, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual assault and hazing incidents. There is also the emergent and growing threat presented by active shooters, especially current or former students and other types of active assailants such as terrorists, who might incorporate multiple weapon systems in their attacks to include vehicle ramming as occurred at Ohio State University in November 2016, autonomous delivery systems (i.e., drones) to introduce contraband and or weapons and cyber-based attacks against a university’s IT infrastructure.

School-based attacks are not an entirely new phenomenon, as history informs with the May 18, 1927 series of attacks at the Bath Consolidated School, in Bath Township, Mich., that killed 38 elementary schoolchildren and six adults, and wounded at least 58 other people. The attacks involved bombings (with dynamite, Pyrotol and firebombs) and shootings (using a Winchester Model 54 rifle). Like other contemporary attackers, such as Adam Lanza (who initially killed his mother prior to attacking Sandy Hook Elementary School), the assailant initially killed his wife and firebombed his farm. He then drove to the school where he detonated an explosive, before committing suicide by detonating the final explosive device in his truck.

No reminder is needed about the Valentine’s Day shooting rampage by a former student at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla. As an example of the use of new tactics, at the initiation of this attack, the assailant activated a fire alarm and began firing into classrooms and at students and teachers responding to the perceived drill. After escaping from the building, he was arrested by a police officer in Coral Springs, Fla., some 2 miles from the school.

The resulting active engagement of students across the United States and throughout the world to attempt to change the threat environment facing them introduces a new level of awareness and dialogue, which is resonating in Congress and throughout the public and private sectors. The focus on firearms is one key component of a broader illumination of mental health issues and resources to identify the behaviors and practices, which signal a potential pathway to violence.

Q: What other trends have you seen emerging in school safety?

Dr. Kiernan: An increased engagement with communities of stakeholders, including the K-12 community in which security awareness and education are key factors. As an educator, and as a business owner, I believe that security is an individual and collective responsibility that should not depend solely on the first responder community. The engagement of the broader school family in the dialogue about safety and security contributes to better decision-making in terms of emergency response planning, and also in the investment of smart technology to provide protection without compromising the freedom of movement or the joy of learning.

Students should have a role in the discussion of school safety expressed through curriculum and incorporating their grade-level knowledge within their participation in activities, which include art, science, math and athleticism. These contributions will not only increase engagement in building a safer environment, but will bring the companion lessons of leadership, collaboration, teaming and, most importantly, the confidence to report potential threats without fear. Schools are also moving towards more integrated security solutions, which involve identity management, access control, alerting and communication strategies, and emergency response plan development, which is exercised and updated regularly. Security sense and preparation is really commonsense and must become as familiar as fastening a seat belt.

Q: Is arming faculty a viable answer?

Dr. Kiernan: Arming a school’s faculty with a preparedness mindset, an emergency operational plan that is inclusive of all stakeholders in a college or university setting (faculty, staff, students and visitors) and the confidence to respond to active threats of all kinds can make a significant difference in the outcome of a violent event. Armed with enhanced situational awareness and the ability to understand and identify pre-incident warning indicators of anomalous behavior by individuals who might be on the pathway to potential violence provides an opportunity to mitigate a progression towards violence and takes the advantage of surprise away from an assailant. Armed with security-based education, which includes familiarity with national level models such as “Run, Hide, Fight” and “Stop The Bleed” are lessons that transcend educational venues and apply where we work, where we serve, where we worship and where we seek recreation. Education, engagement and empowerment are powerful capabilities that both scale and sustain, and do not require trigger locks.

Check out the entire article in the May/June issue of School Construction News.

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WASHINGTON — On June 5, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the Federal Commission on School Safety, a commission formed last March in response to the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, won’t be looking into the role of guns in schools.

In March 2018, President Donald J. Trump appointed DeVos to lead the Federal Commission on School Safety for swifty providing substantial and proactive recommendations to reform student safety and security at school. These recommendations include a focus on various issues, such as social emotional support, effective school safety infrastructure, discussion on minimum age for firearms purchases and the impact that video games and the media may have on violence. After the launch of the commission, a White House statement announced that they would study and make recommendations on “age restrictions for certain firearm purchases.”

After Democratic Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy asked DeVos whether the commission would study how firearms relate to gun violence in schools, DeVos stated that the commission wouldn’t be leading that charge, and will instead focus on ensuring safety and security at schools. Sen. Leahy also questioned DeVos on whether she believes that an 18-year-old should be able to procure an AR-15 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, with her answering that the issue was up for debate.

This response caused a stir in the subcommittee, with senators adamantly underlining that the commission was made to explore all aspects of gun violence in schools, and that pre-emptive measures cannot be accomplished without questioning the role of firearms.

Following the meeting, Sen. Patty Murray, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, expressed her concerns in a letter to DeVos toward the commission’s “failure to act” and asked whether the NRA had influenced the process on June 11.

Education Department spokeswoman, Liz Hill, came to DeVos defense saying that the NRA is absolutely not involved with the commission, stating that it’s important to recognize that the commission cannot create or amend current gun laws — that only lawmakers are responsible for those changes.

Hill maintained last week that the commission will continue to pursue what the President initially ordered the commission to study.

Bob Farrace, a spokesman for the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) went to Twitter to address DeVos’ statements, calling her testimony “farcical.” However, he stated, he hopes that Secretary DeVos will at least no longer push for more guns in school, referring to Trump’s suggestion of allowing professionally trained teachers to be armed at schools.

The formal meetings include Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, as well as subject matter experts. This group of administration officials, DeVos said, is taking their cues from the White House, and remains “focused on making recommendations that the agencies, states and local communities can implement”, as reported by ABCNews.

DeVos promised to release a report from the school safety commission by the end of the year.

Since the beginning of 2018, there have been 23 school shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive Organization. These shootings included nine incidents that involved no deaths and no gunshot injuries, two suicides and three unintentional discharges of a firearm (although one caused injuries), while five were defined as a mass shooting.

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WASHINGTON — In scenes reminiscent of the Free Speech and Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s, thousands across the nation rallied in the March for Our Lives protest to advocate for gun control on Saturday, March 25. The nation’s capital was the locus of much of the protestor’s energy with more than 800 sibling events simultaneously organized throughout the country. The protests were spurred by fury over shootings that have occurred at schools and deadly police encounters, which have received escalating awareness over the past decade — and have changed school security and design as we know it.

Survivors of the recent shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that resulted in the deaths of 17 students and staffers in Florida, spearheaded the march, which was preceded by the mass National Student Walkout the prior week.

Parkland survivor 18-year-old Emma González, who has emerged as one of the many impassioned voices of the movement.

“Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving. But instead, we are up here standing together because if all our government and President can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see,” González decried in what many observed was a historic speech.

After naming the victims of the Parkland massacre, González held a prolonged moment of silence as onlookers chanted “Never again!” Tears streamed down her face. Suffice it to say, her silence spoke volumes. Some participants began to worry that González would not be able to continue — an organizer even gently approached her to check in. Then a timer beeped and González spoke again: “Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds. The shooter has ceased shooting and will soon abandon his rifle,” she said, recounting the events of the shooting. Many in the media remarked upon the power of González’ speech.

.@Emma4Change holding this silence is one of the most remarkable political moments I’ve seen. #MarchForOurLives

— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) March 24, 2018

According to the Washington Post, protestors began rallying along Pennsylvania Avenue at noon, coalescing into a legion of about half a million people by some estimates. Closer to the offices of School Construction News, an estimated 2,000 people filled the Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, Calif., sporting signs that said “Protect Kids, Not the NRA,” “Books, Not bullets” and “Give Teachers Raises, Not Guns,” according to the Press Democrat.

In contrast, the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has been under scrutiny for its pro-gun lobbying efforts, countered on its Facebook page that “Today’s protests aren’t spontaneous. Gun-hating billionaires and Hollywood elites are manipulating and exploiting children as part of their plan to DESTROY the Second Amendment and strip us of our right to defend ourselves and our loved ones.”

The official March for Our Lives website, however, states that the movement supports the Second Amendment:

“We support the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, as set forth in the United States Constitution. But with that right comes responsibility,” the site reads. “We call on all the adults in Congress elected to represent us, to pass legislation that will protect and save children from gun violence.”

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