‘The World Is Changing

“…Whether it’s society as a whole or – I think it is, it’s society as a whole – many people are just becoming desensitized, even a little numb to [shootings]. They hear about it on the news and it’s just another shooting, and that’s something that I have to be adamant about that we never do in Rockbridge County. We can’t allow that to happen,” commented Rockbridge County Superintendent Dr. Phillip Thompson to the School Board at their regular monthly meeting.

“The world is changing quickly,” Thompson said. “There was a time in our lifetime that serious events – and serious events I’m talking school shootings and guns and those sorts of things – were pretty unheard of in our country. It was about 25 years about, believe it or not, when Columbine happened, and that was, in my memory, the first time in my lifetime that something struck me in that way.”

Thompson continued, “However, recently we had an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and another elementary school a little closer to home in Newport News, in which there were shootings in both of these elementary schools. No longer are we just talking about high schools, but we’re talking things that happen in elementary schools to some degree. It’s tragic and it’s sad, but it’s where we are unfortunately.”

For this reason, Thompson assured the Board that the RCPS community takes all safety threats seriously, following varying, conducive protocols for every possible situation. Knowing the importance of school safety, Thompson previewed the Board on the threat assessment procedures and protocols RCPS has set in place at their meeting on Feb. 14. “We do everything we can to ensure that doesn’t happen, whether it be from an infrastructure perspective or whether it be from a procedural or protocol perspective,” he noted.

RCPS has crisis plans that are presented to and approved by the School Board prior to the start of each school year. These crisis plans are not published and are “[kept] close to the chest” as they include the district’s protocols against anything from an armed intruder, allergic reactions or power outages. “It has those three things and everything in between as far as what do you do,” Thompson said. The plans also detail the responsibilities of teachers and administrators in the event of an emergency.

The district takes all threats made by students of any age seriously and students who make suspicious comments are immediately removed from the classroom. The child is sent to the office where he or she will be met by a school resource officer, Assistant Superintendent Tim Martino or Thompson himself.

The guardians of every student involved in such situations are contacted and notified of the situation. In the event of a more alarming incident, the school releases a statement to the entire RCPS community after working with law enforcement, interviewing each party member and doing a thorough investigation of the incident.

While any threat to student safety can instigate anxiety of parents and guardians, investigations can happen over a number of days before a statement is released to families. “It’s not an issue of not being transparent, but these are sensitive situations that we have to make sure the information we’re giving is 100 percent accurate … just as a point of reference because we get called [by parents] almost immediately…but we get it out as soon as we can,” Martino told the Board.

The threat assessment process is a lengthy one that can vary depending upon the situation at hand, Thompson noted. “It is impossible for us to anticipate every disciplinary offense that’s out there,” he said. “We can set out priorities and protocols, but it’s going to vary a little bit based upon the circumstances, and it’s going to vary a little bit based upon our administrators’ judgment …” Many offenses are met with a one-day suspension period as a message to the student and their family that certain things are off-limits in a school environment. Students are also subject to being sent to the district’s disciplinary committee, which could call for a year-long expulsion, Thompson said.

Upon reentry to the school, students are scheduled to have a meeting with RCPS administrators to review the district’s expectations. Administrators also ask questions about the student’s access to items that could prove to be a threat to the school in the event the student were serious in their suspicious behavior.

“We’re going to ask them about the student’s access to weapons within their house,” Thompson said. “We live in a community in which guns are prevalent; there’s no other way to say that. Hunting is prevalent and there are guns in a lot of homes in Rockbridge County. It’s important to us obviously that parents are keeping those away from kids as much as possible and that students understand they don’t mess with guns, certainly without their parents’ permission and absolutely not when it comes to anything with the school or school activities.” Determining a student’s access to harmful materials also helps administration recognize whether the threat is transient or substantial, influencing how they handle the situation, Thompson said.

While officials believe the district’s procedures are satisfactory, they continue to look for ways to advocate for school safety among students and staff and to improve their threat analysis and response.

“We’re advocating quite a bit with our students, with our parents, our community members, [and] our teachers – if you hear something, please say something. … In the coming weeks, our schools are working hard. They’re making an assertive effort to bring their kids and their teachers together in groups to have conversations with them in making sure they’re doing the right thing, making sure they understand to not only say something if you hear something, but also reminding them and maybe even them with some of these elementary kids, what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, what is allowed in school and what isn’t allowed in school, what can you say in school and what can’t you say in school,” Thompson said.

He said he is also researching safety procedures of other states and school districts to draft a more practical crisis document for teachers and staff. From his findings, he believes that a one-page document to grab quickly and keep handy might be easier for teachers to retrieve some “quick action thoughts” rather than a large binder jam packed with lengthy procedures.

Thompson has drafted a “onepager” for the middle school and high school that lists information regarding category offenses, bus and transportation infractions, tardiness, substance abuse, assault and battery, possession of a weapon, communications and consequences. Thompson plans to review the draft with administrators with the hopes of gathering different perspectives in creating a document that will be beneficial to all RCPS employees, he said.

The School Board members commended Thompson for his ideas and dedication to the safety of the RCPS community. Board Chair Neil Whitmore said, “I think it’s good to see it in draft form and see it come together as a document that is usable but not overly complicated, and to give a wide range of people the resources that we put a lot of heavy weight on every day to make those decisions in a very fluid environment.”

Whitmore continued, “We know that the pressures of society at large – be they economic, be they cultural, be they whatever – they have a big effect on public education. The more tools we can give our people to deal with that, the better.”