New safety protocols help schools prepare for the worst

Nearly two years after unveiling a set of enhanced lockdown protocols and establishing itself as a regional pioneer in the area of school safety, the Canton school system is prepared to take the next step this year with a series of drills and training sessions designed to prepare both students and staff for various emergencies — including the worst-case scenario of a violent intruder on the premises.

While such events are statistically quite rare, the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and subsequent school shootings in California and Oregon serve as grim reminders that school violence can and does occur — and school officials in Canton are determined to be prepared.

For faculty and staff, this training began in earnest on the first day of school in late August as school employees of all stripes — teachers, educational assistants, custodians and secretarial staff — took part in a large-scale “active shooter” simulation at Canton High School led by members of the Canton Police Department’s newly formed Family Services Unit.

During the simulation, which was offered last spring to school administrators and will be repeated in some form this year for students in the middle and high schools, staff members were divided into teams and sent off to classrooms while CHS School Resource Officer Det. Chip Yeaton carried out the role of the armed intruder.

Stalking the hallways with a fake gun and searching for “victims,” Detective Yeaton — who has advanced training in school violence response strategies — demonstrated how easy it is for an intruder to cause harm when a school employs a traditional lockdown approach, which involves staying put in a locked room and has been used for decades in school systems across the country.

Staff members then practiced some of the strategies embedded in the new enhanced lockdown protocol — including barricading the doors and evacuating the building — and later reconvened in the auditorium for a chance to debrief and ask questions.

While the response to the training was generally positive, Yeaton noted afterward that there were certain key elements of the protocol that could not be practiced, most notably the use of surveillance as a communications tool since the equipment was not fully operational on that day. Nevertheless, he said the impact of a simulation simply cannot be replicated in a lecture or PowerPoint presentation.

“We had previously done a presentation for the teachers,” he said, “but the practical application of it really shows the impact because you’ve got the opportunity to sample adrenaline — albeit in a safe and controlled setting.”

Recognizing the value of such experiential exercises yet cognizant of the sensitive nature of this particular topic, School Superintendent Jeff Granatino said the new protocols will be rolled out to the students gradually, starting with shelter-in-place and regular lockdown drills before moving to enhanced lockdowns later this year.

“We’ve thrown out some possible dates to our SROs, but we want to ease the students into it,” said Granatino. “We don’t want to go full speed right off the bat.”

Granatino emphasized that all trainings will be age-appropriate, with the exposure in the elementary grades most likely occurring on a “class by class basis” with the teacher leading the way.

For the enhanced lockdowns, Canton will employ a proactive model based largely on the ALICE program, an active shooter training program that has surged in popularity since the Newtown shootings.

ALICE is an acronym that stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. The program utilizes environmental design, technology, communication, and human action to improve one’s survival chances when faced with an immediate danger.

Critics of ALICE have tended to zero in on the “counter” component of the program, which emphasizes the use of noise, movement, and distraction to reduce a gunman’s ability to shoot accurately. However, according to ALICE advocates, strategies such as these are only to be used as a last resort, such as when a shooter has breached a locked door and entered a classroom. The preferred option, according to the ALICE Training Institute, is to evacuate the building when it is safe to do so.

While there have been varying degrees of comfort with the use of the ALICE acronym in Canton, the bottom line, according to school officials, is that students and staff will now have options if ever faced with an immediate threat.

“We want to try to give our students as much information as we can to allow them to make some decisions that might be different than what they have done in the past,” explained Granatino. “At the same time, we’re not looking for our kids to be taking risks.”

Cindy Thomas, who chairs the Canton School Committee, added that the new safety protocols are not “one size fits all,” but rather an approach that “emphasizes communication and really puts more flexibility in the hands of the folks who are in the middle of the situation.”

“It really is about empowering the folks who are affected by whatever crisis is at hand to really take the kind of action that’s appropriate given the situation that’s occurring,” she said. “I think the School Committee is clearly in support of that.”

Both Granatino and Yeaton also noted how enhanced lockdowns are fast becoming the norm, not only locally but across the United States. Yeaton, who teaches ALICE instructor courses and also serves as president of the Massachusetts Juvenile Police Officers Association, has personally trained hundreds of school and public safety personnel across the region, and the use of enhanced lockdowns was recently included as a viable training option in the Massachusetts Task Force Report on School Safety and Security, which was commissioned by Governor Deval Patrick and released in July.

The 30-page report draws on the expertise and feedback of teachers, administrators, students, community leaders, and law enforcement officials, including Yeaton, who is credited as a special advisor. It specifically references the ALICE program along with similar protocols promoted by the New York City Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

And yet, as the report makes quite clear in its introduction, school safety goes far beyond any one drill or set of protocols; it is a community-wide effort requiring collaboration, communication, and proper preparedness — and Canton is proud of its track record in these areas.

“I think we have a good, solid plan in place and we have an excellent partnership with the schools,” observed Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz.

Berkowitz has long emphasized the importance of building relationships with Canton youth, and he recently teamed with Granatino and Fire Chief Charlie Doody to establish a local substance abuse coalition aimed at curbing teen alcohol and drug use.

The department also recently expanded its school resource officer program and now boasts one of the most robust school-based policing outfits in the commonwealth, consisting of four SROs (GMS, CHS, Blue Hills) and an Adopt-A-School officer at each of the elementary schools.

Overall, Berkowitz believes the CPD spends the “right amount of time and devotes the appropriate amount of resources” to school safety, and he believes the department is “well equipped to respond to any and all emergencies that occur at the schools.”

Granatino, meanwhile, expressed similar confidence on the school side while touting the School Committee’s recent investment in new surveillance equipment, including 65 new cameras at the middle and high schools.

“That alone gives us better eyes and allows for police to also have better information if they need it,” Granatino said of the new cameras.

Canton has also received support at the county level, most notably from Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, who has funded school safety assessments and various workshops, including an ALICE training program held at the Bank of Canton headquarters last February.

“I think we do as much or more in the area of school safety than any other county in Massachusetts,” said Morrissey, who also commended the work of Detective Yeaton and the Canton Public Schools.

While he does not endorse any one particular safety program, Morrissey does agree with many of the principles of the enhanced lockdown model and feels that every school should have a plan in place to respond to a worst-case scenario, regardless of what that plan is called.

“There’s usually three to 10 minutes where school officials will be alone in the school with the intruder before law enforcement arrives, so it is important that they know how to respond,” said Morrissey.

Yeaton thought the task force report said it best when it noted that “children who do not feel safe at school suffer academically” and also put the onus on adults to “provide those safe learning environments within our schools.”

“And even though [incidents of school violence] are rare, mental preparation is still important,” added Yeaton. “The more you practice these things, the more you perfect them. And from a bad guy’s perspective, when they know a district is prepared, that in itself is a deterrent.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Sep 18 2014. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.