By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school district has detailed plans to deal with various crises, but it doesn't always release those details to the public.
The school board heard from Julie Zollinger, school psychologist and USD 489 crisis consultant, about the crisis training and tabletop drill conducted with the staff during a recent in-service.
"Engaging in these activities can minimize the chaos and protect from physical harm in an emergency," she said. "It also builds the confidence in our staff to be able to quickly respond and remain calm as their students will look to them for direction and their reaction, especially those children in early childhood and elementary."
While the school district staff may train on incidents that are more likely to happen, such as an accident or injury, they are also preparing for events that are less likely to happen, like an active shooter or a tornado.
"Where we really need to be good is those non-fatal illnesses and injuries that sometimes happen every day," she said. "Kids fall on the playground, break something, or the death of a close family member of a student."
Zollinger briefly discussed the district's Raptor software, which can send alerts to staff in an emergency.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said teachers have used the team feature to request assistance from the office when they need help with a student without having to send a person physically to the office or pick up a wall phone.
The district has also installed crisis posters in all classrooms and offices. The posters outline step-by-step procedures for responding to alerts.
The district is working to roll out a similar graphic that will be sent to parents with instructions on how to respond in a crisis.
The USD 489 Foundation for Education Excellence helped fund crisis bags, which are backpacks of supplies for each classroom and office.
Zollinger said it has been costly to replace items in those bags when they are used or have expired. Those bags were placed in the building about five years ago.
In September, a rash of school threats circulated on social media. Some students stayed home from school.
Why no active shooter training for kids?
Board member Ruth Ruder asked Zollinger about active shooter training for the students.
"The issue that happened a couple of weeks ago we had all received an email, I think it was from a parent, about do we train our kids for an active shooter. The cops that I have visited with said you don't really want to have training because if the active shooter knows what do, then he knows what to watch for," Ruder said. "In most cases, the active shooter is a student."
Ruder said she thought it was important to let parents know that teachers are receiving crisis training.
Zollinger said another consideration in crisis training is the potentially harmful psychological effects on both students and staff.
"Two [Hays Police Department] officers and I have been working since June on how to roll out this training appropriately to protect from psychological harm to the staff," she said.
Zollinger said when she practiced lockdown with elementary school staff members, she could almost feel the heart rates increase in the room.
"We want [the staff] to know what to do, but they may be a little more nervous about it because they know they have these 25 little people. It's very different if you have seniors in your classroom."
"As far as teaching kids what to do, we've gone back and forth about the appropriateness of that," she said.
Zollinger emphasized there is a difference between the terms lockdown and active shooter.
Lockdowns put students behind locked doors, and school districts have a low threshold for doing that. A district could initiate a lockdown for merely a perceived or potential threat.
A school might lock a school down over an angry parent in the office, she said.
An active shooter is a term used by police for a person actively attempting to kill people at a location.
Zollinger quoted a recent research article examining student responses on social media after active shooter or lockdown drills.
The researchers found a 30 to 40 percent increase in the amount of anxiety and depression expressed by students when the procedures are talked about.
"It's not worth it because we've caused psychological harm over something that we didn't have to do with them," Zollinger said.
"As long as the adults know exactly what to do and can do it calmly given the situation ... if they are confident in any situation they make, that helps all the children who are with them."
When the school threats happened in September, Wilson said the district was contacted by parents. He said district staff addressed each concern individually.
"The thing that we have learned is that in crisis situations when things are happening, kids will follow the person who is in charge of that classroom," Wilson said. "That is where we are putting our planning and preparing into is that person understanding what they need to do."