Live from your public media studios wrva presents Keystone addition reports a public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in NorthEastern and Central Pennsylvania This is Keystone addition reports and now moderator Larry void go good evening i'm Larry ford cow when we think about issues and education There are many topics that come to mind curriculum teacher student ratio extra curricular and more about the topic we cover tonight is just as important as its germane to everyone found in a school setting Be it Teachers students staff or the administration The issue of schools security in the effort to keep our kids safe many schools in our region now have security personnel equipped with firearms on guard in the hallways Some have questioned that approach What do teachers and parents think our classrooms safer with armed security guards in them we'll take a look at these and other concerns on the program this evening But first Keystone Edition reports Paul is are gives us an overview classrooms and hallways bustling with activity laughter homework all of these things go hand-in-hand with the school experience in recent years however another topic has come to the top of mind for many teachers parents students and school administrators that being the issue of allowing certified security guards or law enforcement officials to carry firearms on school property one school district in our area pittston area now keeps a r 15 rifles and shotguns under lock and key in safes found in the for schools that comprise the district In addition to the handguns that guards already carry so have armed guards in our schools made a difference in the safety of those who walked through the school doors each day there are no but e thing isertain hose schools armed with a factual andappropriatsecy procols in pce can beer concerate on the seice end education e servicof gettg our studts ready r tomorrownd a sa a nurturi place todafor Keysne Edion reporti'm Paul wis all eir experte on the topiand joing us and curity d career crdinator atyoming vley west school dtricts aar keating th doctor of education rdinator superintennt of th ll cef of schoolpolice aease Welcomto theb ia stio Thanks fo ining meor this convertion Well let's school distrts andn thach of yor training that are in as place we'll start withach of yor yo Dr keati Tell us abouthat Well how old forghas apprched this safety and security so issue The old fo hool district is an alice train school district alice's is specific protocol that can be used it stands for Alert locked down form counter and evacuateWego througd evacuation whin thelding first six wes of scho every year that we Most importtly talked to pants before we go in that event and then meet with the students obvusly on the second day level we talk to kids in a very realistic fashion and then at the elementary level we make sure that that's age appropriate but still understanding where for a little kids that ia bad person came into the building at we would have to do to deal with that situation I think the most important thing that you could do when you're looking at school safety and security rehearse them by law You have to have something called an emergency operations plan and eop that's a living breathing document every time the's an issue every time there's a concern You go back You meet with your school safety team you talk wi the law enforcement agencies you work with you update with your school safety that plantalk wi the not something that stable it's not a shelf document it's something that constantly has to be gone over we just reapproved changes to ou We're going to do themight now at this current March meaning then we're gonna make sure in the spring we rehearse all those changes because somebody once said to me and on of them multiple school trainings i've been to your body can't go where your ben It's not enough to havet on paper You have to practice this stuff as an edict and tell us out hownough to wyoming valley west is approaching this this issue So in our school district We do thman toy trainings like Dr keating and mentioned but we also have an armed guard and every one of our buildings and then our three largest buildings have an additional police officer in those buildings so that helps you know the officer makes those connections with the students and then is an in building resource to our our faculty and staff and chief mill you are coming to this from a different perspective as a as a law enforcement professional both Dr keating and anthony addicting they began as teachers view of we're a long time Police officer for the city bethlehem and it seems that in the poconos eastleigh stroudsburg school district has has taking this very robust approa by instituting an actual police force for the school district Tell us about that Well I i'm i'm fortunate to have a superintendent and pass superintendts that had this vision to have a school police unit and are on our school board has been very grateful and approved everything for us to have this I have 10 offers one in eachschool eled middle school and high school they're all armed They're all trained as act 120 which is the municipal police officers training we get trained and alice We get trained in all kinds of you know we we do our firearms qualification every year we also do nazao trning we do any kind of training that that's conducive to environment of education That's where we focus everything and it's a whole different ball ball game between meaningful policing and school policing in the comparing those two what is what is really the difference there The biggest difference that I have found And this is my own personal opinion and food in the mist linesville area is pretty much you're just reactive to what happens you go when you take care of it Here in his school district everything is proactive We have to be one step ahead of everybody And that's how our our mind works safe to say is a huge huge thing that has come about that helps us be one step ahead talk a littleit more about safe to say because I understand this is something that each of you Embces or has to embrace in the school districts is that correct Yes yes would you expand on that Please don't So it's safe to say came out of the sandy hook promise So it's It was passed down as an anonymous means that anyone could make a call in If there was going to be harm to the district to a particular building to a person or self-harm for a child bullying harassment any of those things so it's a way to inform administration without having to put up the concerns of maybe being afraid to go face to face or being afraid you know especially for adolescent someone might see you That that information could get to us and then that we could take timely and appropriate response to that but I think what chief was saying safe to say is an unbelievable tool because it's alerted us to different concerns in the building that we may not have had knowledge too I think what we're chief was randy go to the police officer though is what's more important is the concept of creating that culture and climate in your building where kids feel like that school resource officer that principle that guidance counser is someone they can go to and share that information that that the people in the building understand what to look for what our concerns and that they're reporting them to somebody so that then timely and appropriate action can be taken to make sure that we're doing what needs to do to keep that school and keep all those people in that school safe This is Keystone addition talking about school reportse security and guns and school if you have a question for one of our panelists you can email it Keystone at wdia dot org Keystone a wdia dawg through social channels that hashtag Keystone reports may also have a few people in the audience here at the soda any theater of the wdia public meetings studios If you have a a question There is a microphone in the aisle You're welcome to stand up and ask a question the panelists anthony addict and I was wondering if you could explain that there's jargon terms These are very familiar to you I'm sure but not so much to the rest of us The chief mentioned nazarro Could you tell us what that is Yes So nazarro is a mandated training for school sro and so if you and sro is school resource officer when chief alluded to municipal police and school resource officers there's a mentality in the school that might be different than a street cop and so nazarro we'll go through all those requirements that they want the school resource officer to be aware of So things like phurba like laws where you don't talk about students or their records go over supreme court cases like new jersey verse taylor which is a little different requirement for searching then it would be out you know outside the school around and so that training is is required for any officer It's gonna work inside the school now there is a difference There's also an s p o is that correct Sro spl sro is the initial municipal version of an espresso which is a school police I see Ok There they are With the municipality and we are with the district Well we actually have a question from our on audience member if he could step up to the microphone please and state your name and where you're from I am melissa yanofsky from dallas and i'm here with other members of the be smart program were a educational offshoot of the moms demand organization we do gang violence prevention and we really appreciate everything that we do but as you know better than than anybody that armed guards have not prevented mass casualties equality at columbine at parkland and one of the things that we need to deal with this at the shooter's at sandy hook at oxford newport news elsewhere they fired guns that their family members left in the home unsecured and there's four point six million american kids live in homes with guns that are loaded and unlocked risks for crime accidents and suicides So what is your question Does your district educate parents about safe storage and how to talk to kids about guns Yes Anthony addicted currently because gonzales are such a hot topic there's a concern that if we go out trying to educate parents and students were on was encouraging gun ownership We want to make sure that we bridge that very carefully Right And so there's nothing in the curriculum right now to specifically talk about guns and gun ownership or gun safety And so that's something that districts moving forward can look look into but currently right now school districts are mandated and required to do a myriad of other things in the home and so that's something that you know I know we haven't looked at currently I think begs the question as to whether this important issue is really is Is the school district is a school position is that the best place to address something like this Might it be somewhere in another part of our community education rather than the school districts which are really primarily there too To educate our kids Do you have a position on that Since you say that one thing you've got to remember is the school district It's a center of the universe of any community I found that out Coming from the municipal side I realize it everything that goes on in that community comes into the district my superintendent i've had this conversation quite a bit about where do the guns come from It comes from the home Most of the time it comes from the home and my opinion is if we can educate the parents at a town hall meeting in the beginning of the year whatever soviet It would be something that we can do to try to stop it she is correct that guns in a school with the police officers waltz may not stop the situation but it will mitigated it'll lessening that's what will happen all of our officers are trained in act active response single response active shooter all of us And it's a good question and I think it's something that week as law enforcement in the schools and the school's might be able to try to do something in the beginning of the year with the parents Dr keating I think that the other side of that that we have to talk about though is teaching kids in the schools Now some of those situations were outside people coming into the schools but the situations where there's possibly threat inside the school that if you see something if to say something you have to get to a trusted at dawn that building and you have to get to them as fast as you can and tell them as quickly as you can So that we can get and help us in a situation where there could be something on safe and then I think the other thing we all learned looking at a lot of these situations is making sure that doors are locked locked in buildings are secured and that you have somebody walking around checking doors during the course of the day you know that there's only certain entrances and exits to buildings so that there secure vestibules when people are coming in so he got eyes on people you know and it's when I when I went to school to be a principal very long time ago it was after the columbine incident but it wasn't at the high end to the heightened place that we are now where really this is this is for most of your thought process is a building administrator all day every day is making sure that that building a secure and teaching kids that if you see something you have to say something I believe is worked What you say is true I have had so far this year one hundred and sixty five safe to say a total of six hundred and fifty one since it started in 2019 the kids Listen we train him every year in the beginning of the year we get safe to say is on just about anything and everything Somebody is rape and in the bathroom somebody is bullion me anything like that And I'll be honest with the you know the bullying type stuff that's where some of this starts And if we can nipped in the bud It's going to help us down the road because these violent and is don't happen overnight they happen over time it takes time for them to get to the point where they're going to conduct a violent incident So gotta keep your ears and eyes open and she's correct Well we went out on the road and talked with jessica sable she has been working with teachers are entire career a certified teacher herself she advocates for the twenty thousand odd members of the prca in NorthEastern Pennsylvania as a looming threat of school violence hangs over them and their students in this close knit region Let's take a look at her story when he came to the place where the wild things are ah they raw They're terrible rulers and they're terrible teachers love the students that they weren't there every teacher calls their students my kids right My kids my kids these are my kids every teacher no matter where they teach they constantly thing to themselves if a shooter comes into this building How am I gonna protect my kids and that is because 50 percent of the school shootings over the last 50 years have occurred in the last 10 years we expect our teachers to be a lot of things Being a police officer is not one of them we were patrolling the halls The idea when we walk the halls is to be seen Provides an extra layer security We've had kids come up to us and actually say to us that you know we're glad you're here we feel safe today but you have to stay on top of the game you in place and then you have the proper equipment and personnel on a daily basis We're here so we can work through some of the problems that come across our does They may be a child who is smiling all the time and then you know they'll come in and you can see that you know they have a frown on their face and you do you ask him ok can pull him aside and see if they can delve into a little bit more of what's going on with them but we all provide direction for them and that's what we're here for We regular counseling psychological counseling They have the south program student assistance program that you can refer them to and we are part of this society here and we're we're like teachers I proudly wild let the wild rumpus teachers deserve to be able to go to work in a safe environment and children should not have to go to school and fear Full stop And we're trying to do whatever we can to work together to make sure that the school shooting a mass school shooting never happens in NorthEastern Pennsylvania well jessica sable as she relates to her point of view on this and did some of that resonate with you in the in that story You know I was thinking of the The sro who was saying you know that child's always smiling every day and then comes in now You know there's something wrong Is there something wrong Does that do you have Has that happened to you Well yes it's happened to our middle school resource officer which opens up the other question you know making those connections with students is important to help decrease These increases in violence and that could be through you know currently Pennsylvania has a teacher shortage If we can get more teachers in the buildings and create these mentorships with the students and make those relationships teachers will pick up on that kind of behavior just like the officer did you know in books period Right right well we have another question from an audience member Well welcome Thanks for coming out and tell us your name and and families robert need I'm from the wall and Paul pack area I'm a retired there's a lot of things that you guys do in school that we did in school and it's changed over the years there's been a paradigm shift in what socially acceptable as far as violence or bullying or vaping was smoking and whatever There was a very interesting article I just like to highlight in very short without in the script times tribune was by william will bunch From the philadelphia inquirer and at the end of the editorial was titled treat guns like team Do you eyes and we in society have created a ship paradigm shift that significantly has reduced teen drunken driving under the age of 21 since 1982 that's fallen by 83 percent similar story happened with teen pregnancies it has decreased teen pregnancies in the last 20 years by 75 percent by an education informative dare group for one mothers against drunk driving made account concentrated effort to change the mindset the social set of teens and I believe and in his article he talks that we can create the same type of social paradigm shift to decrease the popularity the machoism the toughness of carrying a gun pocketing gun carrying it with them at school and the violence so that's a You have a question then the question is what groups are out there in the public that are encouraging the paradigm shift in social acceptance of firearms Yes So I wonder if you know he's talking about education obviously and education as as the key or as a solution to that and giving these comparisons Is there a comparison though in in the use of firearms and and how many firearms are out there and how it's thought about with drunk driving or texting while you're driving or I'm wondering if there is if if there is if that's maybe an apples and oranges thing What do you think Chief Well first of all a school is probably one of the safest places you will ever be now i've been with the school district for 15 years and the incidence of someone carrying a weapon weapon in the school have been very low and just a couple Ok That's not to say that they may We've instituted things such as we have our are metal detectors they have to go through We have reflection coaches now that talk to some of the kids that are making poor choices so that doesn't get to that point it's a tough sell It's a tough issue what he's talking about right right right Because you're catching that you're catching the weapons before they even get into the into the school It's almost more of a question for in the community rather than in the in the school is that fair to say I think it goes back to you know and I feel like I keep saying the same thing but I think he goes back to that if a child can gain access to that making sure it has to be It has to be reported So you can get ahead of it and take care of that I mean proactive Yeah there's laws in place that if you school grounds it leads to an automatic expulsion but that's the consequence you want to get It's the proactive response that you want to get before that To be able to seize that weapon if it exists or to teach kids that schools aren't a place where the words something like this ever exists One of the things that we do right down to the crossing guard to a school bus driver to the security guard that a person of standing out front when the kids come in they're all train to look and see and somebody said it before that You know the student comes into it hasn't You know we sullen today or whatever they watch for this Washington state I don't know if you remember as washington state I still got on the bus and the bus driver goes well what's still occurring golf bag for he's not he's not an athlete Well he had a gun in her ok These are a little things that it takes it takes everybody not just us We can't as she is that we can't stop everything It takes every single person in that district right from the crossing guard right up to the superintendent to make that school safe So it's a team effort and also the parents so every day and we're running out of time very quickly What What can you say to parents a piece of advice some suggestions some advice What would you say what do you say to the parents I asked parents of please limit their child's access to social media It's one of our biggest drivers in this area right now and then talk to them about having access to safe to say we have thought assessment teams We now have mental health checks so students have multiple layers of outlets to get to us So we can get to them And so what we're trying to what What The takeaway here is teaching to make sure that everyone is alert and looking out always on top of everything and to just really the first step seems to be awareness because it is it's awareness and then making sure to report those concerns making sure that that they're they're given up there They're passed on to the school police department or to the administration so that action can be taken So the awareness is a huge piece and talking to your parents I mean I out by my words every parent should cyber stock their child Know what they're doing on social media know who they're talking to know what sources that they're going to what are the things that are looking at when they're on there and be fully aware of what your child's doing when they're they're not in your immediate care Well thank you so much we've come to the end of our program and I'd like to thank you for being participating and for joining us I want to thank our great questions they ask for more information please visit wdia daud slash Keystone reports and remember you can be watched this episode of an anytime online or the wdia app for Keystone Edition of Larry forward Go Thank you for watching