Weekly Editorial
October 5, 2006

ABC’s of School Safety

We are deeply saddened by the recent tragic events at schools in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Wisconsin. Statistics show that violent crime is far less common in rural areas and rural residents are four times less likely to be victims of violent crime. Yet all three school shootings in the past few weeks occurred in rural places. These terrible incidents serve, as a reminder that violence can happen anywhere, and schools must remain prepared to respond. These incidents also underscore the challenge of protecting students and staff in our free and open society. Overwhelmingly, particularly here in Harbor Springs, our schools are safe and nurturing places for students, and we are dedicated in ensuring they remain safe learning environments. The following are ways that we at HSPS have initiated safety precautions and are ensuring appropriate awareness among our students, staff and parents:

• Each of our buildings has a comprehensive crisis and emergency response plan. These plans detail specific steps in responding to a crisis. Just recently, our high school student body rehearsed both lock-down and evacuation scenarios.
• School officials are engaged in regular dialogue with our local public safety officials. Law enforcement officers are regularly in our buildings participating in programs and connecting with students and staff.
• We value and promote “human connection” initiatives such as fostering information sharing, adult/student support networks, peer relationship building, counseling and parental involvement. Fostering a family atmostphere is the best medicine against……..
• Proactive safety procedures have been put in place to enhance overall school security. These include designating specific building entrances/exits, logging in all building visitors, installing surveillance cameras and initiating background checks on all volunteers.

We understand that a balanced approach to school safety, recognizing that combination of strategies, rather than one or two extreme solutions, can be most effective in keeping students safe.