School Safety Committees

School Safety Committee

This week has been a blur.  Spring Break begins next week, and I am ready!  On Tuesday I had a meeting scheduled with the district's school safety specialists. This meeting was the first for this school safety committee in quite some time, and we had a full agenda.  Unfortunately, the meeting had to be rescheduled due to a miscommunication.  Sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles.

A Great Idea

There are numerous Indiana Codes concerning school safety.  Each school district must have a School Safety Specialist.  That person must attend the county's School Safety Commission, if there is one (Hancock County has one!), and each school should have a Safe School Committee.

In my district, we have nearly 15 certified School Safety Specialists.  The meeting that was cancelled was to coordinate our efforts, and to provide them with the resources they need to assess our school's safety plans to the standards given to us by the Indiana Department of Education.

The meeting has been rescheduled, and in the meantime, we will use phones and emails to coordinate our efforts.  Where there is a will, there is a way!

School Safety Specialists - Part of the Thin Blue Line?

Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line refers to the fraternity of police officers.  They stand between order and chaos, protecting the public from danger.  Should School Safety Specialists be considered part of the Thin Blue Line?  This is not asked to disrespect anyone in law enforcement, but is actually in honor of them.  While there are numerous law enforcement officers that serve in schools, many more are educators, which begs the question.

In reference to my last blog, law enforcement officers have to meet certain requirements to become a sworn law enforcement officer.  There are training requirements, as well as other statutory requirements.  Becoming a School Resource Officer (SRO), requires specialized training, and is an additional area of certification.  While School Safety Specialists do not yet have similar characteristics in regards to training and statutory requirements, they do protect a precious, and specialized population.

I should point out that the state of Indiana does certify School Safety Specialists, under statutory requirements.  However, I have to also acknowledge that the certification only requires the completion of training established by the Indiana Department of Education, but has no assessment afterwards, therefore the amount of knowledge retained by individuals is unknown.  With that being said, the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy (ISSSA) is the first of its kind, and is the standard used by other states in their school safety training efforts.  Dave Woodward, Program Director for the ISSSA, is to be commended for his excellent work in making this a globally recognized institution.

More and more schools are placing qualified, passionate people in these important positions, even as other schools are just handing the job to the newest school administrator.  Until schools treat the position of School Safety Specialist as the specialized position it is, we will continue to be distant cousins to the Thin Blue Line, and not brothers and sisters.

It is my hope this happens in my lifetime.

Thoughts?