Following the Monday shooting at The Covenant School, a private school in Nashville, local law enforcement and parochial schools are highlighting their safety and security efforts.
When it comes to keeping students safe, school officials said their partnership with law enforcement is crucial.
“We want their presence known,” said Trinity Lutheran Principal Cathy McNabb.
While private schools like Trinity Lutheran and St. John’s do not have officers posted in their buildings, McNabb said officers from the Marysville Division of Police visit the school regularly to walk through the buildings and talk to students.
Sgt. Josh Dillahunt, who oversees MPD’s School Resource Officer program, said, even if officers don’t know every student at private schools on a personal level, they get to know administrators and establish a direct line of communication.
Aside from working to build relationships at the schools, McNabb said officers work to ensure they are “very familiar” with the school building and its floorplan.
She noted that MPD hosted a training at Trinity Lutheran last summer while students were not in the building.
School and church leaders at Trinity Lutheran collaborate closely with MPD and the Union County Sheriff’s Office, McNabb said, often asking for feedback from law enforcement as to how they can improve their safety measures.
“We do consult with them quite a bit,” she said.
Dillahunt noted that MPD does an annual review of “building vulnerabilities” for each school – private or public – in Marysville. He said officers also do “security surveys” and offer recommendations to administrators.
At Trinity, the school is currently in the process of updating its automatic door-locking system and integrating an intercom system, as well as replacing older doors that are original to the building. McNabb noted that the school uses a key card system for entrance into the building.
She said the school is also updating its interior and exterior camera system so that all staff will have access to the cameras from their computers, rather than just staff in the church and school secretary’s offices.
Physical building safety is among a number of preventative measures that Dillahunt said is “a huge focus for us.”
He said, “in our community, there are a lot of preventative programs to identify potential threats… before a shooting ever happens.”
The Union County Sheriff’s Office’s involvement at private schools also revolves largely around preparedness.
Sheriff Jamie Patton noted that UCSO does not have a contract in place to provide School Resource Officers (SROs) in parochial schools, as it does in public schools belonging to the Marysville Exempted Village School District.
However, he said deputies have opportunities to build relationships and prepare for “critical incidents” through trainings at private schools.
Patton explained that UCSO teaches ALICE training to staff at area schools, which is an active shooter training program that focuses on five steps: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.
He said deputies are able to build relationships with teachers, administrators and support staff through the ALICE trainings and annual “refreshers.”
Although there isn’t a deputy stationed in Trinity Lutheran or St. John’s every day, Patton said students get to know law enforcement through the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. Deputies teach the course over an 11-12 week period, he said.
Patton added that the sheriff’s office has a Public Safety Officer (PSO) assigned to Darby Township who is often present during school zone drop-off and pick-up, and can act as an “extra set of eyes” on St. John’s.
The trust built through trainings and community programs would come into play during the response to a crisis.
Patton emphasized that, whether at a public or private school, when a “critical incident” occurs, the protocol is that every available unit would respond.
He said that means that at St. John’s, for instance, UCSO, MPD, the Plain City Police Department and even Ohio State Highway Patrol would likely be on the scene.
“There would be a significant law enforcement response immediately,” Patton said.
The sheriff also noted that first responders are trained that, no matter which agency they belong to, the first responding unit would “immediately attack and neutralize” the threat.
He explained that, in the past, the first unit at the scene would set up a perimeter and wait for a tactical unit before engaging the threat.
“The way we respond today is much different than we would years ago,” Patton said.
Dillahunt also noted that private schools and law enforcement officers have procedures in place to share emergency plans with one another and make sure responses will be aligned.
From a parent’s perspective, McNabb said she knows it can be challenging to expose children to tragic events like school shootings.
Still, she said she feels it is important for parents to talk to their students and help them to understand that their teachers and law enforcement are there to protect them.
“As parents, we want to shield our children from the world of violence,” she said, while encouraging guardians to talk to their kids and “meet them at their level of knowledge.”
Patton also emphasized the importance of keeping an open line of communication with law enforcement.
He urged adults and students to notify police or deputies of any suspicious behavior, even if they think it could “end up being nothing.”
“Let us filter out the information,” Patton said.