LEWIS — School employees are the key to safety in their districts.

That is what administrators from area schools were told when they attended the first School Safety Day in Essex County, designed to get them familiar with state and county agencies and their programs.

'YOU ARE PROACTIVE'

Among the presenters were the Essex County Sheriff's Office, Office of Emergency Services, State Police, Champlain Valley Educational Services, Essex County Mental Health and the Essex County District Attorney's Office.

Essex County Sheriff Richard Cutting emphasized the role of educators in avoiding problems caused by inappropriate student activities.

"You are proactive, while, unfortunately, we are reactive," he said of school and law-enforcement roles.

The event was designed to discuss the reaction to a school crisis and what administrators and staff can do to promote the safety of all.

School districts are required to have emergency preparedness plans, which detail what to do in case of fires, weather disasters, loss of power and threats.

RELATIONSHIPS

Sheriff's Department Deputy Rob Rice, who has been a DARE officer, indicated that his role was determined by how he could assist the specific school.

"Our overall goal is to work with each school and build relationships with the faculty and students. I want the students to see me more as a human than a police officer."

CHECK THE PLANS

State Police Sgt. Chad Niles from Ray Brook said that often law-enforcement personnel are not familiar with a school, unless their child attends; thus, there is the need for immediate input from school officials, such as schematics, in case of trouble.

Simple procedures such as numbering outside doorways would be helpful, he said.

"Plans are often made and then put on a shelf. They should be reviewed regularly and updated."

Niles also mentioned that preparedness has generally been the focus, "but we now need to see what we can do to prevent things such as bullying from happening. There is also a need to observe staff to see how they will react."

DON'T IGNORE THREATS

State Police Officer Jeff Sisson said school personnel need to take it seriously if kids report something.

"The best plan is one you never need to open."

Plattsburgh City Police officers gave scenarios about how they deal with threats. Detective Steve Dubie said police need to evaluate threats as to credibility, seriousness, whether the person has the resources to carry out the threat, the motivation and whether the threat is direct, indirect or veiled.

"It's appropriate to understand that it is not always the troubled kids. It could be a catalyst thing. It can be any student. A person does not need to make a threat to be a threat," he said.

Detective Bruce Martin said that during the investigation a threat may be assigned a level of low to high from information given by the possible perpetrator, as well as others.

"It's not over, even if it is determined that the person is not a real threat," Dubie added. "There should be follow-up with other services and working with the family, school and others."

"Sometimes the media overreacts in their write-up," Martin said. "The school should not make a press release without consulting with the police."

ASSESSING RISK

Essex County Mental Health crisis worker Annie McKinley said families are a crucial part of the assessment of a student. Her agency often deals with violent, aggressive, suicidal and bullied students.

"We do risk assessments to determine what needs to be done to make sure the kid is safe. We provide services which represent a whole child system and help to coordinate various agencies.

"Unfortunately, there are so many families in need that we have a waiting list."

STAY INFORMED

Essex County DA Kristy Sprague talked about the difficulties of getting ahead of the game when it comes to drugs and texting.

"Most parents don't know about all of the Internet's capabilities. They and teachers need to be informed about what's out there."

911 ROLE

Essex County Emergency Services Director Donald Jaquish informed the group of his agency's role, which includes the 911 center, overseeing of operations, placement of equipment, the Haz-mat team and National Incident Management System directives.

Jaquish emphasized the need to know terminology and acronyms to assist in communication with agencies. He also said that all school employees, whether they are officials, teaching or custodial staff, need to be in on planning and procedures.

Other requirements, which might not be as apparent, are the need to keep records of finances and what was done before, during and after an incident.

LESSONS

Wanda McQueen of CVES, who coordinated the event, called it "a unique opportunity for Essex County school administrators, safety coordinators and school board members to meet with county representatives to review school-safety-related topics and learn about the processes and procedures specific to Essex County."

McQueen said a primary focus of the coalition is to focus on bullying, "not just chat about it. Often school teachers and playground monitors may just talk about an episode, but nothing more is done."      School Safety Day was sponsored by the Coalition for Safe Schools, which is part of the CVES Safe Schools/Healthy Students project.

E-mail Alvin Reiner at:

Rondackrambler@yahoo.com