Safety Solutions

As I travel around our schools conducting safety and security assessments I believe it is fair to say that we are quickly getting to the point where every reasonable piece of hardware and technology we could access for school safety will have been installed.  The reality is we walk a fine line between security and community access and our society is not yet ready to make our schools look like maximum security prisons (and we shouldn't at this point in time). 

April 13th was my last blog prior to going out on medical leave.  It is hard to believe how the year has flown by while I was on leave, returning to work late summer and catching up this fall.  Now 2018 is almost over.  Thanks to the many of you who have asked about my health over these past months and expressed your best wishes and concerns.  I am recovering and finding my "new normal".  

While there is no single indicator or profile of a violent school intruder there are some common characteristics to be on the look out for.  One of them is the combination of both angry/agitated and unplugged or isolated.  

In cooperation with Susquehanna EMS and East Hempfield Police Department  we are pleased to announce the STOP THE BLEED initiative is coming to Lancaster and Lebanon on April 7, 2018 at the IU13 Conference Center located at 1020 New Holland Ave. Lancaster, PA.  While we may not be able to stop all school violence (or serious accidents) we can train our staff and students to help save lives by stopping the severe bleeding related to weapons or serious injuries.

A few years ago IU13 partnered with the PA South Central Terrorism Task Force to produce a video on school active shooters. This partnership made this video available to all schools within the SCTT's region and thousands of staff and students have viewed it. If you have seen it before it might be a good time to review it again and for your new staff and students this is a great opportunity to see if for the first time. Here is the link to IU13's YouTube Channel where this video is housed.  VIDEO LINK

As always feel free to call or email if you have any questions or are interested in violent intruder training being offered by IU13.  This is John Baker for safetysolutions4schools.com

Right before the Holidays the Pennsylvania legislature enacted several noteworthy changes to Chapter 10 of the PA School Code specifically related to school safety.  Here are two highlights.