One of the original goals of the Clinton County School Safety Commission was the best way to deal with an active shooter situation in the schools. However, that goal now includes a lot of other items.
“I think we’ve taken it not from just from an active shooter approach but an all-hazards approach,” said Commission President and Superintendent of the Rossville Consolidated School District Dr. Jim Hanna. “The focus has shifted a little bit from where we started out sharing of what we do but also what programs are out there that are available to schools that we’re using that somebody is not that might be beneficial. Bottom line is how can we help? How can we help each other?”
A perfect example of what Hanna was talking about was a presentation by Dr. Steve Kinney, who is the CEO and Founder of nSide, the School Safety Platform from Alabama. McKinney discussed the Virtual Layer Mapping System, which Hanna has implemented at Rossville.
McKinney said research shows that 89 percent of Google searches in the country deal with a specific location and 88 percent of the locations deal with mobile information. He said his company is an approach to safety which focuses on what you need to know in an emergency.
“Indiana is leading the country when it comes to change in school safety,” said McKinney.
The four public schools in the county all gave safe school updates on what they are doing on school safety for the upcoming year.
Another presentation came from the American Red Cross Disaster Program Manager Kristina Chapman, who said most people don’t realize that the Red Cross responds to almost every type of major situation.
“The American Red Cross responds to many different types of emergencies,” said Chapman. “We respond to hazardous material events, mass casualties. Anytime there’s a need to help prevent and alleviate human suffering, we’re there.”
Chapman said she spent the day at Noblesville Middle School during the their school shooting back in May.
“We were there to support the families as well as the first responders with anything they requested of us,” said Chapman. “We provided drinks, snacks and comfort.”
Hanna was also pleased with the turnout at the meeting held at the Community Schools of Frankfort Administration Building.
“I think Clinton County folks are really focused on school safety,” said Hanna. “We had 39 here today that were registered and that’s a really nice number. We also had officials from EMS, fire, law enforcement, schools, public safety and the American Red Cross. I think these folks do it as a team effort and that works out well.”