February 26, 2003

From left, West Valley SRP leaders Virginia Nason, Michelle Enser, Jim Howe and Debbie Brown compare notes.'Being a small school we know everybody, but good tips we got were to ask for identification and to remove a map of the school from the Internet,' Brown says.

It's not until tragedy - even the potential of one - strikes that you know how you'll deal with it.

Secretary Debbie Brown learned that lesson a number of years ago when she was handed a note that implied the paper was contaminated with anthrax.

"My first thought was'Oh, my God.' My second was: Why did someone let me open it after they had?" Brown recalled.

So when her union, the West Valley Service Employees Association in Cattaraugus County, brought in a school safety and violence expert to discuss strategies on preparing for crisis situations, Brown was among 150 people to attend.

That turnout is terrific, considering the West Valley school enrolls only 500 students. Besides members of his union, local President Jim Howe invited members of the West Valley Teachers Association, other educators in West Valley and other districts and local, state and county police and fire officers.

"We haven't had any security incidents here, but with all the talk about need for heightened awareness, we wanted to be pro-active," Howe said.

In fact, the training took place one week after a possible threat on the Internet prompted many New York schools to initiate "lockdown" situations.

Security is on everyone's mind, trainer Ken Trump told West Valley staffers: "School safety is everyone's job - from the school secretary, who could take a bomb threat call and who sees visitors coming in the school, to the school custodian, who is responsible for building operations and could be the first to detect unusual persons and activity on school property, to those traditionally looked upon, such as the principal and teachers."

In general, Trump advised:

• Security is more than equipment. Plan and practice lockdowns and evacuations, which are as important as metal detectors.
• Control access to the school. Besides making visitors sign in, make them show identification. Know who vendors, mail delivery and service personnel are.
• Make sure lighting around buildings is adequate and functioning.
• Move outdoor trash bins away from buildings. Explosives could be placed in them.
• Look beyond your own campus to potential terrorism targets in your community. Recognize how that could change school operations. Schools could be shelters, or students might have to stay in buildings for hours after the regular school day. For example, a few New York City schools kept students overnight after the World Trade Center was attacked.
• Plan reunification procedures for families.

Howe credited West Valley SEA members for bringing 180 desks from classrooms to be set up in the auditorium and later returned to classrooms.

"Without the dedication and work ethic of Kelly Kittle and Barry Mahn, I'm not sure we could have pulled this off," Howe said.

- Betsy Sandberg

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