Florida school safety panel probes inconsistencies |
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which met this week in Broward County, is targeting inconsistencies in the ways schools assess threats, conduct active-assailant drills and report incidents. The commission discussed what members characterized as a need for more consistent guidelines that schools can follow to prevent dangerous incidents. While Florida schools use a common “instrument” called the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines, they don't have a common threat-assessment process or reporting system. The document described a patchwork of reporting systems, with 18 districts using dedicated software systems provided by four vendors. Two districts have developed their own systems, 21 districts are using “some aspect of their student information system,” nine districts are using “pen and paper” and 14 districts are using Excel, Google Docs or similar software. “One of the things that I know works is, when you're training people, you've got to give them as hard and fast rules as you can. People like hard and fast rules. You have to minimize the subjectivity, you've got to give them that framework,” asserts Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who is chairman of the commission. Commission member Max Schachter, whose son Alex was killed in the Parkland shooting, said improving reporting accuracy can help schools get the help they need. “The reason we want this data accurate is so we can use this data to surge resources to schools that need it most, and incentivizing principals to report accurate numbers.”