All Massachusetts schools should have a crisis response team and a single public entrance. They should practice what would happen if a shooter appeared and ensure every classroom has a “go-kit” to be used in emergencies, according to a new report scheduled to be released by the state Thursday.
The Massachusetts Task Force on School Safety and Security, established by Governor Deval Patrick in January, has 29 recommendations for school leaders to prevent and respond to security incidents or issues on campus.
Patrick is scheduled to release the report during the second day of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Summer Executive Institute in Mashpee, during which he plans to announce a state technical assistance team to help districts improve school safety and security and a $200,000 grant program for districts to make their campuses safer.
“The emphasis here is on building relationships with your town manager, your chief of police, your fire chief, really involving the community in how do we keep our schools safe,” said Mary Czajkowski, superintendent of Barnstable public schools, who was part of the 22-member task force, made up of school administrators, students, law enforcement, and elected officials. “You don’t want to get to know your police chief or town manager when there’s an incident. You want to have established a relationship.”
Keeping schools safe, she said, is the job of the community at large.
The report follows a series of school shootings, most notably the gunfire at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 students and six staff members dead in December 2012.
“You can’t wait for another issue to happen,” said Michael Thomas, deputy superintendent of operations for Brockton public schools. “Everybody is gung-ho once those things happen, a large-scale issue, but once it fades away, the public forgets how tragic they were. These plans need to be worked on constantly.”
Thomas also was a member of the group Patrick established with Secretary of Education Matthew Malone, Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral, and Secretary of Health and Human Services John Polanowicz.
When the task force was first announced, state administrators said it would develop requirements for schools and create a statewide model for responding to crises. But when members met, they wanted to make sure they were not creating unfunded mandates and recognized that decisions about school safety should be made at the local level.
“Every community is different in Massachusetts . . . urban, suburban, rural, there is a such a wide cross-section of schools and everybody has their own concerns,” said Wilmington police Lieutenant Scott Sencabaugh, another member of the task force.
The 30-page report recommends retrofitting schools with safer doors, locks, and security systems; having a school resource officer at middle and high schools; and creating positive campus atmospheres.
“When we kept seeing these common themes woven into testimony and these people didn’t even know each other, we knew these were some major themes that needed to be addressed,” Sencabaugh said.
One recurrent theme was the importance of personal connection between students and staff, Thomas said.
“Everybody who works at the school, whether it be the cafeteria worker or the custodian or the secretary, everybody has to be a team in recognizing issues and making a personal connection with students,” he said. “You can have the best lockdown plan and police officers and bulletproof glass — and you need those things to keep the school safe — but it’s the relationships that are the first line of defense.”
Akilah Johnson can be reached at ajohnson@globe.com.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the incorrectly identified Wilmington police Lieutenant Scott Sencabaugh.