Some parents have described the experience of having a child as having their heart walking around outside their body. They want to keep those most precious to them as safe as possible while allowing them the freedom to learn and experience their world.
Now that school is back in session, we’ve asked law enforcement and school officials what they’re doing to keep youth safe in our community. Breckenridge Public Schools has completed physical safety upgrades at both school properties over the past year, many of which came about due to the referendum dollars provided by taxpayers.
Superintendent Diane Cordes explained one major change visitors will see, which was implemented last year. Visitors must enter through one door into a vestibule when coming to either the elementary-middle school or the high school. They then press a buzzer to alert the front office workers of their arrival, who determine whether or not to allow them to enter the office.
Internet safety is always a high priority for parents, and the school district is doing its part to keep students safe while on school property. “We allow student access through a secure server that is filtered at a deep level to protect students from getting into places they shouldn’t be,” Cordes said.
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Certain words or phrases are on a list of prohibited terms, and if a student types those into an online search, the search stops immediately. For comments deemed innocuous, a technician can move that word or term onto the approved list to clear it, and there is a procedure to do that. One technology tool that’s greatly benefited the district is an emergency response mobile app called Crisis Go, which was integrated last year. The program offers mobile crisis management tools that connect with law enforcement and allow better communication between staff, administration, and emergency responders.
“It allows us to put our pencil and paper emergency plan into this technology, whether it’s a natural disaster, a fire, or any intruder that requires a building lockdown. Workarounds exist if you can’t or don’t want to use the phone lines. It allows a lot of really cool things,” she explained. The system also allows the teachers to do an electronic roll call and submit to a dashboard that quickly updates all staff in real-time to track where students are rather than meet face-to-face during an evacuation or other emergency.
“Crisis Go has been a breakthrough,” Cordes said. Throughout the school year, students go through several units where they learn about “stranger danger,” know about bus safety, and hear from law enforcement about ways to stay safe, including using the buddy system. Cordes said she has spoken with Breckenridge Police Chief Kris Karlgaard, who has some new best practices he wants to share with the school’s Web Posting Reviews.
“We’re anxious to hear about that and implement them in our district and continue to tweak our system,” she said. Karlgaard shared tips to keep youth safe while traveling to and from school or to visit friends. “The first thing I want children to be aware of is always to be observant,” he said. “Pay attention to their surroundings. If something seems abnormal, it probably is. If the hair on the back of their neck stands up, there’s probably a reason for that, and they should pay attention to that.”
