Safety First, My Map to School Safety            (February 2018)

Many people have been concerned with safety in our schools ever since the senseless Florida School Shooting on February 14, 2018 where 17 people died and 15 people were injured. I am asked over and over again, what else can we do for our schools? How can we ensure that our children and teachers are safe?

After listening and reflecting I would like to share my views of Safety in our Schools. These are only my views as I see it now. They do not reflect the opinions of the Jordan School District or any board member. I reserve the right to change my views, as I listen and work with our community, teachers, parents and our students. 

First, can we ALL agree, NOTHING will stop every event. While I think we can and should do more, no matter what we do, there is no fool proof solution that will ensure our schools are 100% safe.  We can increase safety in our schools, when we work together to find solutions. 

Safety First: When I was elected, one of my top priorities was looking at ALL aspects of safety in our schools and make safety our first priority. I created with the Jordan Board of Education and district administrators, a Safety First Campaign.              This program puts the power of School Safety in the hands of individual School Community Councils and Local School Teachers and Administrators. This campaign is designed to be a bridge, bringing district and state resources to local School Community Councils. Safety is best created at the school level with district support. 

We are doing more then you think: When I was elected to the Jordan School Board in November 2016, I discover The Jordan School District is doing more then you think. In 2003, I was invited to represent parents on a committee developed to find solutions for safety issues. I served on that committee for several years. I was excited that this district Safety Committee is still going strong and finding solutions to our problems. This committee is made up of school, and community leaders and parents from our district.  I have seen huge improvements in our school safety plan since 2003. 

What has changed since 2003? All of our schools now lock the outside doors except the front entry doors. All of our Elementary Schools have security system in place that should filter visitors through the office areas.  We have not gone to a buzzer system yet, but I am sure that will be coming soon.  We are working at retrofitting our middle schools to bring the offices to the front of the school. This has cost us millions of dollars over the last few years and we will continue to work on this and move to securing our high schools. 

High Definition Cameras: The Jordan School District has installed High Quality Definition Cameras that are on 24/7 and are monitored during school hours. Certainly these cameras can pick up suspicious activity around the school. 

Armed Guards: Since the Florida School Shootings, many people are asking for more police presences and are asking for Veterans to come to protect our schools. As a reminder, the Utah State constitution allows carriers of a concealed weapon on school property. This is why a screening system likely would not work in Utah. Since this law exist, it is possible that many of our teachers and administrators are already carrying a concealed weapon at school. By law, we are not allowed to ask who is and is not carrying a gun at school. For years our schools have been armed by amazing school employees who have your child's safety in mind.   

Safe Utah App: Everyone, students and parents, should have downloaded the Safe Utah App. This app was created to report suspicious behavior or get help if you need it. The best ways to keep our schools safe is to be watchful and report what looks out of the ordinary. Proper reporting and following up on tips, is one of the best ways to protect our schools.  It is estimated that over the last year, 86 events were deterred because of the Safe Utah App.    https://safeut.med.utah.edu/

Mental Health: Securing our schools is only part of the solution. The fact is, we have a Mental Health Crisis in America. We need to equip our schools with better resources to diagnosis and give help to those with Mental Health issues. Finding students that need help early, not only will save us from future possible disasters, but it will save the life of these young people and will help them make a positive contribution throughout their life. 

What more can we do?  We should not only look at school safety during moments of crisis, but it ought to be all of our number one concern all of the time. I will be recommending to the Jordan School Board during our February 27, 2018 Board meeting, to have the committee I chair (Jordan Districts School Community Council) continue to look at this issue, school safety. We will continue to look at what we have done, are doing and what else we need to do, to provide safety in our schools. We will continue and empower local school community councils to look at their own school safety and come to the district with ideas.

In the months ahead, I will be working with Lisa Cummins our State School Board Representative to come up with future legislation that will help provide safer schools. I intent to continue working with other state and local agencies as we continue to address this very important issue. 

Please call me 801-699-8017 or email me drDarrellRobinson@Gmail.com with your insights and concerns. Safety in our schools is a Shared Responsibility. Together we can keep your children safe. 

Parent University: I would like to invite everyone to the April 12, 2018 Parent University. This will be held at Sunset Ridge Middle School at 7:00pm. We have planned to address school safety. This was planned long before the crisis in Florida, but is coming at a time we all have increase awareness for school safety. I have asked that the meeting be recorded and pushed out on social media.