District’s Attitude About Protection Goes From ‘Ho Hum’ to ‘Gung Ho’

To improve communications, he was also able to purchase 210 Hytera 800 MHz two-way radios that are interoperable with local first responders, including  fire and police. Now, teachers in the area’s public, private, parochial and charter schools can communicate and receive information on the same frequency during a disaster.

Digital video surveillance cameras have also been installed in the redesigned and newly constructed buildings, and the video feed is now sent directly to computers in the principals’ offices.

Not all of the upgrades were technical, however. Summers also convinced campus staff to not prop open doors and that having locked doors was customer friendly.

The changes in both technology and policy have been widely accepted by staff, as well as parents.

“Prior to Mr. Summer
s taking over as director of safety, people entered the schools freely and were not required to sign in at the front desk,” says Jill Reifinger Marcrum, who is the parent of two EVSC students. “I often wondered who some of the people were in the schools who were wandering around. Now, when I visit my children’s schools, I am required to register and have a name badge. All students, teachers and visitors must enter through the main entrance and all other doors are locked. I have comfort now that no stranger will enter the school through some back door.”

883 Teachers, Administrators Receive Training

The technology and policy upgrades were all well and good, but Summers realized that teachers and campus administrators also needed training in emergency response. The district, however, didn’t have any training dollars, so he applied for and received a $249,000 REMS grant in 2009.

He used the REMS funds to update procedures for drills and train staff. He rewrote emergency plans specifically for each school site, teachers, administrators and custodians. Private, parochial and charter schools were included in the training, and he hosted four tabletop trainings for disaster drills that were attended by 57 district staff.

View Photo Gallery: Spotlight on CS Director of the Year, K-12 Gerald Eugene Summers

“He has completely changed our view of safety,” says Eric Carson who is an EVSC fourth and fifth-grade math teacher, safety coordinator and incident commander. “As teachers, we just assumed it was someone else’s responsibility to keep the schools and students safe. He put the responsibility in the hands of everybody.”

Summers took special note of the district’s bus drivers.

“They are probably the most left out,” he claims. “People don’t think about them, but they transport thousands of kids every day.”

Recognizing this, Summers taught EVSC bus drivers how to de-escalate volatile situations. A good part of that, he believes, requires being proactive.

“I need you to speak to these kids and say, ‘Good morning,’” he tells drivers. “I need you to get to know these kids by name so when Johnny acts out and you call his name, you’re going to get his attention because he didn’t realize you knew his name. That diffuses kids quickly.”

In total, he has trained 883 individuals in the district on everything from NIMS to de-escalation tactics, which represents a 578% increase.

The REMS money also enabled him to purchase 978 “to go” bags for each teacher to use during an evacuation or shelter-in-place situation.

Summers Cultivates Partnerships With 1^st Responders

Summers also understands the value of having good working relationships with community first responders, including emergency management, fire, police, the FBI and ATF, and he has actively cultivated these partnerships. He particularly stresses the need for law enforcement agencies to know the layout of school buildings and to conduct tactical drills in those settings. GIS floor plans have also been provided to law enforcement.

“Four years ago I had a student come to the building with a shotgun,” he says. “I had 47 officers who showed up that day to help me secure the building. Because we had worked and practiced together, it was amazing to have everyone line up and know what they needed to do during the situation.”

Using NIMS and ICS also helps with emergency response.

“Now we have NIMS and everyone understands the incident management system and who is in charge,” he says. “We talk a common language so if I get someone who comes over from Kentucky to help us during a disaster, we all know what everyone is talking about.”

Students, Parents Play an Important Role

In addition to school staff and local first responders, Summers enlisted the help of students and their parents. He implemented an anonymous alert system at no cost to EVSC by receiving a five-year grant from the vendor Schoolspan. The system allows a student, staff member, parent or citizen to go to the district’s Web site and anonymously report a problem. Issues such as bullying, theft and weapons possession have been uncovered and resolved as a result of the system.

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