Security, gun safety its close to home for McLean County schools

By Dave Fidlin for Chronicle Media

School shootings are unfortunately familiar to Unit 5 School District in Normal. In September 2012, a 15-year-old boy with mental health needs fired a handgun into a crowded classroom at Normal Community High School. No one was injured.

As the national debate over gun control and school security reaches a fever pitch, local decision-makers are continuing to look at how public schools can maintain their core objective — educating students — while maintaining a welcoming presence.

As state lawmakers move forward with plans of licensing gun dealers and bump stocks, McLean County superintendents join counterparts across the state in reviewing and, potentially, refining school security protocol.

Calls for adding new provisions to gun laws and funneling more resources into mental healthcare have been made, but local superintendents are quick to point out school security has been on their minds for years — well before last month’s shooting in Parkland Fla., that left 17 people dead and the subsequent rallying cries for legislative changes.

 

Mark Daniel, superintendent of the Unit 5 School District in Normal, said a 2012 incident at Normal Community High School left a scar that is still present to this day.

Just weeks into a fresh school year, a 15-year-old boy fired a handgun into a crowded NCHS classroom in September 2012. No injuries occurred in the incident, and the boy, who had mental health needs, was subsequently sentenced to state juvenile prison.

“It sent a chill throughout our district,” Daniel said of the incident.

Barry Reilly, superintendent Bloomington District 87

School security measures were at the forefront of administrators’ minds before the shooting, Daniel said, but reactive measures — including upgraded security cameras — were put in place once the boy’s actions startled the community.

In the more than half-dozen years since the NCHS shooting, Daniel said security protocol is continuously reviewed in the hopes of the district staying proactive. He said the district’s use of school resource officers has been invaluable.

“(The officers) are not just there to enforce rules and regulations,” Daniel said. “They’re also there to develop relationships. When there is the need for information, it flows.”

 

While school security protocol is “continuously reviewed” in Bloomington District 87, Superintendent Barry Reilly said no imminent policy changes are anticipated in response to the national debate.

Across all of District 87’s grade levels, student safety has, and continues to be, a priority, Reilly said.

Philosophically, Reilly said the district is constantly working to strike a balance between keeping students and staff out of the way of potential threats, while dually striving to make each school a fun, collaborative learning space.

Mark Daniel, superintendent Unit 5 School District in Normal

“We’ve been reassuring people that we take (school security) very seriously,” Reilly said. “But we’re also not a prison.”

One of the ways District 87 has taken a unique approach toward school safety is its employment of a position not commonly found in a public school setting. Brian Evans, a retired Bloomington Police officer, now works for the district as its director of safety and security.

“This position has been invaluable,” Reilly said. “He brings a high level of talent and works with all of our building principals.”

Although each school district has its own board policies and local governance, Daniel and Reilly said their efforts do not occur within a vacuum. Collaboration throughout educational circles has been cited as a key component to best practices in school security.

Mark Jontry, regional superintendent, helps facilitate some of the cooperative efforts. Jontry helms the Illinois Regional Office of Education No. 17, which represents districts in McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties.

Brian Evans, a retired Bloomington Police officer, serves as the director of safety and security for Bloomington District 87

Jontry said he frequently meets with superintendents across the four-county region. The most recent meeting, he pointed out, occurred just after the Parkland shooting.

“One of the things we’ve been discussing is crisis response plans,” Jontry said. “We want to talk to our law enforcement partners and get their input.”

Jontry and the local superintendents also expressed greater desires to address how social media plays a role in today’s school culture and work toward programs and activities so an inclusive culture is adopted.

 

 

 

 

— Security, gun safety its close to home for McLean County schools —-