School safety is an ongoing conversation across the nation and students are speaking up.

Angelo Herrera and classmate Michael Tran, both Kentwood seniors, are two such KSD students speaking out on the importance of school safety and practicing safety drills and procedures.

Herrera and Tran watched a “Run, Hide, or Fight” video presentation at school with their classmates. The video teaches students and staff about what to do in an active shooter situation.

“It was really interesting. I got to know a lot about what is going on at the schools. I decided to talk about [school safety] because I want to walk around knowing that I’m safe,” said Tran.

Herrera believes practicing safety drills and procedures is vital.

“It’s very important because being prepared in that way would help save lives…” Herrera said.

Safety is one of Kent School District’s top priorities and supported by local tax dollars. Keeping our schools secure and peaceful places for teaching and learning is paramount.

This includes following national best-practice safety measures such as:

• Fostering a culture where students and staff understand the importance of reporting suspicious activity.
• Providing threat assessment procedures to school administrators and counselors assessing warning signs and how to address concerning behavior.
• Training threat assessment teams at each school.
• Practicing drills for lockdowns, shelter-in-place, earthquake, evacuation, and table-top safety exercises.

Local tax dollars also support our twenty-six member Safety Services team including school resource officers, and physical security enhancements, security cameras, visitor management, and improving controlled access to campuses. 

Our Safety Services team uses a unique approach of building relationships with students, which helps prevent incidents and minimize conflict. Helping one another and paying attention to students are solutions both Herrera and Tran emphasize. School safety is something they feel everyone needs to take seriously.

What can parents and family members do to help keep our schools safe?

We ask parents, guardians, and families to have ongoing conversations with their children about safety issues, including appropriate use of social media. This dialogue can help our students understand the negative impact threats, violence, and cyberbullying can have on our students and their future. 

What can students do to help keep our schools safe?

Build a “see something, say something” culture with your friends and school community. We commend students who have brought safety issues or threats to our attention.

We encourage all students to speak to a school counselor or safety officer if they feel they need assistance or if they think a fellow student may need support.

By working together, we will keep our schools and our community safe. 

Article Source: Kent Meridian High School