I used to chair the school board in my hometown of Essex Junction. Every year, we routinely surveyed parents to learn what concerned them most about their children’s school experience.

Was it class curriculum, or their child’s progress as a learner? Was it after school activities? Class size? School lunches? The first concern was none of those, and it was always the same.

First and foremost, parents were concerned about their children’s safety.

School safety has been on everyone’s mind this fall, as we have watched a troubling uptick in school violence nationally. For Vermont, it all started here in Essex, on August 24, when two cherished elementary school teachers were killed, and another teacher injured. Everyone in town knew the two teachers we lost; everyone knows their families.

And the incident has hit Essex and Essex Junction hard.

That evening, I talked with Essex Police Chief Dave Demag and Captain Leo Nadeau, to offer my support, and learn what had happened and what went wrong. The incident was a case of domestic violence – of an armed intruder entering the building, intent on a specific victim -- which happened to unfold in one of our schools, as teachers and staff prepared for opening day of school. Everyone is grateful that no children were present.

Chief Demag and Captain Nadeau told me that despite everything, school and public safety personnel had followed the school’s emergency plan to a tee – quite possibly preventing more violence. The intruder was a man well known to teachers and staff. No one anticipated what he would do.

Captain Nadeau explained that every school in Vermont should have an Emergency Plan for responding to incidents like this. The Vermont Department of Education outlines what to do in the Vermont School Crisis Guide (http://education.vermont.gov, under Publications and Resources). Winton Goodrich of the Vermont School Boards Association, Captain Nadeau and other members of the School Crisis Planning Team wrote the guide.

The emergency plan is a tool – an outline of action steps – for school and community leaders when an incident occurs. Each school should have a School Crisis team, made up of the principal, school nurse, teachers, and other school personnel, as well as a Public Safety Committee, made up of representatives of the School Crisis Team and local law enforcement, firefighters, rescue and emergency medical workers and emergency management personnel. Vermont law calls for those committees to meet regularly, and conduct practice drills in their schools at least once a month. While our teachers and school staff are not trained in law enforcement, the plan and the practice drills can equip them to respond to incidents effectively, when the unexpected happens – be it an intruder from outside, a threat by a student, a hostage event, fire, bomb threat or explosion, or other threat.

In the past several weeks, our nation has witnessed a series of adult school-intruders. Yet, Capt. Nadeau cited a study on school violence with revealing facts about student-caused violence. The study was commissioned by President Clinton in the wake of the 1999 Columbine tragedy, and conducted by the US Secret Service and US Department of Education.

Between 1974 and 2000, nearly three quarters of attackers were students who were victims of severe bullying and harassment. Many had thought about or attempted suicide. “Prior to most incidents,” the report states, “other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.” It goes on to say, “most attackers engaged in some behavior, prior to the incident, that caused others concern, or indicated a need for help.”
Incidents involving intruders call for us all to look at our own school buildings, to see how we can manage access. In Shelburne, school leaders have installed a camera monitoring and intercom system at every point of entry, and all controlled in the school office.

Incidents caused by students within our schools call for each of us to be aware of those around us, and to communicate when we see signs that warn of danger.

Every day from September to June, nearly 100,000 young Vermont children go to school.

Every year, I talk with hundreds of Vermont school children. I tell them to keep an eye on their fellow-students, and if they think a friend may be in trouble, to reach out to that youngster, or go to a parent or teacher for help. I tell them if they ever feel frightened or harassed themselves, to open up and ask for help.

As a pilot, I have been flying airplanes for nearly 30 years. And every time I board a plane, as a pilot or as a passenger, I still make my own personal evacuation plan: how I will find an exit, and how I will help others? After 30 years, you still never know what might happen.

The same lesson applies in our schools. Parents and teachers should talk with their principals and superintendents, and if there isn’t a plan already in place, contact the School Crisis Planning Team through Winton Goodrich at the Vermont School Boards Association (http://www.vtvsba.org/). They have seven facilitators who will travel to any school, anywhere in our state, at no cost to the school district, to help organize committees and write a plan.