When Sheriff John DeGeorge heard details of the school shooting in Uvalde, Tex., he anticipated questions from the public on local preparedness for such an event in Fillmore County. As he thought about it, he wondered if schools were getting questions as well. DeGeorge decided to invite Fillmore County school administrators and local police chiefs to attend a joint meeting with the sheriff’s department to discuss their plans for dealing with such situations.
DeGeorge sent out email invitations and within a few days had positive responses from all involved. On July 12, administrators from every school in the county, police chiefs from every town that had one, and the sheriff’s department met at the Lanesboro School, showing how much they all prioritized school safety.
The media was not allowed to attend the meeting; the following is a compilation of the reflections and reactions of many of the people who attended the meeting.
Just meeting each other face-to-face and knowing who the people who would be working together during an emergency was important to all. Lanesboro Superintendent Matt Schultz stressed that it was good to hear everyone’s perspectives. He appreciated learning that not just the local police would respond, and that law enforcement monitors traffic across the area.
Preston Police Chief Blaise Sass explained that the meeting was loosely structured with the majority of the time spent on questions and answers; he noted it was a good way to build rapport between the schools and law enforcement.
Scott Klavetter, superintendent at Kingsland, said his biggest take away was how common the responses of the schools were — they had similar questions and concerns, and were using similar strategies and approaches. Ben Bernard, superintendent of Rushford-Peterson, agreed, noting the meeting provided a “nice, complete picture of the county, their history, and planned responses.”
Fillmore Central Superintendent Heath Olstad appreciated how the schools were all on the same page with an ultimate goal of a safe learning environment for students.
Sheriff DeGeorge was impressed by the thought and evaluation the schools had already put into their plans. Questions from the administrators focused on finer points of the details of their well-thought-out plans.
DeGeorge stressed the different goals and roles of the parties in a situation, “The teachers’ primary goal is to be educators; ours is to deal with the tactical operations.”
Sheriff DeGeorge assured the public, “When any deputy gets a call on an active shooter, we don’t wait. We respond immediately. Our first priority always is to eliminate that threat.”
Rushford Police Chief Adam Eide also commented, “You won’t see us waiting to go into a situation. Time is loss of life. We train and train and hope we’ll never need it.”
Most schools in Fillmore County use ALICE or a form of it. ALICE is an active threat response training program which helps prepare for staff to respond to a situation. The acronym ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate. Many of the schools have people on staff already trained in ALICE. Most of the county schools plan to review and/or present ALICE once again this fall to their staffs.
Bernard shared that the Sheriff’s Department had already done active shooter training at R-P during a non-student day and plans to do another training at another school in the county in the future.
Chief Eide shared his frustration with the previous drills schools had done which were modeled after fire and weather drills. He pointed out that in today’s world, students need permission to do anything at school. He lauded the ALICE model which gives both teachers and students the tools to choose between fight or flight.
sEide said the meeting forced the group to have uncomfortable conversations. They discussed how to secure doors, and discussed some inexpensive options. Eide said he had a key fob for the outer doors of the school already, but will also be getting a master key for the interior doors.
Matt Schultz noted that a change Lanesboro School will be making following the meeting is to provide access to the building for law enforcement as well as to share updated floor plans of the school.
Superintendent Gary Kuphal shared other security improvements at Mabel-Canton — an upgrade to the camera system will provide better quality cameras with more cameras placed inside and outside the building. In addition, the school office area has been moved and all visitors are funneled into the office.
When asked if there will be another meeting of the group, Sheriff DeGeorge replied that it would “certainly be realistic,” and noted such a meeting could be about other shared topics as well. Kuphal suggested that in addition to law enforcement, it might be beneficial to invite probation officers, social service, and possibly representatives from the court system depending on the topic as they discuss helping the youth of Fillmore County.
Olstad pointed out that Fillmore Central already has a very close working relationship with Chief Sass and Sheriff DeGeorge and looks forward to continuing that. Bernard plans on talking to Chief Eide about specifics for the R-P building.
When asked for any messages to the public, Matt Schultz commented, “We’ll continue to keep the children’s safety our priority; the number one thing we can do is love the kids in our building.”
Principal Eric Nelson, Chatfield Schools, wanted the public to know that the schools and law enforcement are working together to have a “seamless partnership.”
Klavetter requested, “If you see something, say something!” He stressed the importance of addressing mental health needs and ensuring kids are cared for and supported.
Bernard commented, “We’ll give it everything we can. If the kids don’t feel safe, they won’t learn as well.”
Chief Sass shared, “We are far better off to address an issue before it happens. We can all take part in keeping our communities and schools safe.”
Sheriff DeGeorge is happy the lines of communication are open; as a parent he appreciates how well the schools are prepared. He noted that precise details of plans will not be shared in order to protect the effectiveness of the plans.
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