Peters Township Police Officer Jim Stevick is the School Resource Officer at the High School.
SCHOOL SAFETY: SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING – DO SOMETHING eters Township
PETERS TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
As news of the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida made headlines across the country, parents in Peters Township Schools were invited to a District Safety Summit on March 7 to learn more about preventative safety measures in our schools.
The program began with a presentation from FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst John Pulcastro who supervises a staff of intelligence analysts working counterterrorism and threatrelated matters. Pulcastro focused his time talking about the responsibility everyone in our community shares in identification, intervention and prevention of these tragic acts of violence.
Pulcastro shared some of the indicators of this radical behavior including praising past attacks, weapon acquisition, and fascination with violence. He also cautioned parents to engage with their children and their use of technology, given that even the most basic smartphone gives our children access to unlimited content that could encourage these behaviors.“ When it comes to social media, most parents are way behind. Our kids are the experts and every day new apps are appearing to grab their attention,” said District Communications Coordinator Shelly Belcher. Mrs. Belcher also oversees safety training across the District and is a parent of two children in our schools.
Police Chief Doug Grimes also spoke at the Safety Summit sharing the role that his department plays in school safety. In addition to the School Resource Officer at the High School, there is a police officer at the Middle School every day during student arrival and patrol officers conduct random walk-throughs inside each of our schools daily.
Superintendent Dr. Jeannine French and other District administrators also shared many of the intervention techniques that are in place for our students. Starting with our youngest students and continuing through 6th grade, our teachers meet monthly during“ Kid Talk” time and discuss every student in terms of their academic, social and emotional growth or challenges. At the Middle School, the team approach provides the same opportunities for individual student evaluation; and as
80 PETERS TOWNSHIP students transition to the High School, the Student Assistance Program( SAP) provides referrals for students in need of support.
In addition, staff members throughout that District have received extensive training on supporting our students’ emotional health. Earlier this month, Pulcastro met with all staff members to enhance their skills at identifying students at risk at all grade levels. Other recent trainings for the staff include first aid / mental health, suicide prevention with a focus on mental health and anxiety, and opioid and drug awareness at the high school level. Counselors and staff members who teach health received specialized training in these areas as well.
This winter, the students also took part in a presentation from the Tyler’ s Light Foundation – hearing from the father of a young man who died of a drug overdose who encourages students to make positive choices. His message of encouraging students to speak up when they see a friend making poor choices is one that was echoed by the FBI at the Security Summit.
“ We need everyone to invest in the safety of our children,” adds Dr. French.“ When these tragedies happen, many people will say that they saw the signs. The key is to notice those signs early and act on them before violence occurs.”
The District’ s safety efforts also include an online Safe Schools Tip Form where students and parents may submit alerts to their building administration and counseling office regarding bullying incidents, threats, or drug and alcohol related incidents. If students are uncomfortable talking with an adult directly, they can use these forms that are found on each school’ s homepage.
“ We take every alert seriously,” adds Mrs. Belcher.“ Our staff members follow through on each one and we’ ve have several submissions within the first few weeks of posting the forms.”
The safety of our students is a responsibility that we all share. The District has posted resources and links to the document provided by the FBI on the Safety page of the District website( www. ptsd. k12. pa. us). Parents with questions or concerns related to safety should contact Mrs. Belcher at belchers @ pt-sd. org.