Pulling out the stops to keep schools
and colleges safe

Nobody wants to be caught flat-footed in an episode of violence at school, so AFT members are brushing up on their knowledge of violence prevention.

That certainly was true at a recent PSRP conference in Las Vegas, in which two workshops drew overflow crowds and vigorous participation. In presenting the workshops, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) violence prevention facilitator Linda Vila Passione described how to define a dangerous incident, what steps to take after an incident, and, most importantly, how to anticipate and keep violence from happening.

Vila Passione says that in the weeks after a shooting rampage last spring at Virginia Tech, her school safety program dealt with a flurry of copycat threats in which students, including middle schoolers, announced on MySpace and YouTube that they planned to "V-Tech" their schools in the New York City borough of Queens. One second-grader even relinquished a revolver to a teacher.

"When things like this happen, wherever it is—whatever borough, another state or the other side of the world—as a staff, we go into heightened awareness," she says.

So far, none of the New York incidents has erupted into violence because the joint program of the UFT and the school system practices what it preaches: constant vigilance and communication.

"The scenario that happened in Virginia is not acceptable;' says Vila Passione, referring to a two-hour lag between the initial shooting and later carnage in a classroom building, during which there was no campus lockdown. "You don't ever call an all-clear until you have a suspect in place."

All schools and colleges also need strict, routine procedures for visitors: "I don't care if it's your mother;' she says. "Out she goes until she comes in with a photo ID."

Schools need well-rehearsed emergency plans, too. In New York City, says Vila Passione, all school staff are informed via an intruder alert code.

How it works: The school can use any code phrase, such as "Mr. Muller has entered the building." Everyone on staff recognizes the phrase, learned in training before each school year. When the code is announced, staff check the hall, then lock the door and keep working. Safety officers sweep the building and eventually give an all-clear: "Mr. Muller has left the building."

If an incident does occur (see box at left), Vila Passione says, you should immediately seek help; notify an administrator and a union rep in your building or local; ask for incident reports; consider legal action; and keep all your documentation in a folder. The UFT helps any injured members navigate the system.

Proactive, not reactive

While the union does step forward after there's been trouble, the main focus is prevention, says Ellie Engler, the UFT's director of safety and health. This past year, the local has rolled out new materials and lunchtime training at the schools. Knowledge is power, Engler says: "If you have that in place and it's proactive and practiced and consistent, then you begin to see a difference."

William Murphy, a safety officer with the St. Louis, Mo., public schools and a member of the AFT-affiliated St. Louis Teachers and SRP Union, says exactly the same thing. While his turf, Roosevelt High School, hasn't seen an uptick in threats since Virginia Tech, it does deal with 38 gangs in one building.

"You can't sit on it and wait for something to be done Murphy says. "We try to take a proactive stance. When we get word of any gang activity that's about to happen, we try to keep the peace."

What keeps him awake at night: Even though his school's safety officers have held off violence on school grounds, it's happening in the community, and some students don't see a line between the neighborhood and the school. Over a weekend in mid-June, one 15-year-old was killed and another student hurt in a shooting that Monday. "What bothers us officers is we'll talk to a kid today and he's dead tomorrow" Murphy says.

For your safety

While they don't always know what's causing violence, school safety officers do know that they have to build students' trust and set clear rules. Says Murphy: "Roosevelt is like my house. I'm not going to let anything come in and disrupt it. And these kids, they're my babies."

He ponders the fact that certain students are both childlike and dangerous.

"It's getting to the point where they're really assaulting staff on a regular basis;' he says, attributing it to the fact that there often are no consequences for bad behavior. "Kids think, 'I can do whatever I want and nothing's going to happen. I can hit a staff member and get away with it; " he says. "And a lot of them wear that as a badge of honor."

In this atmosphere, many school employees hesitate to report incidents, the UFT's Vila Passione acknowledges. Often, filing procedures are unclear or employees fear retaliation, not only from school administrators but also from neighborhood thugs.

But the UFT trainer stresses that it's important to report incidents, which will draw attention to the need for better security. "You don't want to go in with your union rep?" she asks. "Go with another union member."

Reporting is essential, agrees Baltimore school police officer Major A. Byrd, in part because principals are evaluated on suspension and expulsion rates, which may drive school funding. "It's a numbers game," he says. "A lot of things that should be reported aren't reported"

School staff also have an obligation to the victims of violence to report trouble and seek help, adds Byrd, even though staff are not personally responsible for intervening in risky situations.

"Schools are mini cities," notes the member of the City Union of Baltimore, an affiliate of the AFT. "Let police do police work."

Keep records of events such as in-school suspensions, says Vila Passione, recording when they happen and why. Use that information, she says, to inform the community about the magnitude of school violence and to counter any false claims of a drop-off in incidents. "What money we could get if [the public] really knew the problem," she says.

On college campuses

Donna Swanson, president of the Central New Mexico Employees Union, knows that at any given time, people may be carrying weapons on the five open campuses of Central New Mexico Community College, which enrolls 26,000 students. "We've been lucky, with a capital L," to have escaped violence so far, says Swanson, whose AFT affiliate represents campus security workers.

After Virginia Tech, Swanson swung into action, contacting the governor and helping set up an online forum for ideas on making the college safer.

Her vision of what's next: The security division on each campus will hold forums with its frontline people. Swanson is optimistic that the new dean of students will include the union's safety officers in creating a security plan. "We are going to plan these forums together—not just faculty, but everyone," she says.

Hone your street smarts

Meanwhile, the number of violence-prone individuals is on the rise, warns the UFT's Vila Passione, urging staff to stay alert at all times (see right).

However, don't take hostile behavior personally, she says, because it really has nothing to do with you. Just be aware of trigger words and phrases, such as "Get out of my face" or "What are you looking at?" People with violent tendencies live in the moment, usually can't explain themselves, and need to be given clear and simple choices. They require a 6- to 12-foot perimeter of physical space.

Like Murphy, Vila Passione emphasizes that violence-prone kids don't distinguish the school from the street, and they often act on environmental triggers, including Halloween, springtime and parent-teacher conferences.

"Listen to your students. Know your students. Speak to them," she says. "I want you to be safe and get home every night!'