Wichita school security officials watching, learning from L.A. district shutdown

Wichita school security officials said they were watching news reports from both coasts on Tuesday, when an e-mailed threat prompted a districtwide school shutdown in Los Angeles but was being treated as a hoax in New York.

“We’re no different than any other business,” said Terri Moses, director of safety services for the Wichita school district. “We follow what’s going on nationwide, and we try to learn from what other people do.”

Wichita, the state’s largest school district, has dealt with several threats this fall. Just last week, a threat discovered in a bathroom at Southeast High School prompted additional security and an afternoon evacuation of the high school and nearby Curtis Middle School.

Threats also have been reported in some suburban districts, including one made via social media against a Maize High School student that prompted a modified lockdown at the school.

Moses said Wichita schools plan and train for evacuations, shutdowns and other measures that may be ordered by law enforcement or school security officials. The district has never canceled school altogether because of a threat.

“You have to plan for the absolute most, and then you plan for the day-to-day,” Moses said. “You have to take each situation on its face, and you have to treat it for what you have at that time.

“These situations are very dynamic,” she said. “What originally comes in as something small can turn into something large. And what initially seems like something large can very quickly be, ‘Oh, that was a misunderstanding. We’ve dealt with it. We’ve handled that.’ ”

The challenge for security officials, Moses said, is balancing the desire for business as usual with the need to take threats seriously and keep students safe.

Lockdowns and cancellations cause logistical problems for students and families, and even brief evacuations mean lost learning time. In addition, officials worry that dramatic responses to any threat could encourage copycats.

“That’s a balance that we all, as decision makers on our crisis team, have to make,” Moses said. “With every single one of these (threats), we have to sit down and say, ‘OK, what is the absolute safest thing we can do for our kids, both now and to prevent these kind of things in the future.’ ”

Last fall, in response to mass shootings like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Wichita teachers were trained in the “Run, Hide, Fight” method of dealing with violent intruders.

As part of that training, officials urged teachers to teach with their doors locked and encouraged students to speak up if they see or hear about security threats. They also urged parents not to call children or rush to the scene during a potential threat.

Incidents like Tuesday’s in California should remind parents to talk with their kids and have a plan in case school is canceled unexpectedly.

“Talk to your kids in advance: ‘Do we have a place to meet? Do you know that you can walk over to somebody else’s house if I’m not home?’ ” Moses said. “Now’s the time to build that plan.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Wichita school security officials watching, learning from L.A. district shutdown."