School safety: Cape balancing mental health, protection

For Cape Henlopen School District Superintendent Bob Fulton, safety in our local schools involves a balance between mental health and protection. With a $100 million annual budget, 5,500 students and over 1,000 employees, clearly there are lots of moving parts.

"Considering weather, roads, threats in the community . . . it can be scary," said Fulton in a recent interview. "It's always on our mind. I'm glad our kids weren't involved in the recent school shootings in Florida - and sad that the kids there were. For us, we want our kids and parents to know our schools are safe places."

From the protection side of the equation, Fulton points to training in the schools involving staff and a member of the Delaware State Police force assigned to - and paid for - by the district as a school resource officer. That training focuses on plans to deal with intruder and active shooter scenarios, safety plans in coordination with local police and fire first responders, lockdown drills, and reviewing building floor plans.

Technology also plays into protection. All schools are locked to outsiders. Visitors have to be buzzed in to a school office and checked out before they can go farther into the schools. Bullet-resistant film has been installed on exterior doors and lobby windows in some schools, and Fulton said plans are in the works to make those installations districtwide.

Cameras are in place inside and outside all of the schools. If you're on school property, your movements are being recorded and monitored by those cameras.

At the district's newest school, Love Creek Elementary, a driver's license scanning system is in place for visitors. "In cooperation with the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System," said Fulton, "it will alert us as to whether the person with the license is subject to a court Protection From Abuse Order, or a known sexual predator, or someone who has been arrested for some offense. At Love Creek we also have a schoolwide panic and lockdown button that can lock all doors with one push of the button. There and at some other schools we can also lock down neighborhood wings so, for example, kindergarten wings, first-grade wings and second-story wings can be locked to prevent entry from the main hallways."

He said within the next five years, every school in Cape Henlopen School District will be either new or renovated with many of these protection technologies and strategies in place.

Local police also help

Local schools also work well with Delaware State Police and police departments in Milton, Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

"Milton officers have been walking through schools recently," said Fulton, "and when we had the student walkouts showing support for the Florida shooting victims and school safety initiatives, the Lewes police chief showed up to be on the scene and offer any assistance needed to keep the kids safe. If there's even a hint of an issue in any of the schools, officers are good about showing up. They're very willing to be part of what we need."

On the mental health side of the equation, Fulton provided a list of seven different training initiatives designed to make Cape schools places of inclusivity, where students feel safe, welcome and secure. They include: suicide prevention, bullying and gang activity awareness, child sexual abuse awareness, discussion issues and topics to help students develop interpersonal and conflict resolution skills, training and coaching of staff to deal with student behavior problems in a nonpunitive manner, and sensitivity training focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning issues.

Cape Henlopen High School has a professionally staffed Wellness Center where psychological and medical service referrals are available. Two family crisis therapists work in Milton's HOB and Milton elementary schools, two behavioral health consultants work in Mariner Middle in Milton and Beacon Middle in Rehoboth, and licensed clinical social workers provide individual and group counseling.

They help with access to food and clothing programs to make sure all students are properly clothed, shoed and fed. Fulton said each building has a liaison with the Delaware Food Bank to help families, including sending home backpacks with some students so they'll have food to eat over weekends.

A lot, but is it enough?

Stephanie Kichline, communications officer for Cape district, said student awareness and social media play an important role in school security. "If kids see anything on social media that is remotely not funny, they feel comfortable taking a snapshot to the principal or a teacher. This generation as a whole is more aware. Information moves so quickly. And we let parents know that we hear things. We hear, we interact. It's important for us to acknowledge. People want to know that we know."

"If we hear of an issue," said Fulton, "we don't wait. We send a school resource officer or a member of the state police to the home - even in the evening if needed, to see if there is a problem. We'd rather have it dealt with there before it becomes a problem in the schools."

That's a lot on the mental health and protection side. But is it enough?

"We have mental health resources, but we could always use more," said Fulton. "5,500 students is a big number. We have to look at resources, we have to look at technology and awareness."

He and staff are looking at the option of adding armed constables in all of the schools. The only armed officer is the one school resource officer employed by the district who spends most of the time at Cape Henlopen High School. "We're looking at the cost of constables - being used in other school systems - and adding more resource officers. What would that achieve and cost? We'll be discussing that with the school board soon."

Fulton said he's not thinking about arming teachers or other staff. "I'm not convinced that the answer to guns is more guns."

He said Cape's approach to making students feel a sense of belonging and acceptance in the schools - inclusivity - is paying off. "We're more aware when there are problems because information is shared so quickly on social media. But I don't think there is an increase in incidents. Overall, in my five years here as superintendent, I'd have to say there's probably a decrease in violent-type behavior in our schools. That's just my impression. "We do a lot. But you can never do enough."