Students Express Desire For Active Shooter Training

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on March 22, 2018
- 2:45 pm

Los Alamos Police Chief Dino Sgambellone listens Tuesday evening as Los Alamos High School Student Council members Sonyia Williams, left, and Michaelle Sutton share their concerns during a group discussion at a student-led meeting on school safety. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

LAPD Cpl. Adele McKenzie, the school resource officer at LAHS, addresses participants following Tuesday’s meeting on school safety. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

By MAIRE O’NEILL

Los Alamos Daily Post

maire@ladailypost.com

Lack of active shooter training was the primary concern expressed Tuesday evening at Los Alamos High School as students, parents, community members, Los Alamos Public Schools and Los Alamos Police Department officials gathered at a student-led forum about school safety.

Round table discussion focused on three questions: what makes you feel safe at school, when do you not feel safe and what can be done to improve.

Many students said they felt safer because of the presence of LAPD School Resource Officer Cpl. Adele McKenzie and the two school security guards on campus. They also cited caring teachers and staff who are paying attention and the support of a community that cares as well as the diligence of staff in ensuring that visitors sign in at the front office. Increased police presence after the Parkland tragedy and collaboration with LAPD also were mentioned.

Students expressed little confidence in knowing what to expect or what to do if there was an active shooter on campus. Students speaking on behalf of the discussion groups voiced concern about the lack of training and suggested specific training for specific areas of the school.

“We’ve never had an active shooter drill. We don’t know what to do,” one student said. Another said students could do more if staff could tell them exactly what to do and yet another expressed concern that there has not been a lockdown drill at LAHS yet this year.

“There’s a lack of active shooter training – so we honestly have no idea what to do in the situations that could occur a lot of the time,” commented a student.

“We need to have procedures that will train us (in case) something happens, and we can do more than fire drills because we do a fire drill every month,” another student said.

“A lot of people feel that it’s a lot less likely to happen here, makes them feel safer whether that’s true or not. A lot of the students at Parkland felt that there school was really safe and secure so that’s not necessarily a good thing,” a student said. “We feel that we have a familiarity with the school, so we know where the exits are, we know our environment really well. So we feel that in the event of something happening with proper training we would actually be able to take action and because we understand our surroundings we would be able to use them.”

Another student said there is uncertainty among students because there is a correlation between small towns and shootings, so there is a fear in Los Alamos that there could be a shooting here.

“We’re not really worried about an adult stranger on campus but more about a student who’s not able to fit in and exhibit their anger through a shooting and our fear is that it will be one of our peers,” she said.

Several students said academic stress or pressure and unhealthy competition among students made them not feel safe. They discussed a need for counselors, saying counselors are currently overloaded and bogged down with scheduling issues leaving them with little time.

Many expressed concern about the lack of awareness and support for students who are struggling emotionally and academically. The need to develop positive relationships and improve connections between students and staff/adults was also discussed.

“A lot of us don’t feel isolated. We do feel that we have someone to talk to whether it’s the other students or students so that’s the support group,” a student said.

“A really big thing is academic stress and especially the idea of once you start feeling stress or once you start feeling behind in classes you don’t really have a support system. It’s kind of something that keeps falling down for people and then that can lead to you being separated from your groups from people you would normally trust,” a young woman said. “We feel that damages our safety at school. We feel there’s lack of support for kids once they start having issues to a certain degree, especially students who don’t feel they can walk up to a counselor and say, ‘Hey, I’m struggling with this’. There isn’t a good support system that’s consistent and always there and doesn’t necessarily require a student to be self-aware and take self-actions”

The recommendations for safety improvement were led by the urgent need for active shooter training and implementing more drills other than fire drills.

Many students expressed support for campus safety features recommended by LAPD Community Liaison Division Sgt. Chris Ross in a Mar. 13 to the school board, especially providing a full fence around campus, a single entrance multiple exit system, and metal detectors.

“We definitely need better security for the entrances and exits as well as updating the older parts of the schools so that there are better alarm systems and better ways to get the word out if something does occur so that we can recognize it throughout the school,” a student commented.

We need to train for a multitude of scenarios, such as if a student is out in the hall when active be on the third floor or in E-Wing.

One student suggested that there be open discussion of the issue on campus instead of students being “left to fear”.

“I had no idea that there were actually plans to start any active shooter training. Give students the opportunity to know that this issue is being addressed. This would really help them feel safe,” she said. She also suggested helping students make connections with teachers and staff, particularly students who are not involved in extracurriculars.

Students also suggested more inclusive clubs for boys in particular to enable boys to integrate into the school environment because so many school shootings have involved boys.

One member of the senior class said she was concerned about the fact that she doesn’t know at least half the members of her own class. She suggested having events such as the senior picnic at other times throughout a student’s four years of high school.

Although many students mentioned the need for gun control legislation of various kinds, most of the focus seemed to be on what could be done in the meantime while also advocating for changes in gun laws.

Cpl. McKenzie reported that she has been doing one-hour training active shooter program training for teachers.

“I’ll do it for as long as I need to until everyone feels they have gotten the training they need,” she said.

McKenzie said the training can be used in other places besides at school such as at a hospital or at the mall.

“It’s not room specific or building specific. What we try to teach is options,” she said.

McKenzie said she is available if students want to have her to come to clubs or other groups at the schools. She said she can give students training and they can pass on the information to other students

Chief of Police Dino Sgambellone said Wednesday afternoon that he was very much looking forward to hearing from the students and that he thought they did an outstanding job.

“The police department will continue our partnership with LAPS through training, education, and prevention efforts,” he said. “It was clear from the meeting that we need to increase our training efforts at the student level and we will be working on doing just that in the near future.”

School board chair Jennifer McCumber said she was thankful to the high school students for hosting a community forum on this important issue.

“I was so glad to be there. When I listen to our students, I am filled with confidence that their voices and actions will bring about change in the area of school safety,” she said.

LAHS student council member Sonyia Williams reports on the group discussion at her table at Tuesday evening’s meeting on school safety. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com