Students, Staff, Guardians, and Community Members:
Over the past few days, several school districts throughout Kentucky have experienced social media threats-- an unfortunate reality that many school districts across our nation face all too often as well. Even though, upon investigation, these threats are rarely found credible by law enforcement, they do instill fear and disrupt our lives. Given the recent threat targeting one of our own schools, I recognize that you are, understandably, concerned.
While I wish I could shield our students from all risk, just as with any place within or outside our community, we sadly cannot guarantee that such threats will never occur in our community. Despite the fact that statistics, thankfully, show the vast difference between the "possibility" of something happening in our community or in our schools and the "probability" of such an occurrence, I also know that statistics do not calm fears the way actionable procedures and safeguards do. With that in mind, what I can do is assure you that we will maintain our long-standing mission to continue taking steps to increase the security of all aspects of our campuses.
In Anderson County, we treat any type of threat or safety concern very seriously and work collaboratively with law enforcement to investigate and communicate our findings with families when situations like these occur. We do so because your child(ren) and our staff mean everything to us. They are a second family. Therefore, there is no length to which we will not go to protect our school family from danger. To illustrate, I would like to share some of the safeguards and strategies we currently have in place in both in our schools and across our district-- a list that in continually growing and changing to achieve maximum safety:
1. Each school campus has at least one SRO. We have seven total for our district.
2. Each exterior door is locked during the school day and monitored by SROs and district staff.
3. All classroom doors are locked during instructional time.
4. All visitors are electronically admitted into schools only after they have been screened and have provided ID and valid reasons to be on campus.
5. The Office of the State School Security Marshal has compliance officers that conduct unannounced inspections of all public schools to ensure that all safety protocols are followed.
6. We have a trained Threat Assessment Team in every school.
7. The Kentucky Center for School Safety provides a large array of services and programs to public schools dealing directly with current practices in school safety.
8. School staff are trained in Active Shooter Safety Protocols. We teach Run, Hide, Lockdown, and Situational Awareness.
9. Staff and students practice drills on lockdown procedures, in addition to fire, severe weather, and earthquake drills.
10. Local and State Law Enforcement partner with our school district to provide additional assistance in time of need. They respond very quickly.
11. We have established protocols for pre-events and post-events to address any and all issues that might arise.
12. We have a Statewide STOP Tipline for anyone: student, school staff, parents, guardians, grandparents, law enforcement, community-at-large. All are encouraged to send us a tip if they “See or Hear Something,” which gets us ahead of a potential problem.
13. We have state laws that directly address school safety in Kentucky: SB1 -2019, SB2-2024.
14. Each school district has a School Safety Coordinator that works directly with the Kentucky Center for School Safety and the Office of the State School Security Marshal.
15. We talk with students. Children and youth of different ages understand and react differently according to their developmental age and unique personal experiences. When we listen to children and come to understand their feelings and worries, we can better help them make sense of these experiences and how they affect us all.
Furthermore, we kindly ask that you have conversations about school safety at home. If your child has access to social media, please talk to him/her about the dangers of posting, sharing, or re-sharing any inappropriate content online. Too often young people think they can remain anonymous with what they post. Please share with your children that local and state law enforcement can use their vast resources to very quickly determine the source of an otherwise “anonymous” online message. Also, if a student or parent becomes aware of any inappropriate or threatening information online, they should immediately report it to a school administrator or law enforcement official. We are blessed in Lawrenceburg and in Anderson County with strong local law enforcement partners. Together we will investigate any and all threats to determine credibility and to take necessary action.
In addition to talking with your children about appropriate online behavior, you may decide to share with your family, friends, and neighbors the importance of reporting concerns to appropriate authorities while also refraining from sharing unsubstantiated rumors online. The volume of misleading, exaggerated, or inaccurate information shared through social media on a variety of topics is harmful. Because of our ability to impact so many people in such a short time via social media, good citizenship becomes even more important online.
Communication and patience are two important key factors in helping administration and staff respond to a threat. Local law enforcement and emergency management help to determine and implement a reunification or communication plan. While we do our best to communicate with parents as soon as possible, our first priority is to ensure student and staff safety. We always want to ensure the communication we provide is accurate and in line with law enforcement before releasing information. At times, it may seem that communication is slow; not immediate. We release information as fast as can and in unison with local law enforcement to ensure the integrity of the investigative process. Communication is provided multiple ways. Please help us by keeping your contact information updated within the system. We appreciate your understanding and patience.
Thank you for doing your part in helping our schools and community to remain safe and for reporting any concern to appropriate officials. Most of all, thank you for being a trusted partner in our community and in our school family.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mitchell
Superintendent