Connect Canyons
Learning is about making connections, and we invite you to learn and connect with us. Connect Canyons is a show about what we teach in Canyons District, how we teach, and why. We get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great: students, teachers, principals, parents, and more. We meet national experts, too. And we spotlight the “connection makers” — personalities, programs and prospects — we find compelling and inspiring.
Connect Canyons
Ep 94: CSD’s Security, Safety Measures Help Create Welcoming, Prepared Schools
The safety and wellness of students and employees has been a top priority since Canyons District’s founding days 16 years ago. The focus on security is the reason more than 500 new surveillance cameras were installed in just the past year and that plans for security vestibules have been made for every school building in the District. Those two initiatives are among the myriad ways CSD is thinking safe as we approach America’s Safe Schools Week, according to the very people who oversee safety programs and procedures in Canyons.
In this episode of Connect Canyons, Ryan Jakeman, CSD Assistant Director of Facilities Services and the District’s Risk Management Coordinator, talks about how CSD has fortified buildings — with electronic badge access, automatic locks on doors, cameras, security codes, and a drill schedule so school communities know what to do in an emergency.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by Canyon School District. This is a show about what we teach, how we teach and why we get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more. We meet national experts too. Learning is about making connections, so connect with us experts too.
Speaker 2:Learning is about making connections, so connect with us. Student safety has been a top priority since Canyon School District was created 16 years ago. Canyon's administrators and teachers alike strive to ensure not only that our students are safe, but feel safe from the moment they start school until they go home at the end of the day. To that end, canyons District continues to focus on and improve safety measures in place at each of the 47 schools within the district. Welcome to Connect Canyons. I'm your host, frances Cook. This week is America's Safe Schools Week, so we're discussing the priority placed on the safety of our students. Joining me today is the Director of Communications, jeff Haney, ryan Jakeman, the Assistant Director of Facilities Services for the district. And Corey Smith, school Resource Officer at Corner Canyon High School and Detective with the Draper City Police Department. Thank you all for being here today.
Speaker 3:It's good to be here.
Speaker 2:Jeff, I'd like to start with you. You have been with the district since its inception. Could you talk about how safety has always been top of mind for the district?
Speaker 3:You know, the world has changed a lot since 2009. You know, just the events in Georgia of last month started me thinking about all of the tragedies that have occurred since then involving schools, and throughout the years we have put into place a lot of practices, but even also built into our guidelines of how we build buildings, items that we think will enhance security in our schools and make it safer for all of our employees and our students. You know, when I first started in the district, we inherited buildings that were quite old, hadn't been improved for quite some time, and in fact, there was an architectural review done of all of our buildings right when we became a school district in 2009., and we found that we had more than $600 million in needed repairs in all of our facilities across the district. And that's when the Board of Education started its very ambitious plan of improving schools in all parts of the district. And as we have rebuilt or renovated schools, we have built into those plans security measures that to this day, truly help us when we have kids come into our schools and our parents come into our schools and they see everything that we're doing to make sure that our schools are safe, welcoming and prepared.
Speaker 3:One of the very first projects that we started when I was at the district here in 2009 was our incident command manual. So from day one, we truly started looking at ways that we could fortify our buildings, but also how we acted as employees in the event of an emergency. Now, of course, our incident command manual has gotten streamlined. It's gotten better. Our schools across the district have been built with safety in mind. I mean more than two dozen buildings have been rebuilt in the Canyon School District in the past 16 years. So you know, I think, that of all school districts in Utah and of course, I'm paid to say this, but Canyon School District truly does put a focus on creating safe environments for our employees and our students.
Speaker 2:You mentioned, there's been so many tragic events since 2009. One of those I think that sticks out to a lot of people is the shooting in Uvalde, texas, in May of 2022, 19 students were killed, as were two teachers, and it really shined a spotlight on how police officers and how schools and school districts responded or what measures they may already have in place. I'd like to bring you in Around that same time, canyons had a security audit done where we looked at kind of how our security measures are. Can you walk through that for me?
Speaker 5:We were asked by the board to take a look at each and every individual school and see what our processes were. This is everything from our badge, access locks on the exterior doors, cameras, security codes, all of those types of things, and one of the things that we found was that our camera systems throughout the district. We still had some schools that had old systems, old analog camera systems, and others that were on a new digital format, that were all on the same system, same type of server, type of server, and so that was one of the early goals that we had was to make them all on the same type of server, same type of platform, so that, no matter where we are in the district, we're accessing cameras the same way, we're seeing the same quality of views, those types of things. We also looked about our secure vestibules. At that point we had the majority of our schools had secure vestibules, but there were a few that didn't.
Speaker 2:And we're talking about those two doorways right, so when a parent's bringing a child in, they can get into that first doorway, but it's that second set of doors, right, exactly.
Speaker 5:So you can get out of the weather, out of the sun, into an area, but you're not actually in the school. You're directed from that area to where you can get into the main office, where you're greeted by somebody at the front desk that's there to help you and to help you get done what you need done at your school.
Speaker 2:It kind of streamlines that entrance.
Speaker 5:Yes, it puts an actual physical visual on it, not just through a screen where you may not catch the incidental twitches or something where they might be nervous.
Speaker 5:You're actually conversing with them face-to-face and are able to pick up on this person who might be a little bit agitated or is just happy to be there and just needs to drop off their lunch for their student. We looked at our card access system and the badges, made sure that everybody has badges and that we're not only updating those credentials but we're also making sure that every periodically we're going through and that periodically we're going through and making sure we're deleting people that are no longer there or that doesn't have the principal that may have been at the school last year, doesn't have access to their old school, but they have access to their new school.
Speaker 2:And that's the same for every Canyons District employee. You have your badge, it's got your picture, your name and it's regulated on who has access to what and when.
Speaker 5:Absolutely and it should always be worn visibly. It's not something and I encourage schools and staff, if they see somebody without a badge, to ask for it. I actually sometimes will go to a school purposefully in my code or something, and I'm always pleased when I get asked hey, before I allow you into the school, will you please show me your badge?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've seen particularly front offices are very good about checking for that, and it just goes back to that see something, say something, right.
Speaker 5:Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:Detective Smith, I'd like to ask you a similar question. When it comes to Uvalde and the events that we've seen over the last few years, how have you, in your tenure as an officer, seen security measures change and evolve at schools?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so Uvalde, that's a very hot and touchy subject. We all have families, we all know what it's like to hear tragedies like that. But really the active shooter response has been something that we've been focusing on since Columbine. When we see Uvalde and we see things that didn't go right, things that didn't act as quickly as they should be, it wasn't really anything that says what could we do better as a law enforcement community. It's how do we make sure that each officer that comes into a department or comes into a situation knows what to do? So it kind of reminds us do we need to reevaluate our training, because the training hasn't changed? But do we need to reevaluate our training to make sure that they know how to respond in a situation like that? And we were just talking about the Cannon School District had they have an incident management manual, getting officers involved with that incident management so they know what role and what step they have to do?
Speaker 4:Obviously it makes me look at it when I look at my school. What are we doing about our doors? Are our doors secure? How many doors are there for secure? And it's not just me teaching myself on what doors are secure, how we make sure they're secure. It's teaching officers. What doors do you have access to? Do you know when we say the north end of the school? Do you know when we say the south end or the PE hall or direct area, whatever we're saying? Do those officers who are responding know what area they're going to? And just showing them their access points? So it just kind of makes us want to stress those importance on our trainings and future trainings so they know how to respond.
Speaker 2:Sure, I'm glad you brought back up the incident management. That brings to mind SRPs, our security response protocols. It's a relatively new idea for those who aren't familiar with them. It was brought about by the I Love you Guys Foundation and it's just a formalized set of protocols that are put in place depending on each situation at the school, and it's something that I think can only be helpful when it comes to parents, police officers, students. Everyone knows when we say secure, when we say lockdown, it all means the same thing, right? It doesn't matter what school district you're in.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, I would say being on the same page. We as a Draper Police Department should be on the same page as a Sandy Police Department and we should also be on the same page as the school district. I think it's great that we have trainings together. We have access to those policies, we have access to that information, that information and I feel as a police officer, I feel like the Canyon's district has been very open to our input as a department, and other departments that have gone to those trainings. So we are on the same page because if we had something happen in Sandy, I'm going to be going to Sandy as well. So it would be nice to know that we're going to be following the same rules, the same guidelines, the same ABC steps. So those are great procedures to be following and know.
Speaker 3:Well, in addition to knowing that our various law enforcement partners will be responding in the same way and training for situations in the same way, and knowing what the difference is between a hold and a secure and a lockdown For parents parents across the state what's nice is that there's not this whole range of terms that they may hear on the radio or on television or read in the newspaper and not really know what it means.
Speaker 3:So when this legislation was passed, requiring all schools to adopt these same emergency protocol names, what it did was streamline all schools and their ability to respond to emergencies.
Speaker 3:It streamlined how police can train to respond to those emergencies and it helps parents so that when they're sitting in traffic at 4.30 in the afternoon and they're listening to news radio and they hear a report that there's an elementary school insecure status, they know what it means, that there isn't a district that's different from others. That's so helpful. And we used to hear things like well, they're in a soft lockdown. Okay, well, in one district that's going to be different than a lockdown or a soft lockdown or another, or districts that didn't even use those terms at all. So now that we all have this same standard response protocol, the same emergency protocols calls that we all know what it means and we all can respond in the same way. All the constituencies, whether you are in a school, if you're a law enforcement partner or if you're a parent, you know exactly what you need to respond in that situations and what it means that's happening in your neighborhood school.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I think you hit the nail on the head. It can only be almost a comfort for parents to know exactly what we mean when we're saying secure or lockdown or hold.
Speaker 3:I will tell you, though, we get frustrated Ryan and I do, and I'm sure that Detective Smith does as well when we have people in our schools still use terms like well, we're in a soft lockdown, and we always say the same thing.
Speaker 4:No such thing.
Speaker 3:We have these SRPs now we're following the SRPs, we're drilling on the SRPs. We want there to be a common point of discussion of all of those parties teachers, parents, staff members, administrators, police, anybody who would be responsible for the care of children in that moment to know exactly what it means when we say lockdown, when we say secure and when we do need to evacuate for any reason. Standardizing this was a phenomenal step forward in making sure that schools across the state remained as safe as possible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I love that the district has a resource on our webpage when you can click into what our safety protocols are. It lists them all. It talks about how we do have those drills and we practice so that we can be ready in the event we need to carry out one of those SRPs. Jeff, you brought up the shooting in Georgia back in September and one of the first things that came out in the aftermath of that shooting was that one of the first responses to the shooter was from inside the school and it was because the teachers were wearing activated panic alert devices, and I think we need to talk about House Bill 84. That is one of the elements of House Bill 84. Teachers across the state will eventually all have these panic alert devices and it also introduces the armed school guardians. Jeff, would you walk us through what that means for our schools?
Speaker 3:HB 84 has recently passed legislation that identifies how schools across the state should be adding additional security measures. And you know, as one of the co-chairs of the emergency management team here in the Canyon School District, and you know that's the committee of folks who oversee the safety and security initiatives I have to say that it's great when the legislature pays attention to safety and security measures and when they identify ways that everyone can take steps forward to keep school communities as prepared as possible in the event of any kind of an emergency. And there are some requirements in HB 84 that right now we are putting into place or we are creating plans for. And one of the requirements of the legislation is that every teacher in the district would have a panic button, and this would be a wearable device that would allow the teacher to immediately signal for help if there were an emergency that they witnessed in their part of the school or in their classroom. And what we've done in the district is identify a few products that we may want to adopt district-wide if they work out well for us, and those are being used in pilots in two schools two elementary schools and one's at Crescent Elementary, and the other pilot will be at Mid-Valley Elementary School, and they are different products because we want to try out various ways that we could satisfy the legislation. But it's more than that. We don't just want to meet the legislation, we want to find products that will truly help us down the road, and so we're really anxious to see the results of these and see what type of product we can use in every classroom in the Canyon School District that button that has proven in situations like the Georgia situation. That really helped in that moment. I think that that part of HB 84 was very forward thinking. Then there are parts of the legislation that are really asking us to come to the table and be creative, and one of those is the Armed Guardian Program, and I have to say that I agree with the philosophy of this, that there's an added layer of protection at schools.
Speaker 3:The challenge is putting it into place as the way that the law is written.
Speaker 3:Putting it into place as the way that the law is written. But in the Canyon School District, community engagement is a guiding philosophy. We have always wanted to have schools as the heart of a community, regardless of whether or not you have a child there, if you are a grandma or a grandpa or an aunt or uncle, or maybe somebody who just lives in the neighborhood, or an aunt or uncle, or maybe somebody who just lives in the neighborhood. We still want you to feel comfortable volunteering, providing support, being that person who is watching the kids as they go to school in the morning to make sure they cross the road safely. The schools belong to everyone and we want everyone in school communities to feel like they should be in a position where they can support the school.
Speaker 3:The Armed Guardian program was built with that philosophy that perhaps there are people in the community who could provide that extra layer of protection that I think all schools should embrace, meaning let's find a way to find a solution with the people in our community, because the school is the heart of our community and our community wants to create an environment through many ways that this environment is safe, welcoming and prepared. The legislation does create some challenges, but I think if we approach it with a philosophy that this allows us to bring in a community solution, then I think down the road, our schools will be stronger for it.
Speaker 4:I love the idea of having some kind of panic device that any teacher, any staff member could make an alert if something bad were to happen. Because the quicker we get that alert, the quicker we know where the problem is, the quicker we could solve that problem immediately. With the challenges of the armed guards coming into the buildings, there are challenges, but it's not something that we can't accomplish.
Speaker 2:I think you both made excellent points in that it's a discussion that we don't want to have. The discussion it's an uncomfortable one to have, but at the end of the day, we need to ensure that our students and our faculty and staff are safe and feel safe every day. What would all of you like our Canyons community to know about the safety measures in place at our schools?
Speaker 5:I think I'd like them to know that we are always pushing, we are always looking for something better. We're not just sitting back and the old status quo is what we're accepting. We're always doing things. We are proactive. One of the challenges that we face is educating all of our staff and all of our people that come and visit. It is inconvenient to be directed to the front of the school and to have to go in that way rather than just going out and going straight out to the classroom classroom or to the playground because you're going to be a playground aid volunteer.
Speaker 5:But these are the the reasons that we've done that is for your student safety and for our staff safety. And you know we want to make sure that they're making sure that the doors are shutting behind them. We do everything we possibly can to keep them in up and functioning order. But if somebody's put a rock in there, that door is not going to shut itself with that rock stuck in there. And those are things that we are training our staff to look for regularly.
Speaker 4:Just keep that in the forefront of your thought process and if you do that, we're taking that much more risk out of the potential. I would like to add we want to be there. We want to create that safety measure. We're not looking at this as this is more paperwork. We want to find these solutions find these solutions.
Speaker 3:So in 2016, something happened on one of our campuses. There was a shooting after school at one of our middle schools, and I received a phone call immediately following it happened from one of the responding police officers, who was racing there in a police car and they were updating me that they were headed there with all the squad cars possible, that the police were going to do everything they possibly could to make sure they were responding with force, but appropriately. I hung up that phone and I thought to myself oh my goodness, is this the day that Canyons becomes synonymous with Columbine? So at the time, we didn't know how serious it was. All we knew was that there was a school shooting incident that was happening on one of our campuses, a school shooting incident that was happening on one of our campuses. In the aftermath of that, that's when we really started to look at how we could streamline our incident command manuals and strengthen our partnerships with our police agencies, with our cities, with parents, even more than they already were. That's when we created our emergency management team. That's when we truly started to systemically approach safety and security, not just fortifying the buildings, but making it a guiding philosophy, a part of the culture, and what I would want our community to know is that there isn't a part of the day from the beginning of the school well, well before school starts in the morning until after school ends at night where your child doesn't go through some type of a process that's been built with the idea that children in our schools must remain safe, that teachers have been given an environment in which to teach in a safe place, whether that's entering in through the front doors and having to go through the security doors, the security vestibules, as we call them, or if it's the way that we have designed our bus lanes, or if it's all of the only badge entries on our doors that we have, if it's the digital citizenship that we teach daily in the district to make sure that kids remain safe when they're online, to the information that we don't provide to strangers coming in off the street and asking about our faculty staff and our students. Everything that we're doing, all of our processes, they've gone through layers of safety and security, and that's because we've built all of that into our systems.
Speaker 3:I truly believe that when we were faced with the possibility of having a major tragedy even greater than it was and it was great. When, faced with that, what we did is we looked internal and said what can we do better? How can we work better with our school resource officers? How can we work with our teachers associations and our ESP associations and with all of our parents and everybody who contributes to the success of a school? We asked ourselves what can we do better, what can we do different? How can we build a culture of safety and security? I think that everything can be improved, but I always think that we are taking those steps forward.
Speaker 2:Gentlemen I'd like to thank you all for being here that we are taking those steps forward. Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for being here. It's clear we've taken these tragic events that you know. Of course, we never want to see them happen. We don't want to see them happen to any school, but particularly in our own backyard, and we learn from them and we work to ensure that, like you've said, our students not only are safe, but feel safe. So thank you all for the work that you all do each and every day to keep it that way. Thank you so much. It's great to be here and thank you for listening. If there's a topic you would like to hear discussed on the podcast, send us an email to communications at canyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect Canyons. Connect with us on Twitter, facebook or Instagram at Canyons District or on our website, canyonsdistrictorg.
