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Sara Hacken for School Board

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Alpine School District Issues

What has Alpine been doing to Make ASD Schools Safe?

For several years Alpine School District has been proactive in working to improve school safety in the following areas:

1. Cameras have been installed in all schools to monitor the halls and grounds of the school.

2. Push button locks have been installed in every classroom so that teachers can lock the door from the inside of the room. In the case of an intruder alert this makes in possible to quickly secure the classroom without going out into the hall.

3. Secure entries in the front of the school have been created so that no one can enter the school without being seen.

4. In the case of an intruder alert teachers and staff have been trained in a standard emergency response protocol.

5. Students and faculty participate in lock down or lock out drills each year.

6. A member of the ASD District Leadership team has been designated to monitor school safety. He has attended several School Safety Conferences to learn about effective programs in districts outside of Utah.

7. The ASD School Safety administrator, along with School Resource Officers (SRO's), attend trainings together to learn about and discuss school safety concerns.

8. Every secondary school in Alpine district has a School Resource Officer on campus. In some schools they visit classes and talk to students about pertinent school issues.

9. Every school has a person at the school who has been assigned the responsibility of ensuring school safety.

What Still Needs to be Done?

All Utah Schools will need to comply with the new requirements for school safety as outlined in HB 84.

Implementing the law will take resources and personnel. At this time Alpine is assessing how much it will cost to meet every requirement and how to do it as quickly as possible.

What Parents Can Do to Help Keep Students Safe at School

Teachers, staff, lunch workers, bus drivers, aides, and secretaries are all working together to keep students safe.

Many children are used to fire drills and don't worry about them as much as they might worry about a lock down or lock out drill.

For some children, a lock down or lock out drill can be very upsetting. Parents can work with their children to help them understand that drills of various kinds are required by law and will be conducted at some point during the school year.

They can discuss with their children how to stay calm and follow directions during a crises at school. Parents can also discuss with their children what would happen if there was a real intruder in the school. If the child has a phone, a protocol could be put in place so the child can alert their parents to a potentially dangerous situation.

Families can create code words to use with their children so that no unauthorized person can pick them up.

House Bill 84

House Bill 84 concerns School Safety. There are several provisions for school districts that will need to be implemented in the coming year.

1. Each school will need to do a School Safety Assessment. This involves a site visit to survey the safety needs of the school.

2. Safety equipment at the school will be assessed. Tourniquets will be required, for example.

3. Fencing around each school needs to be extended so that the entire school ground is enclosed. This could mean that access gates that have been installed by parents might have to be removed.

4. Each school will need to be retrofitted with a secure entry. This means one secure point of entry with a buzz-in system and either visual or camera monitoring.

5. Safety film will have to be installed to cover all windows and doors up to six feet from the ground. There are several considerations that need to be decided, such as how thick to make it to stop bullets or to prevent glass from shattering.

6. Guardians will be required at each school. These individuals cannot be teachers, administrators, coaches, or the school safety specialist. These are volunteer positions but will require 4 days of training, a mental health screening, and they will need to purchase a gun and ammunition. If not enough volunteers are available, for example, from the custodian or secretarial staff, then schools will have to hire a person to fill the position. These need to be in place by the 2025-2026 school year.

7. Panic Button Wearables will need to be provided to teachers and staff.

What to Expect When Visiting
a School in the Alpine School District

Alpine School District has been working on school safety for several years. For example, older schools such as Bonneville Elementary, Windsor Elementary, Northridge Elementary and Canyon View Junior High in Orem have been retrofitted with safe entrances.
In some cases that has meant adding a safe front entry to the school, in others it has meant adding locks and a buzz-in system to the existing front entryway of the school.
All schools should have a buzz-in system where the visitor will be required to show identification or sight recognition before they are admitted to the school.
New schools already have secure entrances included in the school facility.
Please be patient and be ready to show some identification before you enter an Alpine school.

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