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Wednesday, February 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SAFETY: Connection
with students is key
to security
Continued from page 1
physical plant could create
a false sense of security. For
him and his staff, the key to
preventing violent or dan-
gerous acts by students is
through connection. Students
who feel connected to each
other and to the adults in
school are both less likely to
act out in destructive ways
and more likely to report con-
cerns about others’ behavior
— either in school or on the
pervasive social media that
occupies so much of a young
person’s attention.
Hosang said that staff’s
message to students is that
“If you see anything on social
media that makes you ner-
vous, you’re on it way more
than we are … you need to
tell an adult.”
And students are will-
ing to do so, especially when
it comes to vandalism or
incipient violence. Hosang
acknowledged that there can
be a bit of a “wall of silence”
about drug and alcohol use —
“but not violence.”
Deputy Brent Crosswhite
is the School Resource Officer
for the District. He, too, puts
a lot of effort into connecting
with students and building the
kind of trust and rapport that
allows them to feel comfort-
able coming forward with
concerns they might have
about fellow students.
“It takes a pretty good
period of time,” he said. “It
takes a couple of years to
build that level of trust with
kids.”
Crosswhite notes that the
schools have established an
anonymous reporting mecha-
nism that is available if a
student feels he or she can’t
come forward in person. Such
a system is open to abuse —
but Hosang and Crosswhite
both said that has not hap-
pened. In fact, it’s hardly
used; students are comfort-
able coming to Crosswhite or
to staff members when they
need to.
And staff and law enforce-
ment have worked up proto-
cols to address problems to
“try to intervene as early as
possible so the kids can be
successful.”
The small scale of Sisters
schools makes it easier to
keep a handle on things.
“We’re small enough and
we don’t have a lot of inci-
dents (so) that we can jump
on it and investigate it when
an issue crops up,” Hosang
said.
Hosang and Crosswhite
noted wryly that educators in
Madras laughed at them when
they found out that Sisters had
disciplined a youth for throw-
ing an orange against a wall.
But being able to act on small
incidents makes it more likely
that they can head off bigger
problems before they fester
and grow.
“Once you get them into
the conversation, even when
they have those feelings, the
incidences of execution go
way down,” noted schools
Superintendent Curt Scholl.
Deputy Crosswhite is
responsible for all three
schools, and the possibility of
an incident is never far from
his mind.
“That’s something I think
about on a daily basis, really,”
he said. “I guess my biggest
fear is that something happens
at the high school while I’m
at the elementary school. I
want to be there to put myself
between whatever it is and the
students and staff here.”
Crosswhite constantly
games out potential scenar-
ios, and he shares his insights
with staff. Educators are in
the business of educating, not
security, so it can be helpful
to get them thinking along the
lines of “what if.”
“I encourage them to think
about what they would do,
even on a weekly basis,” he
said. “Getting them comfort-
able with ‘what would I do
and would I even be able to
do that’ — I think it’s healthy
to get them to think about
their options.”
Sisters schools have lock-
down and lockout protocols
that they practice. And active-
shooter scenarios have been
discussed. Superintendent
Scholl described the protocol:
“If you have the ability
to get out, you get out, but
if you don’t you lock down
until you’re released by a first
responder.”
In April, Sisters High
School will host a multi-
agency active shooter drill.
Teachers are not required to
attend the drill, but they are
invited to do so.
Being able to respond
effectively to a violent inci-
dent is obviously impor-
tant — but both Crosswhite
and Hosang emphasize the
importance of prevention.
Some measure of security can
be gained through keeping
unused doors locked, main-
taining good visual sightlines
and through physical security
measures like better-con-
trolled entry.
Scholl notes that security
measures alone may not stop
a determined assailant, but
they can slow one down to
allow for response.
But the real key to safety
and security rests on connec-
tion and communication.
Scholl told The Nugget
that the issue of school safety
requires an effort to avoid
creating a constant level
of anxiety while provid-
ing an appropriate level of
protection.
I feel good about
where we are — where
we’ve come in the
last three years.
— Curt Scholl
He thinks that, between
physical security enhance-
ments and ongoing efforts
to build strong relationships
with the kids, Sisters schools
are doing a better job at that
than ever.
“I feel good about where
we are — where we’ve come
in the last three years,” he said.
Should Sisters teachers be armed?
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Faced with the specter of a
well-armed assailant rampag-
ing through a school, the idea
that at least some teachers or
school staff should be armed
to meet the threat has gained
traction in recent years.
Sisters High School
Principal Joe Hosang told
The Nugget that he rejected
the notion out of hand a
few years ago. Subsequent
incidents left him open to
reevaluating that stance. Yet,
in walking through the pros
and cons of such a move —
which is not on the table in
Sisters at the moment — he
comes back to the same
conclusion.
“It’s not a good idea,” he
said.
Hosang and School
Resource Officer Deputy
Brent Crosswhite shared
their thoughts on the matter
with The Nugget last week.
Hosang, once a Marine
infantryman, said. “When
your heart-rate is up and
you’re trying to hit a target
— I know how difficult that
is.”
For a teacher or adminis-
trator to face down an armed
assailant in a panicked school
environment — especially
if the shooter was a stu-
dent — would be excruciat-
ingly difficult and extremely
dangerous.
“Your ability to shoot
straight would be severely
compromised in that kind of
situation,” he said. “Which
makes me nervous.”
Crosswhite emphasized
that a familiarity with fire-
arms is not enough to make a
shooter tactically proficient.
“If they were going to
carry, you can’t just go out
and shoot one time a year,”
he said. “There would have
to be some kind of docu-
mented training.”
And, he noted, if a law
enforcement entry team is
responding to an active-
shooter situation, having a
gun in hand is not the best
situation for a staff member
to be in.
“When the entry team
comes in and sees somebody
with a gun — they’re at risk,”
he said.
And both men noted that
consistent carry in prepa-
ration for what remains a
highly unlikely event might
lead to complacency, which
could have its own negative
consequences. A pistol acci-
dentally left in a bathroom or
accessed by a student from a
teacher’s desk is a headache
no staff member ever wants.
So, while having the abil-
ity to respond with lethal
force as a last resort in a
life-or-death emergency may
seem appropriate, school and
law enforcement officials in
Sisters continue to believe
that the risks outweigh the
potential benefits.