The organization National School Safety & Security Services began site visits with Bosse High School on Monday.
The prior week was spent receiving documentation of Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) security plans and policies, and having virtual meetings with administration.
The last safety study was 17 years ago and only covered the building entrances. This will be the first comprehensive safety and security study of the entire district in many years. Announced in December, this study is costing $215,000
It should be completed by summer 2026.
Kenneth Trump is President of National School Safety and Security Services. He was available for questions at the Monday Feb. 23 EVSC board meeting.
He outlined their process — they’ll look at what the district is doing right, and recommend policies that could be implemented across the district. They’ll also look at policies that would work for specific buildings.
There will be a detailed analysis of policies and procedures. “Are there any gaps between what you have on paper,” he said, meaning sound policies that are not followed in practice.
Trump said when it comes to failures that let school shootings happen, it tends to be more about staff than security hardware.
“The common thread is — they involve allegations of failures of human factors — people, policies, procedures, training, communication systems, gaps; not allegations of failures of hardware products and technology.”
He outlined cases where adding metal detectors — even the state-of-the-art systems — missed weapons entering a school. Or, they did more harm than good, such as pulling supervisory resources from known problem spots where fights occur, to monitoring metal detectors instead.
Very sensitive detectors also issue alarms for spiral bound notebooks, computers or musical instrument cases.
He said students having an easy way to come forward and report issues is one of the most effective tools against school violence, and robust student supervision at problem spots in the buildings.
“A lot of the things that need to be done to make schools safer, may be less visible or even invisible, but more impactful in the people end,” he said. “The number one way we find out about weapons and plots and kids who are going to cause harm to themselves and others, is when kids come forward and tell an adult that they trust.”
Other advice is simple — such as emergency policy training for substitute teachers who also have a key to the classroom.
Overall though, he said no two schools’ security needs and solutions are the same. “School security is not a plug and play,” he said.
While the individual buildings are being studied, EVSC policies are being looked over with a fine-toothed comb.
A full report with recommendations should be completed eight weeks after the information-gathering phase is complete. The district should have a report before summer, at which point they can choose how much of the report to make public.
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