As most Schools in the state of Missouri have been in session for at least a month, School safety is just as unpredictable and includes threats worldwide on a daily basis. The Missouri School Boards’ Association’s Center for Education Safety has been using a new video simulator in order to help employees prepare for the worst
In an Interview with MissouriNet’s Alisa Nelson, MSBACES member John McDonald had this to say;
- The new simulator being used displays an interaction between those stepping into the simulator environment and a scenario. There are at least 1200 scenarios and are typically designed for those in law enforcement, “shoot/don’t shoot” scenarios, & school safety professionals. Other scenarios are based on de-escalating behavior (such as distraught students or parents). All scenarios are based that have taken place in a community or a school.
- First responders from at least 150 agencies have been trained on the software as well as professionals and faculty from at least 120 school districts such as SROs (Student Recourse officers. McDonald recommends that given the interest from Principals that it’s often helpful for Principals and SROs to work through the simulator together to help visualize the scenario in their own district.
- Mcdonald is also insistent, the amount of training that would normally take only 20 minutes.
- You can often identify these simulators as outfitted vans, they are Mobily set up to come to schools for demonstrations. The devices not attached to these vans are smoke machines.
Mcdonald also gives reference to 44 schools across the state that were either damaged or taken down by this year’s tornadoes. The MSBACES can lend schools their network for times of emergency where Network access is entirely depleted. These services are available to schools at no cost.
Another insight offered is information on Senate Bill 68. While this bill is widely known for banning cellular devices in schools; more importantly, it has, according to McDonald “Made school safety a priority.”
