School officials retracting statements from 49 News investigation
7:06 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Top Topeka school district administrators held a news conference Wednesday afternoon in response to a 49 News investigation about how they prepare kids to respond if a gunman enters their school.
After concerns were raised about how the district handles security, the superintendent said they have improved their efforts and want to ensure parents the plans they have in place are sufficient in keeping students safe.
“We’re very proud of everything that we have been doing to make certain that our kids are safe,” said Tony Sawyer, USD 501 superintendent. “I certainly don’t want the message to go out to the public that in anyway to we take the safety and security of our children for granted.”
USD 501 Phone Numbers
If you have concerns about the way Topeka schools handle safety issues, you can contact your school’s principal or the district office at 295-3000, or download our PDF file of the USD 501 Phone Directory.
Last month, district officials told us they don’t prepare students for intruder situations.
“As for particular drills on what to do if an intruder comes in, we don’t do that with the students,” said school spokesman Ron Harbaugh, in an interview on April 9.
Wednesday, we were told differently.
“We have plans in place and we have had for a longtime to address these situations,” Harbaugh said. “We do practice lockdowns and students do know what to do in certain situations, should they occur.”
Nonetheless, policies are changing after our investigation.
Up until now, it’s been up to each school to decide how they handle lockdown drills and how often they practice them, Sawyer said. Now, the district is drafting a new district-wide policy specifying how often schools must practice lockdowns. Sawyer said it will be tracked and enforced beginning next school year.
“We have a fire drill report, we have a tornado report,” he said. “We’re adding these particular items to a report also.”
The new system of verification is just one more way to protect kids from the unthinkable, said Sawyer.
At Thursday night’s board of education meeting, the discussion of security will continue. The board will look at making $500,000 in improvements to better control access to schools.
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