School safety

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The options for addressing school safety in Newcastle are immense, according to Deputy County Attorney Jeanie Stone. Some of the options don’t necessarily come with a price tag, she said. 
Despite the consensus of those on the committee addressing school safety that a school resource officer should be the first priority, Stone said on Feb. 18 during the committee meeting in the Weston County School District No. 1 board chambers, that the community can do many things to lessen the potential for school safety issues. 
“My overall view is that right now, especially in our area of the country and the environment that we are in, is that the school district has done everything possible to provide the best security possible. I don’t know much else that could be done to increase it, and if an event is going to happen, it is going to happen. You can’t stop it,” Stone said. “All you can do is respond to it and stop it as rapidly as possible.” 
According to Stone, Weston County School District No. 1 has done everything in its power to train and prepare students for a potentially bad situation. 
“You can always try to do more, and I am not against trying to figure it out, but
right now they are doing everything possible, and we need to work on ideas to expand that,” Stone said. 
What is necessary, she said, is to get “buy in” from others. 
“We are quick to point fingers at the schools and law enforcement, but it has to be
a community effort,” Stone said. “There are inexpensive things that a community can do to ensure safety and better communication.”
Making sure that guns are locked up, educating other members in the community about gun safety and encouraging children to be kind and not bully others are among the things a community can do, Stone said.
“There are undertones in the surroundings that make kids want to hurt others, and there are things you can pitch to the community that will help,” Stone said. “You need to remind kids that they are loved and that adults will listen, that their stresses are real and that we can talk about them.” 
Stone said that the Newcastle community is “unhealthy,” based on dealings she has had with kids in the community. The community as a whole could make the situation better and the community safer. 
“Mental health is a big component in creating a safe environment,” Stone said. “Getting those people to step in and partner with the school and work with those students is a big thing. There needs to be access to assessments and a working relationship with the local mental health providers.” 
She said that those relationships will help to better address students facing issues and to determine whether those students are really a risk or if they are just “blowing off steam.” 
Addressing the mental health of the community and other factors related to safety in the community will have an impact on school safety, Stone said. 
“There are things we can each do to make the community safer … What we can do as law enforcement is walk through schools, and the schools can do additional training. We acknowledge that there is a problem and we need to let the public know that. I think what made the situation worse is no one said, ‘We hear you,’” Stone said. “You need to send out flyers, encourage the improvement of mental health and say, ‘Here are the things you can do to improve the safety in the community.’” 
Identifying the issues is only one part of the answer, Superintendent Brad LaCroix said.
“We can identify and identify, but the question is what are we going to do after we identify,” LaCroix said. “As a school district, it ends for us when we report to law enforcement, the Department of Family Services or mental health.” 
What happens after the school reports a problem depends on the situation. Newcastle Police Chief Jim Owens said that finding in the incident of the “kill list” at Newcastle Elementary School was that no real crime was committed. Depending on the case, the incident gets referred to the county attorney or mental health, or at some point the Wyoming Department of Family Services. 
The committee agreed that both DFS and mental health professionals should be included in the next meeting. School safety will continue to be addressed during monthly committee meetings. 
School trustee Jason Jenkins said that he believes having Stone in the district will help to bridge some of the gaps because of her experience with juvenile situations in Gillette as the Campbell County attorney. 
“I think we are going to start seeing a better process and progress in dealing with these situations,” Jenkins said. 
Stone also said that there are other options for dealing with students whose behavior may indicate potential problems, including a court process to treat a student as a “child in need of supervision.”