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Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center

Safety in the Wenatchee Schools: what the board learned

The Wenatchee School Board held a board workshop on school safety Monday March 19, 2018. The workshop follows up a listening forum held on March 5, where the Board invited the public to Wenatchee High School (WHS) to share thoughts on school safety. 

Adam Bergstrom, Director of Safety and Risk Management for Wenatchee School District (WSD), along with Wenatchee Police Chief Steve Crown and WSD administrator Mark Helm presented the current state of safety in the district to the Wenatchee School Board. They also presented cost and other information about ideas proposed at the public safety forum.

 Adam Bergstrom is an expert in risk assessment and school safety with an extensive background in school safety following a notable military career. He retired from the US Army after 23 years, where he served in Special Forces and as an A-Team Sergeant. He conducted Special Operations in the Middle East, including serving as a Troup Sergeant Major for a Counter-terrorism / Hostage Rescue unit. 

After his military career, Bergstrom worked for the Missile Defence Agency as the lead security/program protection expert for 3 years, and was with the Defence Threat Reduction Agency for three years as the deputy team chief/terrorist operations specialist.

He came to Wenatchee School District in August, 2014 from Washington, DC, where he was the Antiterrorism Program Manager and Security Specialist for the Department of Defence (DoD) Education Activity for 7 years. In that position he managed the safety of 191 schools in 14 districts located in 12 foreign countries, seven states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  He developed and managed multi- preparedness and response programs to maintain a safe and secure learning environment for DoD dependent children.

Bergstrom and Helm started the workshop familiarizing the board with Emergency Response Procedures currently in place, including: 

Lockdown: Run Hide Fight

The district uses a protocol called Run Hide Fight. “Hide is the first response to danger, and the schools go into lockdown,” said Helm. “It’s important to know where the threat is. If the threat is outside, the lockdown will be inside, and visa versa.”

Teachers and students are trained to hide, or run from an intruder first. “Fight is the last resort,” said Helm. “If the intruder is in the classroom the kids will throw books, desks, anything to distract or disarm the intruder.”


Emergency Drills and Exercises  

Staff and students participate in drills and exercises throughout the year, including lockdown drills and evacuation drills. Bergstrom works with office staff, taking them through short videos presenting first person scenarios, then discusses with staff possible reactions and consequences.

Bergstrom says both Run Hide Fight, the drills and staff training teach people to think and make decisions under different circumstances. “It gives the latitude for people in the situation to make a judgement call,” he said.


Standardized District Procedures

Each school has a WSD Emergency Response Procedure Quick Reference Guide detailing emergency telephone numbers, evacuation routes, bomb threats, earthquakes and other emergency situations.

Safety Procedures

Safety procedures include building safety inspections, employee, volunteer and contractor screening and background checks, evacuation routes assessment, and safety committee meetings.

Security Systems/Resources

Emergency Notification systems include public announcement and phone systems, which are digital and provide a tool for mass communication and announcements; hand-held digital radios; and alarms and alarm monitoring systems.  Some schools have a button in the office that will announce a lockdown and automatically lock external doors. Modern High megapixel Security Cameras are in place at each school, and a private security firm is contracted to monitor schools after hours. Electronic Access Control systems use proximity card entry on external doors, and limit access to a single point of entry.
Additionally, Safe Schools Alert is a reporting system on every school’s web page that allows anyone to leave anonymous tips on harassment, intimidation, bullying safety, and any other issue. Last year it was used about a dozen times, and included reports on bullying that were addressed. 

Personnel 

The district has two security officers typically assigned to the high school. The district has one School Resource Officer, and one truancy officer. 

One important benefit of the security officers and the school resource officer is relationship building.  “The benefit of the school security officer is the relationship with the kids,” said Bergstrom.  “They’re active, not passive. They have relationships with the kids. 

While the school security officers are district employees, the School Resource Officer is a Wenatchee Police department officer contracted to the school district during the school year. Jared Reinfeld. “Jarod Reinfeld is fantastic,” said Bergstrom “Great with the kids, and tireless in his work.” 

Steve Crown, Chief of Police for the City of Wenatchee agreed. “Officer Reinfeld is top notch. The challenges for the SRO officer are huge,” said Chief Crown. “Sitting down at lunch talking to kids is priceless. Crime prevention is where it’s at. If you want to try and resolve tensions, devise strategies to avoid problems before they occur. We’re not sending officers to be intimidating or a figure head and just walk the halls. They’re there to be engaged.”


Ideas from the Public Forum

The discussion then turned to examining the issues that rose to the top from the community at the safety forum. Those ideas included:

Bulletproof Rooms 
Metal Detectors 
Detection Dogs 
Armed Security
Electronic Access Control

Each idea was discussed in terms of cost and feasibility (see details at the end of this article).

One of the ideas from the forum, Electronic Access Control, is already in place at two elementary schools in the district. Both Bergstrom and Helm said they’re working well. They also discussed bullet proof glass and fencing for portables. Bullet proof glass may be to costly for all schools, but security film, Bergstrom explained, is like the tinted film for car windows, only clear. He said that the security film can provide a low level of protection, about a one minute delay, to allow help to arrive.

“Laminated glass also adds a delay time,” said Bergstrom. “The background I have in the DoD, they have standards, some specifically for schools, and for schools with higher threat level with terrorists in the area. It comes down to miniscule details.” 

Other Factors, Including a Remodeled High School

Board members had a number of questions, including the value of additional counselors and mental health counselors, how and when training was conducted for staff and students, how substitute teachers are trained, and what the current threat level is for Wenatchee School District.

There was also discussion of Wenatchee High School, should the bond to rebuild the school pass. “If the bond passes, a lot of security issues that will be taken care of at the high school,” said board member Laura Jaecks.

“The architect drawings are conceptual,” Superintendent Brian Flones told the board. “All of the state of the art security features will be designed into the building. We’ll work with law enforcement, and our risk management, and architects. That building will be very secure.”


Current Threat Level in Wenatchee School District

Bergstrom talked about a risk assessment methodology. “This methodology is used throughout the world so it can be replicated in every situation,” said Bergstrom, “wherever we go and whatever we look at. We also look at effect, and what kind of warning would we get.” For example earthquakes give no warning, but in the midwest, there is often time to know a storm is on it’s way.

The methodology includes evaluation of a number of criteria. While working for the Department of Defence Bergstrom developed a multi-hazard assessment in a spreadsheet that analyzes and gives a memo of record. The Marine Corps adopted the tool as their threat assessment procedure.

Some factors that are analyzed include:

History of the threat or hazard in the past—has it happened before.
Threat capability—who in the area is capable of presenting this kind of threat. “We do a multi-hazard assessments in our district, graded individually,” said Bergstrom
Threat intention—do they possess the intention.

“When you go through this process and look at the risk of an active shooter in our schools the risk is low end,” said Bergstrom. “The likelihood is low, but the severity is high. Kids are helpless, kids die. It’s a hard thing to reconcile. I keep trying to caution ourselves to not react emotionally but to go through the process.”

The workshop ended with the board asking for recommendations, which Bergstrom and Helm will bring back to the board by the end of April. They will be looking at the ideas and costs brought up in the public safety forum, security personnel, counseling personnel, school building security, including electronic systems and fencing.

# # #

More biographical information about Adam Bergstrom, Director of Risk Management, Safety, and Security

Director of Risk Management, Safety, and Security
Mr. Adam Bergstrom

•     Retired US Army, Special Forces (23 years)
Served as Senior Enlisted Team Sergeant for a 12-man Special Forces A-team (ODA 512).  Conducted Special Operations, including Foreign Internal Defense, Special Reconnaissance, and Direct Action missions in the US Central Command area of operations (Middle East).  Troup Sergeant Major for a Counter-terrorism/Hostage Rescue unit. 
•     Defense Threat Reduction Agency (3 years)
Deputy Team Chief/Terrorist Operations Specialist: Conducted 92 comprehensive physical security and antiterrorism vulnerability assessments of Department of Defense (DoD) installations, stand-alone facilities, and headquarters complexes. Evaluated and taught DoD Terrorism Threat Analysis Methodology to senior military and DoD personnel. 
•     Missile Defense Agency (3 years)
Lead security/program protection expert for missile defense programs including the Forward Based X-band Radar, Sea Based X-band Radar, Ground Based Interceptors, Ground Based Radar-Prototype, Adjunct Sensor, Airborne Laser, and Airborne Sensors.   
•     DoD Education Activity (7 years)
Antiterrorism Program Manager encompassing 191 schools in 14 districts located in 12 foreign countries, seven states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  
•     (Current) WSD Director of Risk Management, Safety, and Security


Safety Forum Items

Bulletproof Rooms Metal Detectors Detection Dogs Armed Security
                        Electronic Access Control

COSTS ARE ROUGH ORDER OF MAGNITUDE ESTIMATES FOR INITIAL PLANNING ONLY

Safety Forum Items
Bulletproof Storm Shelters (Oklahoma)
•     PRICING DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE UNIT:
–  Shelter designs are 1 sq. foot per child (elementary) 1.5 sq. foot per child (middle school), 2 sq. feet per child (high school).

•     AVERAGES OUT TO BE ABOUT $1,000 PER STUDENT

•     ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:
–  Price does not include installation.


–  Shelter components are shipped from Shelter-In-Place directly to the school. Local crews assemble the shelters in each room, bolting the shelters down 6” into the building foundation.
–  Footprint in existing classroom -
–  Power reconfiguration – outlets in room and for shelter


Safety Forum Items
Metal Detectors – Planning Cost
•     ONE WALK-THROUGH METAL DETECTOR: $75,000 INITIAL COST:
–  $5000 each unit - not including maintenance and sustainment
–  2.5 FTE Security Officers at each detector
•     $28,000 1 FTE: Total for 2.5 FTE $70,000
•     Two Security Officers Operating/Searching – One Overwatch (Armed)
•     Used by 100% of everyone entering the building anytime.

•     ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:
–  Metal detector would need to be manned anytime school is in session for the entire school day, Athletics (practices and games), Theater, Concerts, Conferences, etc.
–  Anyone setting off the detector would need to be searched


–  All ground-floor windows would need to remain permanently shut so no one can pass anything into the building.
–  Doors could not be propped open, even temporarily, and every entrance and exit would need to be manned to prevent entrance or from the door being propped open.
–  Everyone, young and old, student and staff, parent and visitor, would need to be screened every time they enter, no matter the purpose. This includes Custodians, Food Service at whatever time they come to work


Safety Forum Items
Detection Dogs– Planning Cost
•     DETECTION DOG STARTUP COST: About $35,000, with the dog costing between
$10,000 to $15,000. Much of the expense is for training and certifications.

•         OTHER EXPENSES: Include kennel costs, outfitting the deputy’s police cruiser to accommodate the dog, veterinary care, food, and other supplies.

•         A Special Purpose Dog Team is a working dog and handler that have been trained to detect specific items beyond explosives or narcotics. Other categories commonly trained for are:
–     Cell Phones
–     Currency


–     Weapons
–     Illicit Contraband

•     LIMITED NUMBER OF DOGS AVAILABLE

•     WORKING TIME FOR DOG IS LIMITED


Safety Forum Items
Armed Security
•     CONTRACTED ARMED SECURITY $32.50/HOUR AND UP

•     ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:
–  Interaction with students and staff.
–  Decision making process – act appropriately under stressful situations.
–  Rules of Engagement – When they are authorized to use weapon
–  Weapons qualification and training – i.e., target discrimination.

Safety Forum Items
Electronic Access Control – Planning Cost

•     Main Vestibule – Buzz In
•     Main Front Doors with Video Phone: $16,600
•     Main Front Inner doors: $13,400

•     Access Control - Single Door: $4,300

•     Access Control - Wing Single Door: $6,600

•     Access Control -    Kitchen Door: $3,800

•     Storefront Vestibule Doors (Where needed)
–  $7962 -$23,716

•     Office Rolling Grill/Window(s) (Where needed)
–  $7300

•     Window Applied Security Film
–  $1600 - $9500

•     Portable Buildings – Fencing
–  $6000 - $22,250

•     Permit and Design
–  $4700
WSD Office of Risk Management, Safety and Security
 

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