Violence in school

The best way to allay fears ‘is to say things are the way they are’, By Linda Smith Hancharick Warwick — Warwick Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Greenhall is a realist. He, like most everyone else, is aware of the topic of school violence. He has seen the headlines and watched the tragedies play out on the news over the past two weeks. There has been no escaping it. But Greenhall, who has been Warwick’s superintendent since last February, believes that schools are safe. “I still believe schools are among the safest places you can have,” said Greenhall. And, he believes, parents and school staff must reassure our children of that. Which can be tough to do, given the exposure the last two weeks of three school shootings across the country, one by a student and two by deranged outsiders. Chasing rumors Here in Warwick, there were rumors that something violent was going to happen at the high school in September. Some students were afraid to go to school. There were some parents who called and signed their children out early, but not many, according to Greenhall. Only five families took their kids home. Others called to see if the superintendent was going to be at the high school that day and felt relieved that he was, so they sent their kids as well. “Things take on a life of their own,” said Greenhall. “The rumors are posted on myspace.com. People get hysterical. We take it all seriously — we heighten our security. The police are very cooperative and are around more when we ask them to be. Us being there gives a sense of calmness. But we can’t prevent rumors.” Which can sometimes be the most frustrating thing. Just a couple of weeks ago a car pulled into the high school with out of state license plates. Eventually, the car was towed from the site. When people saw the car being taken on a flat bed truck, the rumors flew. “People saw the car and got carried away,” Greenhall said. “The rumors started that these two men were there to shoot the school up. We can’t do anything about the rumors.” Measures in place Greenhall went over the safety measures taken over the years here in Warwick. Both the middle school and high school have a School Resource Officer patrolling all day, every day. There are cameras throughout both schools. In addition, the high school also has full time security guards. Main doors at all schools, including the four elementary schools, have greeters. All other doors are locked. Greenhall said those locked doors can only be opened from the inside. The Times-Herald Record recently sent reporters to schools throughout the area. Greenhall said they came here to Warwick and were stopped immediately by staff members. Greenhall also points to the numbers. With 735 school districts in New York State alone, not counting private and charter schools, multiply that by 50 states and you have some pretty safe numbers in his book. And while people are feeling it can happen anywhere, especially when you see the peaceful Amish people targeted in one recent attack, “The percentages tell you it is not happening everywhere,” according to Greenhall. But there are no guarantees at all. Greenhall was scheduled to attend a safety conference this week. He himself grew up in New York City where, he said, there were weapons in the schools every day. Even with metal detectors, which there is no talk of here in Warwick, kids can get things through. “We will continue to do what we do. We’ll spot check to make sure the doors are locked and keep doing our drills,” he said referring to emergency procedures the district has in place. “But we have to reassure our children that they are safe in their schools. The best way to allay fears is to say things are the way they are. Kids are safer here than they are in malls.”