October 29, 2024 • 22 mins
The safety of students and staff is the top priority for Cobb schools, as emphasized by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale in this insightful discussion with Felicia Wagner, a parent of a Cobb student. They delve into the complexities surrounding school safety, including the impact of bullying and the importance of effective communication during crises. Ragsdale outlines the proactive measures the district is implementing to address threats, emphasizing the need for a supportive and respectful environment for all students. The conversation also highlights the importance of collaboration with law enforcement and community resources to ensure safety while maintaining a positive learning atmosphere. As the episode unfolds, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by educators and the district's commitment to fostering a safe educational environment for every child.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We're concluding ourdiscussion on school safety with
Chris Ragsdale in this episodeof the Inside Scoop. Hello and welcome
back to the Inside Scoop. I'mDavid Owen. Hopefully you've heard
from the superintendent, ChrisRagsdale in the first half of the
discussion in last week'sepisode. If not, make sure you do
(00:22):
to get the whole story. He andFelicia Wagner discussed the incident
in Barrow county, theimportance of code Red drills, and
how threats are handled herein Cobb this week, they'll continue
the discussion focusing onsuch things as bullying, crisis communications,
and safety technologies. Nowlet's rejoin Felicia Wagner and Chris
(00:43):
Ragsdale as they continue the discussion.
So some of the schoolshootings and shooters that we've
learned over the course of afew decades complain that they were
bullied. Some of theirclassmates say that they were watching
these kids get bullied justconstantly. I know that you can report
(01:07):
that through this app as well.But what, as a district, should we
be encouraging for kids whoare maybe bystanders to bullying
or a recipient of bullying? Ithink those are two very different
things. And as a bystander,you don't know what to do. Sometimes
you just, you know, you feelkind of powerless and you don't want
(01:28):
to get somebody in trouble,but you also feel guilty kind of
because you're not doing something.
Yeah. Bullying is real, and wetake it very seriously. And we do
not allow bullying of anytype. Regardless of what the nature
of the bullying is, we addressit head on, we address it quickly.
(01:51):
And, you know, in the middleand high school specifically, we
have a program called ExpectRespect, and that teaches some of
the things you exactly justsaid for kids to expect that they
will be respected, that don'tthink that you're, you know, it's
okay to not be respected. Andwe've developed our programs to deal
(02:18):
with bullying in the district.We have trained every single school
and we, we have trained everysingle teacher and employee on those
bullying programs. And I thinkit's very important to understand
why we did that. There arenumerous programs that you can go
(02:38):
out and purchase, and what youdon't know sometimes is where all
of those connections arewithin something you purchase. And
so what we have done is wehave taken all of the ideas from
our counselors, our teachers,our administrators, and we actually
(02:59):
developed in response to thebullying situation, we developed
our own program. So K through12, we have a program for every single
school. And like I said, wehave trained our employees on those
programs.
What would you say to. As partof the threat assessment? And I guess
(03:20):
Just the stress of that insociety and in the community. What
do you say to your staff whoare experiencing these ups and ebbs
and flows of the stress ofthose threats, aside from the task
of investigating, but just thestress of it just constantly coming
(03:42):
at teachers and principals?
Yeah, I've said this a numberof times. There's not a time in history
that it has been harder to bea teacher than today. Our teachers
are the best in the world, andit shows in our academic success.
That's why we hire teachers tobe the best teachers that they can
(04:03):
in front of that classroom. Somany times today, though, schools,
not just teachers, butschools, are expected to be everything.
A lot of students get theironly warm meals at school. So it's
very important for us torealize, number one, the limitations,
(04:26):
because there's only so muchyou can do in a day. And that goes
along with. I've been askedabout what my thoughts are on arming
teachers, and I've said verypublicly I'm not for arming teachers.
In the Cobb County SchoolDistrict, if other districts do,
(04:46):
that's a decision that I'm notdisparaging other districts if they
make that decision. But in theCobb county school district, I believe
that I'm hiring teachers to bethe best teacher that they can be.
If I'm also going to expectthem to be a police officer, then
now I'm expecting them to bethe best that they can be at two
different jobs. And you canonly do one job to perfection, and
(05:10):
that should be teaching. Ifyou're charging a teacher to be also
the protector to carry afirearm and be a police officer as
well, that's going to takeaway from the academic side of why
they're there. So that's why Ihave a true delineation. And I want
our teachers to continue to bethe best teachers on the planet,
(05:33):
and I want our police officersto continue to be the best police
officers on the planet. And Ithink those are two very distinct
and different jobs. And Iwould never want to intermingle those
jobs together and required.Because to your very point, the stress
a teacher feels today hasnever been higher just to be a teacher.
Yeah.
So now let's not add to that.
(05:55):
So some folks in thecommunity, and even in my community,
because I got text messagesfrom parents, they don't like the
way that the schoolcommunicates with them. After the
shooting in Barrow county,they need to be reassured. They want
to know, are we at aheightened risk now because this
(06:17):
happened? What's happening?You know, you just Want your kid
home at that point.
Right.
So what do you say to that?Because there is a delay. You get
scooped by, you know, the newsall the time. You get scooped by
social media and then you getthe formal communication from the
school. So can you talk about that?
Yeah. So the first thing Iwill say is the first thing not to
(06:42):
do. If your child's school hassome type of event, the first thing
that you want to do is get toyour child. However, that's the first
thing you should not do.Because everyone trying to get to
the school makes firstresponders job that much more difficult
(07:04):
to be able to deal withwhatever the situation is. The second
thing is don't expectimmediate, detailed information.
We will communicate. If thereis an event, we will communicate
that very quickly. Howeverdetailed information, we're going
(07:25):
to make sure we get it rightbecause we don't want to be part
of the perpetuation of falseinformation. So we're going to make
sure we're communicating handin hand with law enforcement agencies
if external agencies areinvolved, which for a large event,
they obviously would be. Andwe're going to communicate appropriately
(07:48):
whether it be parent toparents of just that school or whether
it be parents of the entiredistrict. Because again, if it's
at a particular high school,for example, you'll have middle and
elementary feeder schools whoneed to know some of that same information
as well. But I think it's moreimportant to have correct information
(08:08):
communicated than quickinformation that may not be correct
because then you makedecisions based on incorrect information.
As a parent.
Yeah.
And we don't want our parentsmaking decisions based on incorrect
information. We want toprovide as much and appropriate information
as quickly as possible, but wewant to make sure it's correct. And
(08:30):
look, I, like I said, Itotally get, you know, if something
happens at my child school, Iwant to be there with my child. I
want to get my child to yourpoint, I want to get my child home
and safe where I think thatthey are safest in my house. And
I get that. At the same time,you know, if it's a high school,
we've got thousands of kidsthat we have to make sure are safe.
(08:52):
And we work very closely withCobb pd, Cobb Sheriff's Office, the
municipality, the city policesas well, Georgia State Patrol, gbi,
because in a situation likeBarrow, for example, you're going
to have the world showing up.Matter of fact, we sent some of our
(09:13):
social workers up to Barrow toassist with, you know, with the aftermath
of that incident. So I'm veryAppreciative of those employees who
went and everything that theywere able to do. And it kind of also
goes to show that, yes, we areprepared here. We're prepared to
the point that we can go helpothers if they encounter an event
(09:36):
that we're able to assist with.
If there is an incident at aschool, is there a protocol that
requires enactment of aresponse to go through the district
or our law enforcement thatare at the school, are they empowered
to execute a plan?
Oh, absolutely, yeah. Ourschool police officers, sometimes
(10:00):
referred to as school resourceofficers, they are absolutely full
post certified policeofficers. They can make arrests.
They can do all of the thingsthat a police officer can do In a
situation like an eventhappening, you're going to have,
like I said, you're going tohave the world showing up. And we
(10:20):
work with, not to get into todetails, but we work with and partner
with all of our other lawenforcement agencies on a hierarchical
command structure. Once anevent takes place so that everybody
doesn't show up and there'stoo many, you know, there's too many
bosses, you know, kind ofthing. Everybody knows there's, there's
(10:42):
an order and everybody knowstheir part. Everybody knows what
to expect in walking into aschool that is under a code Red,
for example. That's veryimportant for law enforcement to
understand because schooldistricts are different than a shopping
center or a church or, youknow, another event where there's
(11:02):
a lot of people present a codered situation. You're going to encounter
a very different environmentwhen you walk into that. So it's
very important that wecollaborate and partner and also
train. There are a number ofactive shooter trainings that encompass
all of the law enforcementagencies, not just school district,
(11:22):
but Cobb pd Cobb. So GeorgiaState Patrol and the like. So everybody
gets an opportunity to work atraining event as if it's real to
understand what's going tohappen in this particular school
district.
Yeah. So my son is in seventhgrade, he's 13. Anytime, even if
(11:44):
it's not as horrific as Barrowcounty, any time something happens
in a school, as a parent, youstart reevaluating. Where can I go
volunteer? What can I do?Where can I put my two feet in to
make a difference in ourschools? And I'll put my hat on for
the foundation. We do thevolunteer of the year.
(12:05):
Right.
We have recognized numerouspeople that are part of Watchdog
Dads and things like that. Butwhat would you say to parents that
they want to do something? Imean, just sitting at home or waiting
for the email, the Detailedemail. That's hard. I mean, you just
want to go do something.
Yeah, exactly. And again, somuch appreciation for what you guys
(12:30):
do for the foundation, for thevolunteer of the year, because it's
just amazing to see whatvolunteers are able to do in our
schools. And certainly parentscan volunteer in our schools. You
know, not too long ago, we hada thing called the pandemic, you
know, where, you know,visitors and all these kind of things
were put. Restrictions wereput in place on schools, inappropriate
(12:54):
for the most part, but wedidn't know what we didn't know.
Now that that's in therearview mirror, I think it's awesome
that we're getting back tonormal, to where parents volunteers
are coming into schools tohelp, because it truly is a team
effort and it takes the entireteam. And you know, we've spoken
(13:17):
a number of times aboutparents. You know, when something
happened, the parent justwants to get to their child and these
kind of things. And I've. I'vebeen asked a number of times about,
you know, why are we notdiscussing safety if it's our top
priority in board meetings?
Right.
I'm actually doing apresentation on where we're going
next, next steps for thedistrict. However, we will never
(13:41):
discuss our safety plans orreally any components of our safety
plans and procedures inpublic. Executive session is the
appropriate place fordiscussion with the board. And I
have had numerousconversations and presentations and
discussions in executivesessions about our safety policies
(14:02):
and practices and what we seemoving forward as far as threat assessments
and how we're going to dealwith things moving forward. So while
it is hard for parents not tosee and hear all of the details about
everything we're doing, that'spart of the safety process is keeping
(14:22):
that information confidential.Yes, we talk about the collaboration
with different agencies, buthow we do that, that we're never
going to talk about. We've gotevolve, for example, is the latest
technology we're utilizing asfar as weapons detection. The intricacies
(14:44):
and details of that and wherethey exactly are we're not going
to discuss in public. It wouldbe reckless to do so. So we will
never discuss in detail to allof the things that we are doing and
how we're doing them inpublic. Regarding safety. It's very
(15:06):
important for us to make surethat we are prepared and we're appropriately
training and funding safety.And we will, we will discuss everything
that we can in a public mannerand communicate that to the public.
But it's not going to be tothe level that people truly want
(15:27):
and Desire. And I understandthat, but I also understand the requirement
to maintain that level of confidentiality.
Who do you feel is bringingyou the most, latest, greatest information
and data on the technologythat you can implement in schools?
Is that coming from randoms?You know, I work at IBM and we have
(15:52):
this. Or is it truly peoplethat are operating in that field
who are bringing that?
It varies really, becauseagain, education is a different industry.
Right. You don't find manyplaces, even at offices in corporate,
(16:12):
that have the number of peoplewe have, whether it be students or
staff or both, in the campusenvironment that we have. And even
though We've got over 100schools, over 100,000 students, we
have over 20,000 employees,every single campus is different.
(16:33):
You can't take a plan and havea cookie cutter template and then
go to another school andexactly implement that same plan.
It's just not going to work.So it does vary. You know, best in
industry, we have differentthings, you know, different organizations
who bring us different typesof solutions. I think that the easiest
(16:57):
type of solution to find isthe technology. Like evolve. Evolve
is not just in schools. It'sin public places, arenas, professional
athletic events, those kind ofthings where that makes sense. But
then you get into a verypopular topic, I guess you could
(17:22):
say, after an event takesplace like this, are metal detectors.
Why do you not have metaldetectors? Well, there is a truly
a fine line that you cannotcross to where a school becomes too
much like a prison. And younever want to cross that because
you want a school to be aplace for learning. You want kids
(17:45):
to enjoy being there. You wantteachers to enjoy being there. And
there is a line that you cancross to where you are making it
too restrictive of anenvironment. I don't think we're
crossing that line. I don'tthink we're up to that line yet.
Metal detectors, though,simply in a school environment don't
(18:09):
work the way that peopleexpect that they would. You have
too many entries and exits.
It's so many different ways toget in. And you've got keys and you've
got metal on your jeans.
Absolutely.
All kinds.
Absolutely. I mean, you thinkabout the airport if you fly.
Yeah.
TSA didn't used to exist.Right. You just showed up 30 minutes
(18:34):
before your flight. You ranthrough the airport to get to the
gate. You hopped on the plane.Not today.
Think about going to the Benz Stadium.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But ifyou think about going through the
airport, how long it takeswhen there is a crowd to get through
security, and that's everyday. At school. So you would not.
(19:00):
The operation of metaldetectors in a school environment
just does not produce theresults that you would think that
they would. Now when you getin, again, different technologies
like evolve. There aredifferent technologies that do weapons
detection in a different wayand a different manner that we are
utilizing. Syntijics, again,being able to communicate during
(19:24):
a crisis exactly what's goingon, what the code is of what is a
code read, how we communicatethat. And there again, the syntegic
system also allows us to havealerts from individuals needing assistance
for whatever the situation.It's a medical situation. So we're
able to see where a teacher isor an employee is and they need assistance
(19:48):
so we can get there veryrapidly. So I think that solutions
come from a litany of sources.I will tell you a frustration of
mine is when an event like aBarrow takes place or like a parkland
takes place, vendors trying totake advantage of that situation.
(20:12):
To say, if you only had myproduct, your kids would always be
safe. That is veryfrustrating. And shame on them for
doing that because they'rejust trying to take advantage of
a crisis to guilt you into orguilt parents into demanding this
product or that product orwhat have you. And you know, school
(20:33):
districts are doing everythingthey can and don't need vendors trying
to take advantage of a crisissituation like a shooting in Barrow,
for example, where people losttheir lives and you're just trying
to sell a product. That's veryfrustrating. But all that to say,
I think again, where we'repointed for next steps becoming left
(20:54):
of launch. I think there'sgoing to be a change in how you address
safety in a school. I thinkthere's a lot of proactive things,
not just the products and thetechnologies and things, but I think
there's going to be a lot ofproactive processes that can be implemented
(21:14):
that's really going to boostour level of safety and security
for both staff and studentsmoving forward. And so again, part
of that I'll be discussingduring the presentation at the next
board meeting, and part of itwe simply can't discuss. But I will
definitely brief the board inexecutive session.
Well, Chris, I reallyappreciate your time today. I know
(21:35):
we both have students to goserve. While I don't think we can
ever eliminate us wanting ourkids home and safe. I really appreciate
you taking the time to kind ofdeep dive into these really complex
and hard things to talk aboutand certainly hard things to plan
for, whether it's budget,staff, all of the things.
(21:56):
Right.
But I really appreciate you Iappreciate the team. I personally
appreciate our teachers andour principals who are on that front
line every single day.
Right.
And and hope that they feelsafe as much as our students do.
So thank you for today.
Absolutely. I appreciate the opportunity.
(22:17):
As you can see, the safety ofour students and staff is the top
priority of Cobb Schools. Ihope you've learned a little bit
about it in this episode. Ifyou did, please give us a like and
share it with an interestedfriend or two. Thanks for listening
to this edition of The InsideScoop, a podcast produced by the
Cobb County School District.
We're concluding ourdiscussion on school safety with
Chris Ragsdale in this episodeof the Inside Scoop. Hello and welcome
back to the Inside Scoop. I'mDavid Owen. Hopefully you've heard
from the superintendent, ChrisRagsdale in the first half of the
discussion in last week'sepisode. If not, make sure you do
(00:22):
to get the whole story. He andFelicia Wagner discussed the incident
in Barrow county, theimportance of code Red drills, and
how threats are handled herein Cobb this week, they'll continue
the discussion focusing onsuch things as bullying, crisis communications,
and safety technologies. Nowlet's rejoin Felicia Wagner and Chris
(00:43):
Ragsdale as they continue the discussion.
So some of the schoolshootings and shooters that we've
learned over the course of afew decades complain that they were
bullied. Some of theirclassmates say that they were watching
these kids get bullied justconstantly. I know that you can report
(01:07):
that through this app as well.But what, as a district, should we
be encouraging for kids whoare maybe bystanders to bullying
or a recipient of bullying? Ithink those are two very different
things. And as a bystander,you don't know what to do. Sometimes
you just, you know, you feelkind of powerless and you don't want
(01:28):
to get somebody in trouble,but you also feel guilty kind of
because you're not doing something.
Yeah. Bullying is real, and wetake it very seriously. And we do
not allow bullying of anytype. Regardless of what the nature
of the bullying is, we addressit head on, we address it quickly.
(01:51):
And, you know, in the middleand high school specifically, we
have a program called ExpectRespect, and that teaches some of
the things you exactly justsaid for kids to expect that they
will be respected, that don'tthink that you're, you know, it's
okay to not be respected. Andwe've developed our programs to deal
(02:18):
with bullying in the district.We have trained every single school
and we, we have trained everysingle teacher and employee on those
bullying programs. And I thinkit's very important to understand
why we did that. There arenumerous programs that you can go
(02:38):
out and purchase, and what youdon't know sometimes is where all
of those connections arewithin something you purchase. And
so what we have done is wehave taken all of the ideas from
our counselors, our teachers,our administrators, and we actually
(02:59):
developed in response to thebullying situation, we developed
our own program. So K through12, we have a program for every single
school. And like I said, wehave trained our employees on those
programs.
What would you say to. As partof the threat assessment? And I guess
(03:20):
Just the stress of that insociety and in the community. What
do you say to your staff whoare experiencing these ups and ebbs
and flows of the stress ofthose threats, aside from the task
of investigating, but just thestress of it just constantly coming
(03:42):
at teachers and principals?
Yeah, I've said this a numberof times. There's not a time in history
that it has been harder to bea teacher than today. Our teachers
are the best in the world, andit shows in our academic success.
That's why we hire teachers tobe the best teachers that they can
(04:03):
in front of that classroom. Somany times today, though, schools,
not just teachers, butschools, are expected to be everything.
A lot of students get theironly warm meals at school. So it's
very important for us torealize, number one, the limitations,
(04:26):
because there's only so muchyou can do in a day. And that goes
along with. I've been askedabout what my thoughts are on arming
teachers, and I've said verypublicly I'm not for arming teachers.
In the Cobb County SchoolDistrict, if other districts do,
(04:46):
that's a decision that I'm notdisparaging other districts if they
make that decision. But in theCobb county school district, I believe
that I'm hiring teachers to bethe best teacher that they can be.
If I'm also going to expectthem to be a police officer, then
now I'm expecting them to bethe best that they can be at two
different jobs. And you canonly do one job to perfection, and
(05:10):
that should be teaching. Ifyou're charging a teacher to be also
the protector to carry afirearm and be a police officer as
well, that's going to takeaway from the academic side of why
they're there. So that's why Ihave a true delineation. And I want
our teachers to continue to bethe best teachers on the planet,
(05:33):
and I want our police officersto continue to be the best police
officers on the planet. And Ithink those are two very distinct
and different jobs. And Iwould never want to intermingle those
jobs together and required.Because to your very point, the stress
a teacher feels today hasnever been higher just to be a teacher.
Yeah.
So now let's not add to that.
(05:55):
So some folks in thecommunity, and even in my community,
because I got text messagesfrom parents, they don't like the
way that the schoolcommunicates with them. After the
shooting in Barrow county,they need to be reassured. They want
to know, are we at aheightened risk now because this
(06:17):
happened? What's happening?You know, you just Want your kid
home at that point.
Right.
So what do you say to that?Because there is a delay. You get
scooped by, you know, the newsall the time. You get scooped by
social media and then you getthe formal communication from the
school. So can you talk about that?
Yeah. So the first thing Iwill say is the first thing not to
(06:42):
do. If your child's school hassome type of event, the first thing
that you want to do is get toyour child. However, that's the first
thing you should not do.Because everyone trying to get to
the school makes firstresponders job that much more difficult
(07:04):
to be able to deal withwhatever the situation is. The second
thing is don't expectimmediate, detailed information.
We will communicate. If thereis an event, we will communicate
that very quickly. Howeverdetailed information, we're going
(07:25):
to make sure we get it rightbecause we don't want to be part
of the perpetuation of falseinformation. So we're going to make
sure we're communicating handin hand with law enforcement agencies
if external agencies areinvolved, which for a large event,
they obviously would be. Andwe're going to communicate appropriately
(07:48):
whether it be parent toparents of just that school or whether
it be parents of the entiredistrict. Because again, if it's
at a particular high school,for example, you'll have middle and
elementary feeder schools whoneed to know some of that same information
as well. But I think it's moreimportant to have correct information
(08:08):
communicated than quickinformation that may not be correct
because then you makedecisions based on incorrect information.
As a parent.
Yeah.
And we don't want our parentsmaking decisions based on incorrect
information. We want toprovide as much and appropriate information
as quickly as possible, but wewant to make sure it's correct. And
(08:30):
look, I, like I said, Itotally get, you know, if something
happens at my child school, Iwant to be there with my child. I
want to get my child to yourpoint, I want to get my child home
and safe where I think thatthey are safest in my house. And
I get that. At the same time,you know, if it's a high school,
we've got thousands of kidsthat we have to make sure are safe.
(08:52):
And we work very closely withCobb pd, Cobb Sheriff's Office, the
municipality, the city policesas well, Georgia State Patrol, gbi,
because in a situation likeBarrow, for example, you're going
to have the world showing up.Matter of fact, we sent some of our
(09:13):
social workers up to Barrow toassist with, you know, with the aftermath
of that incident. So I'm veryAppreciative of those employees who
went and everything that theywere able to do. And it kind of also
goes to show that, yes, we areprepared here. We're prepared to
the point that we can go helpothers if they encounter an event
(09:36):
that we're able to assist with.
If there is an incident at aschool, is there a protocol that
requires enactment of aresponse to go through the district
or our law enforcement thatare at the school, are they empowered
to execute a plan?
Oh, absolutely, yeah. Ourschool police officers, sometimes
(10:00):
referred to as school resourceofficers, they are absolutely full
post certified policeofficers. They can make arrests.
They can do all of the thingsthat a police officer can do In a
situation like an eventhappening, you're going to have,
like I said, you're going tohave the world showing up. And we
(10:20):
work with, not to get into todetails, but we work with and partner
with all of our other lawenforcement agencies on a hierarchical
command structure. Once anevent takes place so that everybody
doesn't show up and there'stoo many, you know, there's too many
bosses, you know, kind ofthing. Everybody knows there's, there's
(10:42):
an order and everybody knowstheir part. Everybody knows what
to expect in walking into aschool that is under a code Red,
for example. That's veryimportant for law enforcement to
understand because schooldistricts are different than a shopping
center or a church or, youknow, another event where there's
(11:02):
a lot of people present a codered situation. You're going to encounter
a very different environmentwhen you walk into that. So it's
very important that wecollaborate and partner and also
train. There are a number ofactive shooter trainings that encompass
all of the law enforcementagencies, not just school district,
(11:22):
but Cobb pd Cobb. So GeorgiaState Patrol and the like. So everybody
gets an opportunity to work atraining event as if it's real to
understand what's going tohappen in this particular school
district.
Yeah. So my son is in seventhgrade, he's 13. Anytime, even if
(11:44):
it's not as horrific as Barrowcounty, any time something happens
in a school, as a parent, youstart reevaluating. Where can I go
volunteer? What can I do?Where can I put my two feet in to
make a difference in ourschools? And I'll put my hat on for
the foundation. We do thevolunteer of the year.
(12:05):
Right.
We have recognized numerouspeople that are part of Watchdog
Dads and things like that. Butwhat would you say to parents that
they want to do something? Imean, just sitting at home or waiting
for the email, the Detailedemail. That's hard. I mean, you just
want to go do something.
Yeah, exactly. And again, somuch appreciation for what you guys
(12:30):
do for the foundation, for thevolunteer of the year, because it's
just amazing to see whatvolunteers are able to do in our
schools. And certainly parentscan volunteer in our schools. You
know, not too long ago, we hada thing called the pandemic, you
know, where, you know,visitors and all these kind of things
were put. Restrictions wereput in place on schools, inappropriate
(12:54):
for the most part, but wedidn't know what we didn't know.
Now that that's in therearview mirror, I think it's awesome
that we're getting back tonormal, to where parents volunteers
are coming into schools tohelp, because it truly is a team
effort and it takes the entireteam. And you know, we've spoken
(13:17):
a number of times aboutparents. You know, when something
happened, the parent justwants to get to their child and these
kind of things. And I've. I'vebeen asked a number of times about,
you know, why are we notdiscussing safety if it's our top
priority in board meetings?
Right.
I'm actually doing apresentation on where we're going
next, next steps for thedistrict. However, we will never
(13:41):
discuss our safety plans orreally any components of our safety
plans and procedures inpublic. Executive session is the
appropriate place fordiscussion with the board. And I
have had numerousconversations and presentations and
discussions in executivesessions about our safety policies
(14:02):
and practices and what we seemoving forward as far as threat assessments
and how we're going to dealwith things moving forward. So while
it is hard for parents not tosee and hear all of the details about
everything we're doing, that'spart of the safety process is keeping
(14:22):
that information confidential.Yes, we talk about the collaboration
with different agencies, buthow we do that, that we're never
going to talk about. We've gotevolve, for example, is the latest
technology we're utilizing asfar as weapons detection. The intricacies
(14:44):
and details of that and wherethey exactly are we're not going
to discuss in public. It wouldbe reckless to do so. So we will
never discuss in detail to allof the things that we are doing and
how we're doing them inpublic. Regarding safety. It's very
(15:06):
important for us to make surethat we are prepared and we're appropriately
training and funding safety.And we will, we will discuss everything
that we can in a public mannerand communicate that to the public.
But it's not going to be tothe level that people truly want
(15:27):
and Desire. And I understandthat, but I also understand the requirement
to maintain that level of confidentiality.
Who do you feel is bringingyou the most, latest, greatest information
and data on the technologythat you can implement in schools?
Is that coming from randoms?You know, I work at IBM and we have
(15:52):
this. Or is it truly peoplethat are operating in that field
who are bringing that?
It varies really, becauseagain, education is a different industry.
Right. You don't find manyplaces, even at offices in corporate,
(16:12):
that have the number of peoplewe have, whether it be students or
staff or both, in the campusenvironment that we have. And even
though We've got over 100schools, over 100,000 students, we
have over 20,000 employees,every single campus is different.
(16:33):
You can't take a plan and havea cookie cutter template and then
go to another school andexactly implement that same plan.
It's just not going to work.So it does vary. You know, best in
industry, we have differentthings, you know, different organizations
who bring us different typesof solutions. I think that the easiest
(16:57):
type of solution to find isthe technology. Like evolve. Evolve
is not just in schools. It'sin public places, arenas, professional
athletic events, those kind ofthings where that makes sense. But
then you get into a verypopular topic, I guess you could
(17:22):
say, after an event takesplace like this, are metal detectors.
Why do you not have metaldetectors? Well, there is a truly
a fine line that you cannotcross to where a school becomes too
much like a prison. And younever want to cross that because
you want a school to be aplace for learning. You want kids
(17:45):
to enjoy being there. You wantteachers to enjoy being there. And
there is a line that you cancross to where you are making it
too restrictive of anenvironment. I don't think we're
crossing that line. I don'tthink we're up to that line yet.
Metal detectors, though,simply in a school environment don't
(18:09):
work the way that peopleexpect that they would. You have
too many entries and exits.
It's so many different ways toget in. And you've got keys and you've
got metal on your jeans.
Absolutely.
All kinds.
Absolutely. I mean, you thinkabout the airport if you fly.
Yeah.
TSA didn't used to exist.Right. You just showed up 30 minutes
(18:34):
before your flight. You ranthrough the airport to get to the
gate. You hopped on the plane.Not today.
Think about going to the Benz Stadium.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But ifyou think about going through the
airport, how long it takeswhen there is a crowd to get through
security, and that's everyday. At school. So you would not.
(19:00):
The operation of metaldetectors in a school environment
just does not produce theresults that you would think that
they would. Now when you getin, again, different technologies
like evolve. There aredifferent technologies that do weapons
detection in a different wayand a different manner that we are
utilizing. Syntijics, again,being able to communicate during
(19:24):
a crisis exactly what's goingon, what the code is of what is a
code read, how we communicatethat. And there again, the syntegic
system also allows us to havealerts from individuals needing assistance
for whatever the situation.It's a medical situation. So we're
able to see where a teacher isor an employee is and they need assistance
(19:48):
so we can get there veryrapidly. So I think that solutions
come from a litany of sources.I will tell you a frustration of
mine is when an event like aBarrow takes place or like a parkland
takes place, vendors trying totake advantage of that situation.
(20:12):
To say, if you only had myproduct, your kids would always be
safe. That is veryfrustrating. And shame on them for
doing that because they'rejust trying to take advantage of
a crisis to guilt you into orguilt parents into demanding this
product or that product orwhat have you. And you know, school
(20:33):
districts are doing everythingthey can and don't need vendors trying
to take advantage of a crisissituation like a shooting in Barrow,
for example, where people losttheir lives and you're just trying
to sell a product. That's veryfrustrating. But all that to say,
I think again, where we'repointed for next steps becoming left
(20:54):
of launch. I think there'sgoing to be a change in how you address
safety in a school. I thinkthere's a lot of proactive things,
not just the products and thetechnologies and things, but I think
there's going to be a lot ofproactive processes that can be implemented
(21:14):
that's really going to boostour level of safety and security
for both staff and studentsmoving forward. And so again, part
of that I'll be discussingduring the presentation at the next
board meeting, and part of itwe simply can't discuss. But I will
definitely brief the board inexecutive session.
Well, Chris, I reallyappreciate your time today. I know
(21:35):
we both have students to goserve. While I don't think we can
ever eliminate us wanting ourkids home and safe. I really appreciate
you taking the time to kind ofdeep dive into these really complex
and hard things to talk aboutand certainly hard things to plan
for, whether it's budget,staff, all of the things.
(21:56):
Right.
But I really appreciate you Iappreciate the team. I personally
appreciate our teachers andour principals who are on that front
line every single day.
Right.
And and hope that they feelsafe as much as our students do.
So thank you for today.
Absolutely. I appreciate the opportunity.
(22:17):
As you can see, the safety ofour students and staff is the top
priority of Cobb Schools. Ihope you've learned a little bit
about it in this episode. Ifyou did, please give us a like and
share it with an interestedfriend or two. Thanks for listening
to this edition of The InsideScoop, a podcast produced by the
Cobb County School District.
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