(Spirit Lake)– The Spirit Lake School Board Monday evening heard an update on the district’s safety policy and training. The board last month officially approved a policy allowing for up to 10 personnel to carry firearms, with none of those being teachers. Superintendent Dr. David Smith says 15 people are currently undergoing extensive firearms training…
“We have completed three days. We have a couple of days coming up this week where we’re going to do some tactical work in buildings, but the training is top shelf. Peterson Firearms is about as good as you can get. Their credentials are off the charts. They’re so respected throughout the midwest, just high quality. Really focused on the safety piece, which kind of surprised me how detailed they were on how safe you have to be in every aspect of everything you’re doing. Just the detail of what it looks like to be in situations where you have an armed shooter and how you react and what you have to do and being willing, able and capable of handling that situation has been really eye opening for me.”
He says the training is comparable to what law enforcement officers receive. Smith says a 15-member school safety committee, which includes some teachers, is putting together a detailed plan. Administrator Angela Olsen says components of that plan will be assessed by state officials during an upcoming vulnerability study involving all of the district’s buildings…
“In November the Department of Homeland Security is contracted through the Department of Ed and as part of the safety grant they require a vulnerability assessment to apply for the funding and so we’re going to use that as an opportunity for us to have the vulnerability assessment and have them give us some feedback on our updated safety plan, our new current one with this and allow them to give us that feedback and implement some of their feedback and their suggestions into our safety plan as opposed to just having them come in and then having to make an adjustment, so we feel like that will be an added bonus to the timing of our safety plan coming out.”
Dr. Smith goes on to explain some of the things to be included in the plan…
“Just general questions like where are you going to store the equipment when you’re not using it or you have to be doing something where you can’t have the equipment on you if you’re with kids or whatever if you feel more comfortable. How’s that going to be stored, what do the locks look like, are you going to take the equipment home, a lot of basic questions. What do you do when you go to the bathroom? Seems like a funny question but, you know, it’s an important question because this is safety, how you handle the equipment is at the forefront here about what we’re talking about.”
Dr. Smith says the final plan will come before the school board for official action. He says law enforcement professionals will also be involved in assembling that plan.
