The first thing Millard South parent Robert Kanellis heard about the shooting at his son Nate's school came from a co-worker, a fellow Millard South parent, who had heard about it from her child.
Kanellis next logged on to the World-Herald's website, Omaha.com, and saw a bulletin about the shooting.
Then came the deluge from the Millard Public Schools, through the district's automated notification system, AlertNow.
“I got multiple phone messages and e-mails, which popped up on my smart phone,” Kanellis said. “Home phone, cell phone and e-mail pop-ups. I got every message three times.”
He received his first phone call from the district at 1:28 p.m. Two minutes later, he received this e-mail: “Millard South High School is in a lock down. Students are safe. Police are in control of the building. Police advise that parents go to the church just to the west of the school (Divine Shepard Church) where they can wait until police provide an orderly dismissal of students. DO NOT COME to Millard South High School property. We will update you as soon as possible.”
Spelling concerns — it's “Shepherd” — were the least of school district officials' worries. In addition to dealing with Wednesday afternoon's shooting at a high school and the subsequent lockdown of all the Millard district's schools, they had to gather information about what had happened and notify thousands of parents and others who are listed as students' emergency contacts.
The shooting occurred about 12:49 p.m., police said. The school district sent out its first message blast at 1:27 p.m., though it took several minutes for the calls and e-mails to be received. The district later sent out other notes, including one that told parents that the lockdown had been lifted at all schools except Millard South. Millard South parents later were notified that students could pick up their cars from the parking lot.
Between the shooting and the district's first note, Millard South students provided message blasts of their own, mostly in the form of text messages to their moms and dads.
School districts can't stop all students from texting, said Ken Trump, who runs the Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services firm. So their challenge, he said, is to narrow, as much as possible, the gap between the students' texts and the first official reports.
It made sense, Trump said, for Millard to lock down all the district's schools.
“The suspect fled in a car,” he said. “He could potentially have gone to another school.”
Tracie Erlenbusch said her daughter, Taylor, was in the Millard South cafeteria when the lockdown was ordered. She said she was pleased with the amount of information the district provided but was also glad that her daughter texted her.
Officials from Omaha-area school districts said that while Wednesday's tragedy heightens their awareness of school security, they continuously examine and update their crisis plans as needed.
It's important, Trump said, that people not call for quick fixes after a school shooting.
“It would be very easy to throw up a metal detector, put more cameras, more officers in a school,” he said. “Create the facade of security, if you will, for the parents.”
Technology is important, he said, but what's most effective is a comprehensive approach that includes a well-trained, highly alert staff; adults who know students well enough that they can recognize behavioral changes; and an atmosphere in which students feel comfortable reporting their concerns about other students.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com
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