LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Public Schools District Safety Team (DST) presented an update on the School Safety Project, an all encompassing initiative that uses the town’s resource systems to build connections to make a secure learning environment.
An array of safety officials gathered to discuss the important work the DST does around the year to ensure students feel protected at all times. This included Fire Chief Glenn Davis, Police Chief Nick Secatore, School Resource Officer Alex Doto, and more.
One aspect of this project is implementing drills, a point that Lynnfield Middle School principal Steven Ralston spoke to as a member of the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council School Threat Assessment Response System. The Council is a team that supports regional schools who are in some sort of a crisis.
Ralston said each LPS school has 10 drills every year, with a breakdown of four building evacuation drills, two evacuation/lockdown drills, two medical/behavioral health emergency response plan drills, and two bus evacuation drills.
Some of the evaluations will also have twists to them, such as pulling a student or blocking an exit, therefore improving the preparedness of the school if such obstacles arise in a real emergency.
“It’s a nice continual test that we work in concert with the fire department on those drills,” Ralston said.
LPS has also integrated the Standard Response Protocol that is part of I Love U Guys, an organization founded by the father of a school shooting victim.
The SRP establishes clear instructions and language that is used for an emergency and is understood by all faculty, staff, and students along with first responders.
“Prior to the beginning of the school year, school administrators have had I Love U Guys training,” Ralston said. “We brought in a trainer from the organization to work with all of our teachers … this was across the board.”
All LPS classrooms will have an informational poster displaying the common language used between everyone for any emergency situation. This way, confusion regarding what needs to happen in a certain situation is eliminated.
Additionally, having close relationships with the town’s institutions is a point that was stressed by the team as being crucial to achieving the most amount of security for schools.
“The relationship that we have built between the school administration, the police department, the fire department, have been invaluable,” Lead Nurse Toni Rebolo said. “We have very strong relationships between all of us, which allows us to respond almost seamlessly when we have emergencies.”
The DST’s next steps will be to hold assemblies at all the schools in 2025 to explain the I Love U Guys approach to teach students the language. All future drills will be implemented with the directions outlined by the program.
Assistant Superintendent Adam Federio spoke about what families can do to ensure their child’s safety, including making sure contact information is up to date, knowing where to go with photo ID for reunification in case of an emergency, and keeping a line of communication with law enforcement.
“If you ever have a concern about something with safety, the police department is open 24/7 a day … that sharing of information is important,” Federico said. “It’s always better to make a call, share information, and we’ll work together as a partnership.”
