Committee on Insurance Representative Jene Vickrey, Chair Testimony on HB 2789 - March 27, 2018 The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) wishes to testify as an opponent of HB 2789, a bill which creates the Kansas staff as first responders (SAFER) act, which would allow school districts to authorize teachers to carry concealed weapons in school, and expose districts to liability if they did not. The district has taken a number of affirmative steps in the past few years, in order to keep students and staff safe, and we believe that HB 2789 would interfere with those efforts, and ultimately make students and staff LESS safe. In response to concerns about school safety, KCKPS has established its own police department, moving from security officers to sworn (and armed) police officers. The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Police Department works with school district and building administrators, and in coordination with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, in order to ensure that all students and staff are safe. Using proceeds from a recently passed bond issue, the district is ensuring that every building has a secured entrance. A secure entrance can prevent unauthorized entry while presenting a more positive security image. When prevention fails, the entrance mitigates the intruder’s ability to enter the school. This creates a delay that provides staff time to call 911 and implement intruder response plans. Finally, KCKPS has adopted the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), which provides a uniform classroom response to any incident, in order to keep students and staff safe. The SRP is actionbased, and provides four specific actions that can be performed during an incident. It provides a clear and specific response to any given situation, and we believe that, with fidelity to implementation and regular training, provides our students and staff with the best opportunity to be safe in the event of an incident. The SRP provides four different responses to an emergency situation. These responses are initiated via the public address (PA) system, and are to be followed by ALL students and staff. • • • Lockout is followed by the Directive: "Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors" and is the protocol used to safeguard students and staff within the building, when the threat is known to be outside the building. Lockdown is followed by "Locks, Lights, Out of Sight" and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place, when the source of the threat is unknown, or the threat has penetrated the exterior of the building. Evacuate is always followed by a location, and is used to move students and staff from one location to a different location in or out of the building, depending on the location of the danger (similar to a fire drill or a gas leak.) • Shelter is always followed by a type and a method and is the protocol for group and self-protection, in the event of anything from a tornado to a chemical leak. All entrances to our buildings are kept locked, so in the event of a Lockout, staff are instructed to move all students and staff inside the building, and to proceed with a normal day. We have installed locks on all of our classroom doors, which can be locked from the inside. In the event of a Lockdown, each staff member and student has access to a locked room, where they are instructed to stay, with lights out and out of sight of the door, until someone with a key comes and lets them out. Each classroom and office location has emergency response kits, filled with supplies to use in case of an order to evacuate and/or shelter in place. Students and staff train on all four SRP responses on a monthly basis, and information about the SRP has been shared with local law enforcement and first responders. In the unfortunate event of an intruder in one of our buildings, our uniformed police officers, along with KCK police officers, would respond in an immediate and coordinated effort, and would be able to neutralize the intruder in an efficient manner. Having a staff person with a weapon in an intruder situation would compromise the effectiveness of the SRP, because that person would NOT be responding in a standard manner – “Lights, locks, out of sight!” Such a person would present a danger, to law enforcement officers, to themselves, and to other staff and students. The effectiveness of the SRP depends on everyone responding in a standard manner, so that our law enforcement personnel and other first responders know exactly what to expect when they respond to a situation. The lack of a “standard” response compromises the effectiveness of the SRP, and would probably force the district to move away from the SRP. Such a move would be hastened by language in the legislation that would force the district to allow armed staff, or face presumed liability if it did not. We believe that the proposed legislation would compromise the effectiveness of the SRP, and in fact make our students and staff less safe. Thank you for your consideration of this testimony. IN AN EMERGENCY WHEN YOU HEAR IT. DO IT. LOCKDOWN! LOCKS, LIGHTS, OUT OF SIGHT. STUDENTS Move away from sight Maintain silence Do not open the door TEACHER Lock interior doors Turn out the lights Move away from sight Do not open the door Maintain silence Take attendance LOCKOUT! SECURE THE PERIMETER. STUDENTS Return inside Business as usual TEACHER Bring everyone indoors Lock perimeter doors Increase situational awareness Business as usual Take attendance EVACUATE! TO ANNOUNCED LOCATION. STUDENTS Bring your phone Leave your stuff behind Follow instructions TEACHER Lead evacuation to location Take attendance Notify if missing, extra or injured students SHELTER! HAZARD AND SAFETY STRATEGY. STUDENTS Hazard Tornado Hazmat Earthquake Tsunami TEACHER Safety Strategy Lead safety strategy Evacuate to shelter area Take attendance Seal the room Drop, cover and hold Get to high ground K12 STANDARD RESPONSE PROTOCOL TM © Copyright 2009-2015, All Rights Reserved. The “I Love U Guys” Foundation. Bailey, CO. More info at http://iloveuguys.org. The Standard Response Protocol and Logo are Trademarks of The “I Love U Guys” Foundation and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.