School’s back in session, safety at top of mind

Most Twin Cities students will head to the first day of school Tuesday amid increased police patrols days after a shooter opened fire on Catholic schoolchildren during a Mass in south Minneapolis.

Across the region, parents, students and staff are being reminded of safeguards built into daily operations — plus the physical design of facilities themselves, which increasingly are built or retrofitted with armed intruders in mind.

These changes reflect the reality of life in the school shootings era, and the details were broken down anew for parents peppering principals and teachers with questions in the wake of Wednesday’s slayings of two children, ages 8 and 10, at Annunciation Church and School.

School district leaders expressed confidence in systems that long have been place at many schools. But even specialists acknowledge that they are not foolproof.

“In the safety and security world, you have to play the ‘what if’ game,” said Jameson Ritter, director of safety and security for Ascension Catholic Academy in Minneapolis. “We fight complacency. Nothing has bitten us yet. We must be doing something right. But I can’t do my job and rely on luck.”

Ascension provides leadership and support to four Catholic schools tailored to serve families in need. Ritter made the rounds last week to reinforce the academy’s security protocols and came upon staff members tied to families at Annunciation.

“There was a lot of emotion involved,” he said of the Q-and-A sessions during which he typically conveys a simpler message: “Let’s welcome the kiddos back.”

Ascension schools do not have school officers and are not considering them at this time. The broader debate over posting officers in schools is long-running and multifaceted. But the details of the Annunciation shootings — with the assailant firing at children attending Mass — is sure to drive discussions about privatizing more school events, Ritter said.

At EdAllies, an education group that advocates for underserved communities, executive director Josh Crosson issued a statement last week addressing widespread fears of kids being sent to schools that “now feel dangerous.”

“This is personal for our education community,” he wrote. “There is no learning when a child is practicing how to make themselves small beneath a [church] pew. There is no ‘back to school’ when a parent considers a bulletproof backpack.”

EdAllies is pushing for “common sense gun laws” and expanded mental health supports.

Parents from across the metro area — from Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan to St. Paul to Wayzata to Carver County — began receiving emails after last week’s shootings aiming to assure them that systems are in place to keep their children safe.

“We tell our staff: Everyone’s got to be vigilant,” Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent Cory McIntyre said last week. “We all got to be watching.”

Students go through lockdown drills as part of a “Standard Response Protocol” document shared last week by several districts and the Ascension schools. They are taught to move out of sight while the adults lock doors and turn out the lights.

Simon Osamoh, a security consultant who’s helped strengthen safety measures at the Mall of America and the Basilica of St. Mary, said Friday that organizations must secure their perimeters and document their emergency operation plans.

“Without that information, people can ask, ‘Well, what do I do?’” he said. “Then the casualties can get higher and things can escalate quickly.”

Many school districts say they’ve benefited from security and safety improvements funded by taxpayers.

Doors can be shut and locked with the push of a button, and movement restricted throughout the building, including vertically and by zones. Evacuation routes are improved, too, said Vaughn Dierks of Wold Architects and Engineers, which helped design the expansion.

Too often, he said, people think just about intruders.

“How about talking about more ways of getting people out safely?” Dierks said.

Districts emphasized having strong relationships with local police departments. Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest, partners with nine agencies.

Five years ago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, three districts — Minneapolis, St. Paul and Hopkins — cut ties with its school officers.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are among the few districts where sworn police have not returned.

After removing its officers, St. Paul Public Schools hired “school support liaisons” who carry pepper spray and handcuffs and are trained to de-escalate unruly behavior. The positions were intended to be more student-friendly when walking the halls.

Still, Superintendent Stacie Stanley told families that the district has a great relationship with the police department and that she had spoken with Chief Axel Henry, who said “they will be supporting our schools with additional neighborhood presence” this week.

On Friday evening, Stanley notified parents that uniformed officers will greet students outside some schools Tuesday morning.

Like the advocates at EdAllies, Ritter of Ascension said he’d like to see the state develop a strategy and provide the resources to help schools create behavioral management teams. Previously, Ascension had scored state grant funding to help with security technology.