CT shootings prompt new focus on IN school security

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - In the wake of Friday’s school shooting in Connecticut, school districts across Central Indiana are reaching out to parents to reassure them that schools here are safe.  I-Team 8 found school security measures often vary widely from school to school.

Among the districts outlining their security measures Friday, Indianapolis Public Schools pointed to everything from sign in sheets to lockdown drills and its own school district police department. Carmel-Clay Schools sent a letter home with students about new doorbell entry systems now being installed and other "high tech" measures like its new “school security gate” system.

Carmel-Clay’s Director of Student Services Dr. Steve Dillon showcased the system to 24-Hour News 8 earlier this year.

“This is a system of deterrence,” he said in April. “You’ll actually have to be buzzed in and be identified, and [the system] actually lets us know if the person standing in front of us is on the sex offender database. ”

The system goes even further--from hall monitors and door alarms to internal camera systems.

The bottom line, Dillon said, is simple.

“We don’t want any adults roaming the hallways of our buildings that we don’t feel are safe and secure to be there,” he said.

 But, Carmel's system is rare.

What about schools that don't have it?

With that question in mind, I-Team 8 put school security to the test three years ago, visiting schools in districts across Central Indiana. Our investigation uncovered numerous security lapses, from unlocked doors and doors propped open, to students and staff that opened doors to let us in.

In the wake of that investigation, Indiana has refined a decade-old system aimed at keeping what our cameras found from happening again. It’s called the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy, and its director says it’s designed to make Hoosier schools the safest in the nation.

“We provide school safety training for every single school corporation in the state. We're the only state in the nation that provides that. We're the only school safety academy in the country. And, I can say that every school corporation in the state does have somebody certified,” said David Woodward, Director of the Academy.

Training at the academy recently expanded, as well.

“With 300 school corps, we have about 1200 school safety specialists. So, most school corporations are sending more than one person to our training every year,” Woodward said. “It goes from an active shooter to the tornado just this last year, so it's a really big umbrella we're falling under. The training we cover really hits basics of emergency preparedness. We urge schools to have an all hazards plan. And that means we have some type of plan for the majority of events that you're going to face.”

Friday’s mass school shooting hit close to home for many students and parents, and Woodward says that’s the mindset the Academy is focused on.

“The safest places in our state are those that have a well trained, highly alert staff and student body--the people that take it seriously every day and realize it can happen here any time,” Woodward said.

But, paying for that security has been tricky for some districts.

At least 3 major school security grants have dried up in recent years. This year, the Secure our Schools grant will disappear too. $14 million that some local districts had planned on to help enhance school safety equipment will be gone.

“The money's not there right now. But, we don't say that most safety comes from money. A metal detector doesn't mean that you're going to be safer in School A than School B,” Woodward said.

That's why the state is pushing its plan, and urging schools to drill on it with their local police and fire departments as often as they can.

“Every time there is a tragic event, it always gets people more alert. And, we always learn a little bit of where our weak points are. And, then we work to address those weak points to make ourselves hard targets,” Woodward said. “If local school corps are doing that and are practicing their plan and updating their plan every year, I think we're as prepared as we can be.”