MALVERN, Iowa (KMTV) —
- Following a fatal school shooting in Perry, Iowa on Thursday, we wanted to find out how rural schools districts and law enforcement prepare for similar events. Sheriff Josh England, administrators at East Mills Community School District and the school resource officer, Dep. Justin Farnam, sat down with KMTV to explain how they works with students and staff to plan for the possibility of a school shooting.
- Mills County Sheriff Josh England: "If we can prepare the teachers to help prepare the students. Unfortunately, it is a day and age where it's not if it's going to happen. It's when it's going to happen…"
- East Mills Principal Dale Scott: "I think anytime someone feels that they're trained, prepared for a scenario, they're going to execute that scenario much better and more efficiently."
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Many school districts in rural Iowa are in towns that are simply too small to have their own police force. And that means security is up to the sheriff's office. I'm your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel and I'm in Malvern at East Mills Junior-Senior High where I spoke to school administrators and a school resource officer about what they're doing to keep students safe — especially in light of the shooting at Perry, Iowa.
I met with Superintendent Tim Hood, Principal Dale Scott and Deputy Justin Farnam, the East Mills Schools Resource Officer. Active shooting drills, says Scott, are the number one way to give staff and students confidence.
SCOTT: "I think anytime someone feels that they're trained, prepared for a scenario, they're going to execute that scenario much better and more efficiently."
Age-appropriate training matters, too.
FARNAM: "Obviously the high school kids, we discuss more things. They're bigger. They're stronger. They can get out of a situation quicker, but the younger kids, I try to talk to them, 'yes, there are bad things that can happen in this world' but always listen to their teachers."
Until the elementary school moves to the same campus as the junior-senior high school next school year — there are ten miles between school buildings and one resource officer. In many rural districts — response time and small law enforcement staff are challenges.
Mills County Sheriff Josh England: "Well, you probably only have one, maybe two guys out at a time. So, you gotta depend on other agencies. Well, now, you're talking a 15-20 minute response time before somebody else gets there on top of it."
Another tool — one that was in place in Perry — is a security camera system that law enforcement can access. To see if it's a hoax — called swatting — or a real threat.
England: "Unfortunately, in this day and age, you get a lot of the swatting calls. So you never really know and you've got to pretend like every call is a real call until you get there and find out."
Hood is also the superintendent for Sidney schools. A student there was arrested in December after allegedly making social media threats against students and staff.
Hood: "The nice thing was our SRO was readily available to kind of lead that for us."
The social media threats were first reported to the resource officer. England emphasizes…'if you see something, say something."
England: "If we can prepare the teachers to help prepare the students. Unfortunately, it is a day and age where it's not if it's going to happen. It's when it's going to happen…"
In Malvern at East Mills Jr-Sr. High. I'm your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel.
