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Volume 5, Issue 2
September 21, 2018

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Published by Walter J. O'Neill, Jr, 2018-09-20 14:39:30

WAVE School Security & Safety

Volume 5, Issue 2
September 21, 2018

A 14-year-old student in Florida wrote his cell-
phone number on a classroom chalkboard be-
cause he wanted a classmate he liked to call him.
The student indeed was contacted – not by the girl
but allegedly by his 32-year-old teacher. Within
days, police said, the two were involved in a sexual
relationship.

In Pennsylvania, a 33-year-old teacher ap-
proached a 17-year-old student at a school dance
and began flirting with him, police said. The mar-
ried teacher then sent the student sexual text mes-
sages and photos, along with a video of herself
performing lewd acts, according to news reports.
The relationship escalated, and the teacher
pleaded guilty last month to institutional sexual as-
sault.

Unfortunately, these kinds of stories are becoming
more common across the country. In 2014 alone,
there were 781 reported cases of teachers and
other school employees accused or convicted of
sexual relationships with students. Drive West
Communications, has been tracking news reports
of sexual misconduct by educators since 2013.
Every week has brought news of 15 young people,
on average, who were sexually victimized by the
educators entrusted with protecting them. That’s
an abhorrent rate and a trend that deserves far
more attention from school leaders and policy mak-
ers, according to Drive West.

In Texas, home to the largest number of teacher
sexual misconduct cases in the country, investiga-
tions into alleged inappropriate teacher-student re-
lationships has grown 27 percent over the past
three years, to 179.



Kentucky schools reported more book. taken strong action in this area.
than 45 sexual relationships be- In New Jersey, a
tween teachers and students in Authorities said a 54-year-old new law requires
2011, up from 25 just a year ear- Oregon teacher exchanged school districts to
lier. And a surge has been re- more than 1,800 text messages adopt policies on
ported in Alabama, where the with a 16-year-old student, many social media con-
state investigated 31 cases dur- of them sexually explicit, before tact between
ing the year ending July 2013, the teacher was convicted and teachers and stu-
nearly triple the number it had in- sentenced to prison in August. dents. The New
vestigated just four years earlier. Jersey School
A 31-year-old Florida teacher Boards Association’s model pol-
Experts believe the increase in was charged after police said icy bans teachers from friending
teacher-student sexual relation- she allegedly used Facebook to students on social media without
ships has increased because of solicit sex from at least four stu- written approval of their principal.
technology, social media and the dents. It also says electronic contact
number of teenagers who have with students should be done
cell phones today. Nearly 80 per- A Pennsylvania math teacher only through district computers
cent of children ages 12-to-17 offered a student extra credit if and telephones. More states and
own a cell phones and 94 per- she texted him nude pictures. He school districts need to take sim-
cent have some type of social was sentenced to prison for up to ilar action.
media platform; Facebook, Insta- 23 months.
gram, Snapchat which didn’t While social media can be an im-
exist 20 years ago. And a 33-year-old counselor in portant tool for learning, reason-
Texas allegedly started talking to able restrictions must be put in
Classroom sexual predators a 12th-grade student on Insta- place to protect children. If a
have been exploiting these new, gram and then had sex with the teacher or coach wants to send
unsupervised modes of commu- student, authorities reported. an electronic communication to a
nication to develop improper re- student, it should be copied to a
lationships with students out of National data from 2014, show parent. Private messages with
sight of parents, fellow teachers that male school employees children should never be al-
and administrators. In 2014, at were the perpetrators in two- lowed.
least 281 school employees in thirds of all reported sexual mis-
the United States were accused, conduct cases with students in
arrested or convicted of an inap- 2014, women were more likely to
propriate relationship with a stu- use social media to lure stu-
dent were reported to have used dents. In our tracking, 40 percent
social media to start or continue of the women in these cases
those relationship. used social media as a tool for
their crimes, compared to 35 per-
There’s no shortage cent of men.
of examples:
To curb these troubling incidents,
In Louisiana, a school vice prin- schools must have targeted poli-
cipal was charged after allegedly cies governing electronic com-
soliciting nude pictures from a munication. Some states and
15-year-old student on Face- school districts already have

Following are just a few Investigators said she confessed reports.
arrests of teachers in 2018 to having an illicit relationship
28-year old Kristin Pike was a with the child, which she report- Siboyeh, who the school district
high school teacher in Texas. edly said involved “one mistake said first worked as a substitute
She carried out a sexual relation- after another.” teacher in 2014 and later as a
ship with a 15-year old boy that paraprofessional, was booked
included have sex in her class- “She admitted that she loved [the into jail last week but has since
room. boy] with all of her heart,” court posted $10,000 bail. As a condi-
documents obtained by the tion of her bond, she is required
Pike who was also a coach at newspaper stated. to stay more than than 200 feet
Dickinson HS began having a away from any child care facility,
sexual relationship with the boy Siboyeh allegedly told officials school, or home where the stu-
in September 2016. The victim that she lost her virginity to the dent resides, court documents
told four of his friends about the teen during the summer of 2017, state.
relationship, one of those friends adding that different sexual en-
told authorities. counters took place at his home, If convicted of both charges, Si-
as well as in a park and at a boyeh faces up to 17 years in
Teacher LOSES VIRGINITY to hotel. prison. Her attorney alleged the
student, 15, says she loves boy’s family didn’t want charges
him ‘with all of her heart’: Court documents reveal officials filed against the suspect, accord-
learned of the relationship ing to KIAH.
through the middle school’s as-
sistant principal, Kathryn Robin- Siboyeh’s next court date is
son, in April 2018. Police said an scheduled for November 11.
anonymous tipster told Robinson
about the inappropriate relation-
ship between the suspected pe-
dophile and teenage boy.

September 11, 2018 Authorities said the informant Math teacher has sex with teen
spoke of witnessing Siboyeh student on park bench after he
A former middle school em- lying in bed with the boy at his leaves Snapchat handle on
ployee was arrested Wednesday home, adding that “weird noises” test
for allegedly having sex with— could be heard coming from a
and losing her virginity to—a 15- room at the house. Other wit- August 2018
year-old male student who police nesses also came forward to
said she claimed to “love with all confirm the alleged “boyfriend A former Texas high school
of her heart.” and girlfriend” type of relation- teacher who had an illicit, sexual
ship, according to charging doc- relationship with a 16-year-old
Hannah Siboyeh, 24, a former uments. student was sentenced Thursday
paraprofessional at Labay Middle to 120 days behind bars.
School in Houston, is charged Further, investigators said they
with “sexual assault of a child uncovered illicit photos of the
and improper relationship be- woman and victim from Si-
tween educator and student,” the boyeh’s phone, along with a
Houston Chronicle reports. video of them having sex, KPRC



According to The Dallas Morning nude photos and that Ferguson Bronx neighborhood of Kings-
News, ex-Plano Senior High provided the teen with alcohol. bridge. She is also the wife of an
School algebra teacher Alaina officer in the Rockland County
Ferguson, 25, pleaded guilty to Ferguson reportedly quit her Sheriff’s Office.
improper relationship between a teaching job two months after
teacher and a student and inde- she was hired in August 2016. Court reports show she admitted
cency with a child by exposure to having oral sex with the teen
charges for a two-month relation- The Dallas Morning News re- in a variety of locations, leading
ship she had with the teen boy in ports that the former teacher will to a Class D felony conviction.
2016. serve her four-month jail sen-
tence by spending two weeks a Though she will have to register
Court documents obtained by the year behind bars over the course as a sex offender, Justice
newspaper stated that the rela- of several years. She was also Michael Orbus sentenced her to
tionship began in the fall of 2016, ordered to serve 150 hours of a 10-year probated sentence.
after the teen left his Snapchat community service and is re- Myers’ defense attorney re-
name on a test. The pair ulti- quired to register as a sex of- quested that the judge not force
mately met up and had sex on a fender for 10 years. her to relinquish her teaching li-
park bench in Lewisville, at Fer- cense, even though she has
guson’s then-fiancé’s apartment Teacher avoids jail, could been fired from her most recent
in McKinney, and in the back of keep teaching license, after position.
his truck. WFAA reported that pleading GUILTY to oral sex
they also had sex at Ferguson Andrew Stoll said his client
apartment on several occasions. with 14-year-old student “won’t be working” for the local
school district, but could poten-
“Ms. Ferguson told [the student] August 2018 tially re-enter the field of educa-
that she knew it was not the right tion.
thing to do, but it felt right at the
time, and that she was going to “There is a possibility that she
break it off with her fiancé be- could teach adults now or in the
cause she didn’t feel anything future and we want to preserve
with him,” court documents said. that possibility,” the lawyer said.

McKinney police’s investigation A New York public school teacher Calling Myers a “talented
also uncovered that Ferguson will avoid jail and won’t have to teacher,” Stoll said he did not see
and the teen sent each other immediately relinquish her teach- “any reason to destroy her ability
nude photos and that Ferguson ing license despite pleading to make a living and to contribute
provided the teen with alcohol. guilty to performing sex acts on a to society in a positive way.”
14-year-old male student.
Ferguson reportedly quit her Instead of including a decision on
teaching job two months after According to the New York Post, the issue in his ruling, Orbus said
she was hired in August 2016. 29-year-old Dori Myers was a that it “would be a matter that any
teacher at the New School for licensing agency will be able to
McKinney police’s investigation Leadership and the Arts in the consider, if they choose to do
also uncovered that Ferguson that, and of course any em-
and the teen sent each other ployer.”

Middle school teacher tells women and mothers who went On July 11, Moser voluntarily
students to call her Kim Kar- through a tough upbringing,” spoke with investigators with the
dashian, arrested for sex with Brand said. “She has been an in- Moorhead Police Department
strumental person in people’s after officials picked her up at her
teen student: lives in a positive way.” home. Though a police report re-
veals she was hesitant to answer
July 2018 Police reports beg to differ. Au- questions, worried about the im-
thorities said they received an pact it would have on her hus-
A former North Dakota middle- anonymous tip regarding Moser band and four children, she did
school teacher who allegedly al- having sex with a 16-year-old deny the allegations—but also
lowed her students to refer to her male student in Rendezvous said, “we always preach, ‘tell the
as “Kim Kardashian” stands ac- Park, located in West Fargo. truth,’ and I have not been.”
cused of sharing hundreds of When detectives interviewed the
sexually explicit videos and pho- boy on July 3, he initially denied She eventually requested an at-
tos via Snapchat with two male any inappropriate relationship torney involving the matter.
students, and having sex with with the married woman.
one of the boys in early June at Moser’s cellphone was subse-
a local park. Upon further questioning, police quently seized by authorities,
said the teen admitted to getting who said they later discovered
Shannon Moser, 37, who taught into her van and having sex on a an internet history that revealed
science at Liberty Middle School gravel road at the park with URLs of porn sites featuring
in North Fargo, was arrested Moser in early June. He also re- older women engaging in sex
Monday, and is facing two felony portedly told his mother that he with younger boys.
charges of using a minor in a did indeed have sexual contact
sexual performance and one with the suspect. Moser allegedly The suspect appeared in court
felony charge of sexual assault told the student afterwards that Tuesday morning, and her bail
involving the incidents, according “no one can know,” a police re- has been set at $30,000. A judge
to Cass County court records. port states. The boy said Moser ordered that Moser have no con-
sent more photos and asked him tact with the two boys or any so-
Moser, of Moorhead, was em- at least once to have sex again cial media activity.
ployed with the school from 2016 after the encounter, but he turned
until her resignation on July 12, her down.
WDAZ reports. An attorney for
the suspect, Scott Brad, told the Additionally, a 15-year-old victim
station that she doesn’t have a told police Moser sent him a
criminal record and was a volun- video of herself and her husband
teer in the community. engaging in sex acts, adding that
the alleged pedophile had been
“She’s mentored younger sharing photos that were sexual
in nature with him via Snapchat
for about a year, according to re-
ports. Police indicated they don’t
believe the ex-teacher and sec-
ond teen ever had physical con-
tact.

Former special education student she allegedly had a sex- Mom walks in on 9th-grader
teacher has sex with stu- ual relationship with between De- son in bed with married
dents, caught with one victim cember 2016 and April 2017. school counselor
in her car during traffic stop
She allegedly engaged in a sec- June 2018
July 2018 ond sexual relationship with an-
Authorities in Connecticut say a other student investigators say A married school counselor in
former teacher in the special ed- she met on more than once at an Texas who allegedly had sex with
ucation program of a Bridgeport area restaurant. a ninth-grade student nearly a
high school engaged in a sexual dozen times was arrested after
relationship with an teen student. Since her initial arrest, Ramos the boy’s mother reportedly
has lost custody of her 2-year-old caught the pair naked in bed to-
According to the New York Post, son following a divorce. She is gether.
32-year-old Laura Calladio now awaiting trial on two counts
Ramos was arrested last month of second-degree sexual assault Shannon Hathaway, 33, a former
following a routine traffic stop. and is suspected to have as- school counselor at Harwood
saulted other students. Junior High School, turned her-
An officer reportedly spotted her self in Thursday on charges of
talking on her cellphone while She was already free on $50,000 improper relationship between
driving through Waterford on bond and her attorney said he an educator and a student. The
June 22 and initiated the stop. will address a motion to revoke Fort Worth Star-Telegram re-
During the encounter, police say her bond at an upcoming court ported that the student ended the
they determined a passenger in hearing. relationship after his mother
the car was an alleged victim walked in on them.
from an ongoing sexual assault “Laura Ramos has faithfully at-
complaint against her. tended every court appearance The victim’s sister reportedly in-
and will continue to do so,” said formed school officials in May of
The Milford woman has report- Edward Gavin. the counselor’s inappropriate re-
edly resigned from her position at lationship with a former 17-year-
Central High School and was Prosecutors in the case did not old male student. She claimed
subsequently charged with vio- immediately respond to requests that, during the 2016-2017
lating a restraining order against from reporters for a comment school year, Hathway would
her on behalf of two students in connected to the most recent al- spend a lot of time with her
the case. legations. brother. While all she witnessed
was the pair holding hands, the
One of those individuals was an sister said her brother told her
18-year-old special education they had sex at Hathway and his
mother’s home, according to the
Star-Telegram.

An affidavit obtained by the
newspaper alleged that Hathway
confided in the sister that she
was in love with the teen boy and
would leave her husband for him.

The victim, who is now 18 and According to the Fort Worth Star taught and was enrolled in
has dropped out of school, re- Telegram, 28-year-old Katherine Harper’s seventh-grade English
portedly police that he ended his Ruth Harper will be required to class at the time, according to re-
relationship with Hathaway register as a sex offender for the ports.
shortly after his mom caught him rest of her life.
in bed. He began attending high After their relationship began
school around the same time. with the exchange of text mes-
sages, they were soon trading
WTVT reported that Hathaway nude images and eventually met
resigned from the H-E-B Inde- off campus. At that point, the stu-
pendent School District before dent said Harper provided him
surrendering to police. She had with alcohol and the two re-
been with the school district moved their clothes before he
since 2012. performed a sexual act on her.

School officials said in a state- She was arrested following an in- “One thing led to another and
ment issued to the news station, vestigation that began in Decem- she told me to ‘put it in,’ and I
“The safety and security of our ber 2016 when officials at Tidwell did,” the student said, according
students is H-E-B ISD’s number Middle School received an online to a police warrant.
one priority, and isolated inci- tip detailing the alleged abuse.
dents such as this one violate the Throughout June and July of the
trust between student, parent The school reportedly received a same year, investigators say
and school personnel, and will similar complaint several months Harper and the student had sex
not be tolerated.” earlier but an internal probe soon on multiple occasions at both her
ended due to an apparent lack of home and his.
Bedford Police Department Lt. evidence.
Mike Hager said they don’t be- Harper was arrested in March
lieve Hathaway victimized any New details emerged in the form 2017, according to KDFW. She
other students. Reports indicated of the second tip and a subse- was eight months pregnant at
that the ex-counselor was re- quent police investigation. that time.
leased Thursday night after post-
ing $5,000 bond. Denton County First Assistant Murdered teacher was dating
Criminal District Attorney Jamie older brother of former high
Pregnant middle school Beck said that the teacher was school student at center of
teacher sleeps with pregnant during the summer of scandal
2016 when she began a sexual
15-year-old student, sends relationship with her student, a
nude photos 15-year-old boy.

June 2018 The victim was a student at the
Roanoke school where she
A middle school teacher in Texas
is facing six year behind bars in
addition to a 10-year probated
sentence after she pleaded guilty
to engaging in sexual conduct
with one of her students.

Police in Pennsylvania are ques- she was being followed. taining a sexual relationship
tioning a second person in con- with a minor.
nection to the shooting death of As CrimeOnline previously re-
a suspended teacher who was ported, Jeter’s lawyer said According to KOLO, 33-year-old
suspected of having a relation- Rachael told his client that she Maren Oates was placed on ad-
ship with a then-17-year old boy. was working as an informant in ministrative leave from the Acad-
an investigation into the emy of Arts, Careers and
Rachael DelTondo, 33, was Aliquippa Police Department, Technology following her arrest
gunned down in her driveway of and was set to testify before a on Thursday.
her mother’s home in Aliquippa grand jury not long after her mur-
on the night of May 13, after der. She reportedly taught graphic
going out for ice cream with two design at the Reno school de-
friends. Witnesses reported Though DelTondo was not scribed on its website as “an ad-
hearing up to a dozen gunshots. charged after police found her in vanced career technical
a car with Jeter in 2016, the inci- education academy” that “pro-
Last week, Aliquippa issued a dent made the news after some- vides the opportunity for students
search warrant for the phone one, later determined to have to determine what career or col-
records of Sheldon Jeter Jr, the been inside the police depart- lege pathway they want to pur-
former football star who was ment, leaked the story to a local sue in post-secondary
found in a parked car with Del- newspaper Beaver Countian. education.”
Tondo in February 2016, when
he was 17 years old. County District Attorney David The suspect was booked into
Lozier reportedly said that the Washoe County Jail the same
Action News 4 reports that au- leak was a result of a “personal day and is expected to face crim-
thorities also executed a search vendetta.” inal charges including one count
warrant at the home of Jeter’s of a school employee engaged in
grandfather. They were report- According to CBS News, Del- sex with a pupil.
edly searching for evidence re- Tondo was suspended from her
lated to the shooting, including a teaching position at PA Cyber The school district issued a
gun and blood-stained clothing. Charter School in November statement acknowledging the on-
According to a warrant obtained 2017, shortly after the police re- going investigation.
by the news station, police did to port was leaked to the media and
find these items in the home, and the school. The previous month,
left with a Playstation gaming Rachael and her fiancé Frank
console, car keys, and note- Catroppa called off their wed-
books. ding.

The warrant also revealed that Lozier told CBS News that he
police have interviewed Jeter’s was unaware of a possible con-
older half-brother Rashawn nection between DelTondo’s
Bolton last week. Bolton was with murder and any investigation of
Rachael the night of her murder, the police department.
and reportedly told police he and
Rachael had been in a romantic Authorities in Nevada arrested
relationship since December of a Washoe County high school
last year, and said she was afraid teacher on suspicion of main-

“Washoe County School Police tors along with professional emergency management mis-
are investigating allegations that school security and safety ex- sion areas: Prevention, Protec-
a District employee engaged in perts conduct assessments to tion, Mitigation, Response, and
an inappropriate relationship with properly prepare and mitigate Recovery.
a student,” the district stated. these hazards on a continuous
“The employee in question has basis. FEMA: definition
been placed on administrative PREVENTION: Vision; prevent,
leave.” According to the United States avoid or stop an imminent,
Department of Education, there threatened or actual catastrophic
Insisting that the “safety and se- are approximately 131,890 K-12 incident.
curity of our students and staff is schools (public and private) op-
our number one priority,” the erating in the United States. Core capabilities: Information
statement went on to advice that They also say that there is about sharing, forensics, interdiction,
the school district “cannot dis- 55.9 million students enrolled in and disruption, screening,
cuss personnel issues.” American schools during 2016 search, detection.
(last year this data was available)
The Daily Mail reports that she with enrollment rates expected to Readiness and Emergency Man-
was being held on $20,000 bail increase over the next 10 years. agement for Schools (REMS):
as of Saturday morning. Here in Long Branch we have definition: The action schools
seen some of our biggest gains and school districts take to pre-
Additional details regarding the over the past four years. vent a threatened or actual inci-
nature of the charges or allega- dent from occurring.
tions against the teacher were Federal Bureau of Investigation
not immediately available. (FBI) has data that shows there FEMA: definition
PROTECTION: Vision; Protect
citizens, residents, visitors, and
assets against threats and haz-
ards.

Core capabilities: Protective
measures, access control, risk
management.

Educational institutions face a were 37 shootings at K-12 (REMS): definition:
wide range of dangers that in- schools accounting for approxi- The ongoing actions schools and
clude Mother Nature with hurri- mately 15% of the active shooter school districts take to eliminate
canes, tornadoes, blizzards, as incidents in the United States or reduce the loss of life, injuries,
well as student bullying, drugs, from 2000-to-2017. and property damaged from an
gangs, family custody issues, emergency event.
just to name a few. Administra- FEMA and the DOE have five (5)
FEMA: definition
MITIGATION: Vision; Reduce
the loss of life and property by
lessening the impact of future
disasters.

Core capabilities: Community re- Every school will have its own set ative to the threat should drive
silience, vulnerability reduction, of priorities, resources, and change to reflect the level of con-
threat and hazard identification, unique building characteristics fidence of the people or groups
risk, resilience assessment. that will determine which if any, associated with the facility.
of these options for consideration
(REMS): definition: Eliminating may be applicable to mitigate Not having a plan or process for
or reducing the loss of life, in- risk. Each school will also have adapting to changing threats can
juries, and property damage from to balance the choice to imple- magnify the perception of insecu-
an emergency event at a school. ment or upgrade security meas- rity.
ures against possible disruption
FEMA: definition to the learning environment. The picture below has four key
RESPONSE: Vision; Respond
quickly to save lives, protect
property and the environment,
and meet basic human needs.

Core capabilities:Community re-
silience, vulnerability reduction,
hazard identification, risk, re-
silience assessment.

(REMS): definition: Putting the For schools, Prevention and Pro- points. Connect; reach out and
schools and school district’s tection represent just two compo- develop relationships in your
plans into place to effectively re- nents of the preparedness community, including local law
spond to an emergency event, spectrum. Effective preventative enforcement. Here at the LBPS,
and provide for the immediate and protective actions decrease we have done that with the Class
needs of students and staff. the possibility that schools will 3 Special Officers and all daily
encounter incidents of gun vio- patrol officers stop in unan-
FEMA: definition lence or should an incident nounced to visit our schools.
RECOVERY: Vision; Recover occur, it reduces the impact of
through restoration, strengthen- that incident. Plan. Take the time now to plan
ing and revitalization of infra- Although the main focus of on how you will handle a security
structure, economy, and fabric of school security has been the event should one occur. Learn
communities. threat of gun violence, the level from other events to inform your
of security established by a facil- plans. Or more simply, get organ-
Core capabilities: economic re- ity will be based upon the haz- ized to the task the team is trying
covery, housing, health and so- ards relevant to the facility and to accomplish and chart a path to
cial services. the people or groups associated accomplishing that goal.
with it. As new or different threats
(REMS): definition: become known, the perception of Train. Provide all your employ-
Teaming with community part- the relative security changes. ees with resources, exercises.
ners to restore educational pro- The perception of insecurity rel- Train often and effectively.
gramming; the physical
environment; business opera-
tions, and social, emotional, and
behavioral health.

One of the best examples of overlooked. In fact, preventing vi- Long Branch were trained in con-
training and resources here in olence by detecting and address- ducting threat assessments at
the LBPS District is the use of ing these red flags is more their buildings.
CrisisGo. Every employee is now effective than any physical secu-
empowered with the authority rity measure. One of the most important things
and ability to share emergency to keep in mind is that honest an-
information with the entire LBPS Threat Assessment Teams swers will result in accurate and
community. Lifesaving informa- actionable options for considera-
tion at their fingertips. In addition to policies, physical tion. All the LBPS Safe School
protection and positive school cli- Officers were provide with survey
Report. “If You See Something, mates, school districts and ad- papers. While it may be tempting
Say Something” is more than just ministrators should establish to take a “benefit of the doubt”
a slogan. Call the Long Branch dedicated teams to evaluate approach to answering the ques-
POlice Department 732-222- threats. Most often, this comes in tions on the survey, this could re-
1000 if you see anything suspi- the form of a Threat Assessment sult in a literal “fake” sense of
cious or dangerous. Team (TAT). security.

Physical protection measures TATs have the responsibility to in- School Security is Evolving
only go so far when it comes to vestigate and analyze communi-
preventing an active shooter in- cations and behaviors to make a Gun violence in schools dates
cident. Social issues such as determination on whether or not back to the 1700s and its charac-
mental health, bullying, and crim- an individual poses a threat to teristics continue to evolve, thus
inal profiling play a critical role in him/herself or others. it is critical that school adminis-
the prevention of gun violence in trators, government officials, first
schools. Here in Long Branch we have responders, and others continue
also gone one step further and to refine and improve their efforts
Potential warning signs are not monitor social media platforms. to mitigate this threat.
always the result of a direct The system looks for 35,000 key
threat – more often, there is ob- words that may indicate bullying Threats to schools are persistent
servable conduct “Leakage” or concerning statements. and so, too, must our efforts be
which sends up red flag, so to to maintain the safety and secu-
speak. The importance of detect- Educators are well aware of the rity of school students, faculty,
ing and addressing concerning value and purpose of an assess- staff, and visitors. By their very
behavior, thoughts, or state- ment to evaluate student’s nature schools have been ex-
ments cannot be overstated or strengths or mastery of a subject. ploited as soft targets.
School security professionals
also rely on assessments. During
the early part of September all
the Safe School Officers here in




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