Pinellas schools focus on safety, mental health ahead of ‘mass casualty’ drill

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — On the heels of previous and more recent school shootings, school districts around the country are ramping up safety measures and mental help access.

“We’ve learned from the tragedies that have happened in other places, and we put measures in place to try and prevent it or to lease to minimize it,” said Luke Williams, the police chief for Pinellas County Schools.

On Tuesday, Williams briefed the superintendent, the school board and other staff members on the tools and policies they have set in place.

“We all have vestibules in each school where a person can’t just come in from the street and walk into a school,” Williams explained. “In the classroom, there are systems that we put in place to make sure that during the classroom instruction time, all of our classroom doors are locked and closed.”

Another safety tool the district is utilizing is an app called SaferWatch. The app tracks your location and if you think something is happening in the building you’re in, you press one button. Pressing it alerts 911 and the school district.

“The beauty of it is that you hit it and you don’t have to say anything. We know where you are. We can geolocate you, and we can go to where you are,” Williams said. “A shooter is not going to shoot at something they can’t see, and they shoot at things that they can hear.”

“So we teach our kids to be as silent as they can, and we teach them to be out of sight.”

The district isn’t just focused on security, there are also more funds being allocated to mental health resources.

“We are pushing services closer to kids in the school. We’ve taken the additional money we’ve received, and we’ve hired more psychologists and social workers to go into the school,” Donna Sicilian, the executive director of Student Services at Pinellas County Schools, explained.

Experts say an important part of staff training is knowing what to look out for.

“What worries us more are what we call the silent sufferers, kids who maybe are experiencing depression and anxiety and may not be acting out so they can go unnoticed,” Sicilian said. “So we want the adult’s and kid’s lives to notice when kids are getting quieter than they normally were, when they’re not engaged in social activities like they were.”

Also new this year, the district is streamlining its security measures, so if something were to happen — the response would be quick and efficient.

“Basically we took all the systems that we’ve had in place over several years and unifies them into one system,” Williams said.

Pinellas has been recognized nationally by Sandy Hook Promise as a model district for high-quality implementation of programming, including Start with Hello, which focuses on eliminating social isolation while creating an inclusive community.

On Wednesday, first responders will carry out a mass casualty drill in Pinellas County. The exercise will be done at High Point Elementary School on 150th Avenue North in Clearwater.

“This exercise is being conducted in order to evaluate and improve our overall preparedness for an emergency event,” the sheriff’s office wrote in an email. “Although this incident is not real, the response during the exercise will be practiced in a manner that is as realistic as possible.”

Deputies say the areas impacted by the exercise will be clearly marked and closed to the public.

Beginning at 7 a.m., drivers should expect road closures along 150th Avenue North between 58th Street and 62nd Street. Those will last into the afternoon. Exceptions will be allowed only for residents.

“We kindly ask for your patience and support during this important exercise,” the sheriff’s office said.