Schools step up security concerns in advance of war

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Since the Columbine massacre, local school districts have had crisis plans in place that are hundreds of pages long. But now with war in Iraq imminent and talk of bioterrorism on American soil, security concerns have escalated.

Monday, the Grandview School Board plans to talk about adding chemical and biological threats to its crisis plan.

Some Kansas districts were drafting letters Friday to let parents know they have crisis plans in place.

In the Kansas City School District, the head of facilities e-mailed school officials about the formation of an emergency management task force.

"We are looking at a procedure applicable for terrorist attacks," said district spokesman Edwin Birch. "When you talk about chemical or biological attacks, the first thing you think about is gas masks. That kind of equipment is expensive. We haven't bought anything yet or implemented anything new yet."

School-based police officers from across the county took up the issue last summer at the annual conference of the National Association of School Resource Officers.

At that time, 95 percent of the 1,100 officers surveyed said their schools were vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Nearly 80 percent said schools in their districts weren't prepared to respond to a terrorist attack.

But many school officials said they were as prepared as they possibly could be, given the information available.

The Shawnee Mission School District thinks it is in "very good shape," associate superintendent Gene Johnson said.

"People are very definitely taking this extremely seriously," Johnson said. "We want to be prepared, and we feel like we are."

The district's telephone system can automatically send a message to the home of every student in middle and high schools, Johnson said.

In the event of a chemical or biological attack, he said, students would be moved to the safest spot in a building.

Some local police officials agree that their districts may be ahead of schools elsewhere.

"Our impression of the district here is that they are very well-prepared, as best they can be," said Capt. Ted Bowman of the Raytown Police Department.

"They are keenly aware. They seem pretty well in touch and know they can't be prepared for everything, and what they have to be prepared for is surprise."

Many school districts already have begun training their staffs to handle chemical, biological or radioactive contamination.

"Recently we have had a lot of parents call asking, 'Are you going to use plastic and duct tape to seal the building?' And they want me to say yes," said Molly Clemons, who is in charge of emergency preparedness for Independence schools.

"I say: We have provisions in the building and a plan to move students to a safe place."

In case of a biological or chemical attack, school officials generally would announce what some of them call "Code Red." That would set off a maneuver called "shelter in place," where schools doors would be locked, students confined to classrooms, a gym or cafeteria, and ventilation units shut down to reduce flow of outside air into the building.

Local school officials said they won't miss an opportunity to request a share of the federal money offered Friday for improving school security. Roughly 15,000 school districts can compete for it.

"Whether $30 million is enough is another question," said Vincent Ferrandino, executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals. "It's important that you have a plan, but you need to have the support behind it."