Lincoln High student leaders talk about safety with Leon County Schools administrators
Student government leaders at Lincoln High School told Superintendent Rocky Hanna they felt safe – for now – about the district's safety measures.
How long that would last, they couldn't say.
The transparent conversation, which happened last week, marked the second stop for Hanna's weeklong tour to the district's high schools to discuss safety a week after noncredible school threats circulated online, causing panic and creating a frenzy among students and parents.
There were 13 teens seated in the desks of a classroom, each ranging in grade level.
The Tallahassee Democrat was allowed to sit in on one of the chats, which otherwise are not open to the public.
In the first order of business, Hanna got straight to the point: "When you're here, do you feel safe, or do you not feel safe?"
No student answered, as each seemed intimidated by the question.
"Even if you have something critical to say, I want to hear it, I have thick skin," Hanna said to encourage a candid conversation.
"I think what we have in place is solid, definitely better than before," one male senior said. The other students chimed in with the same sentiment, that they feel safe at school.
No phone zone? Students say no way
"Should we go a step further and put more restrictions on these things?" Hanna asked, waving his iPhone in the air.
The current policy at the school is that students cannot have them out during instructional class time but are allowed to use them between classes and during lunch.
The students became more vocal after Hanna said the district has been discussing the possibility of turning high schools into 'no-phone zones' all day, the way elementary and middle schools operate.
"I think the rules in place are good. Having them put away the whole day, like at lunch or in between classes, isn't necessary because you're not learning the whole day, so I think it's OK," a student said.
Hanna wasn't so sure.
"When I was at Leon the other day, I walked into the SGA room (student government) and as kids were coming in, they were watching an incident that happened at your school seven minutes after it happened, and it became disruptive at their school," Hanna told the teens.
"We need to remember why we're here. The more time goes on, this seems to be getting worse and worse."
On Wednesday at Lincoln High, a fight between a staff member and a student broke out in the school's cafeteria. Video on social media showed various students recording the brawl on their phones.
"The rule is good for instructional time, but since high schoolers are so used to having that freedom, it's going to be hard to enforce it, so I feel like students aren't going to follow it. And it will just open up the opportunity for more disciplining," another student chimed in.
'Report, don't repost'
The district recently launched a "report, don't repost" campaign to ask students to stop spreading fear online, and to instead report concerns to an administrator or anonymously through the FortifyFL app.
"Does anyone know the greatest tool we have to prevent something bad from happening?" Hanna asked. "It's you guys. Because inevitably when something happens, someone knew."
Hanna then asked the students for help with spreading the campaign's message.
"Every time there's a school shooting somewhere in the country, the aftermath is these threats that kind of circulate and follow," Hanna said. "Our message to you moving forward is to report, not repost. That just swirls everybody into a frenzy."
Over 500 reports were sent in to FortifyFL from parents, students and concerned citizens to the district two weeks ago.
"I think the marketing could be better on social media, because I know I haven't really heard of this, and I know my parents don't know anything about it either," a student said of the district's need to better promote such safety options.
FortifyFL is different from the district managed anonymous alert system, LCS Chief of Safety and Security Jimmy Williams said. FortifyFL was created by the state for reporting threats to schools, but the district's system – District Security Center – is for issues that likely can be resolved at the school level.
The possibility of required clear backpacks
Students also were asked about clear backpacks and other bags. One girl said they are "hard to find and you can't find them with a lot of pockets.
"I also feel like a lot of people aren't going to immediately default to that. So, there could be a lot of discipline," another student said.
The students also said lunch bags rarely come in a clear option, and they may not want some personal items to be on display in a clear bag.
Hanna didn't entirely dismiss the idea of implementing a clear bag policy across the district. Experts say there are pros and cons: They may have a deterrent effect and security checks can be performed more efficiently, but students could still conceal some items, in pockets and under shirts, for example.
"That's another option we are exploring, we talked about doing it this year and we just weren't quite there, but we may end up there for next year," Hanna said.
What about metal detectors?
Metal detectors in the past have been a challenge for staff to use: They can cause delays in arriving students not reporting to class on time.
"I can't wrap my head around what that looks like logistically at a big high school, but we have a team learning about that right now," Hanna said in replying to a student's question.
Members of the district's safety and security team were in Palm Beach County Schools Friday learning more about universal, permanent metal detectors in schools.
So far this school year, there have been six students arrested and charged for bringing a weapon onto campus.
- Four days after school started, a 15-year-old student was arrested for having pepper spray and a stun gun on campus.
- Two weeks after that, a loaded handgun was found in the parked car of a 16-year-old student.
- The next day, a 17-year-old at Rickards High School was arrested for having a steak knife in her bookbag.
- Then, two Rickards High School students arrived at Leon High in a rideshare and were stopped and questioned by a school employee at the guard shack, who then alerted the school's resource officer. The students were searched and arrested after one was found with a stun gun.
- That same week, a 13-year-old at Griffin Middle School was arrested after a loaded handgun was discovered in his bookbag.
Words of wisdom: 'Don't joke'
"A lot of times kids do joke around about stuff, and I can see a lot of times someone is in fear of getting people in trouble for a joke being taken seriously," one student said.
Hanna said the solution is simple, "don't joke."
"Things are different now," Hanna said. "Words matter and we'll measure what they said or wrote or posted. Our goal is not to arrest students or to expel them, but this is not a joking matter, this is scary. If I don't have a reason to be alarmed don't scare me just as a joke."
Lincoln Principal Allen Burch chimed in to let the students know that in all seriousness, they should be more careful with what is posted online and said out loud.
How to make an anonymous tip
- To make a tip online in Leon County, visit https://tips.anonymousalerts.com/leoncountyschools/, to fill out a form.
- To make a tip by phone call the district's 24-hour security office, which is a monitored and recorded line at (850) 922-5437.
- Email tips to 922kids@leonschools.net. Tips also can be sent to the district's anonymous alerts app.