Yorkville Superintendent Addresses Florida School Shooting

YORKVILLE, IL — A day after yet another deadly school shooting, this time in Florida, Yorkville Community Unit School District 115 Superintendent Timothy Shimp sought to calm parents' fears in a letter sent home to families Thursday. The letter addressed the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

"As with any incident that affects students, I was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life that occurred yesterday at Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida," Shimp said. "While we share in the grief for the victims and their community, our thoughts also focus on our own precious children and their safety in our schools."

Shimp stressed that school safety is something the district emphasizes at all times, not just when tragedy strikes.

"As part of the state-required student safety drills, school district employees are involved in emergency training in the school buildings numerous times a year under the guidance of the police and fire departments and district administration," Shimp said, adding an emergency management committee made up of employees and local police, sheriff's officials, fire officials, emergency management, 911 dispatch and a national school safety consultant have spent the past two years reviewing Yorkville's existing safety and security procedures and preparing a fully-updated policy for implementation.

Shimp outlined advancements to the district's prevention strategies, including:

• Enhanced visitor management procedures were implemented, including video surveillance and visual recognition improvements (staff and visitor ID/lanyards)

• More than 100 hand-held radios and a digital radio communication system were purchased to allow staff to communicate across the district in an emergency
• On every building exterior door, the lock has been re-keyed and a keyless entry system now limits access to the buildings to specific employees

Emphasis has been placed on procedures to follow in the event that an intruder was able to access the school building.

"It is clear that students and staff benefit from options other than a traditional “lockdown” procedure. The committee’s recommended plan to adopt the nationally-recognized and endorsed protocol of “Run, Hide, Fight” was presented the Board of Education’s Operational Excellence Committee just this week in preparation of the Board of Education’s formal support later this month," Shimp said.

The letter asked for parents to partner with the district in efforts to keep children safe, adding, "It is extremely important that ALL visitors to our schools enter through the main building doors, check in with office personnel, and obtain a visitor badge and green lanyard before entering our buildings. Even those well-known parents who visit our schools on a daily basis are asked to help enforce this basic, but imperative, rule. Safety is everyone’s job and we sincerely appreciate your efforts as we continually work to protect your children—our students."