OLATHE, Kan. — Students and staff at Olathe Public Schools will be returning to the classrooms on Thursday.
With school safety being top of mind, especially after the Olathe East shooting in March, district officials have ramped up security and implemented new tools for the school year.
“I know it’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s worth it for those kids. I hear it like it’s normal now, and it’s not normal,” TG Ambachew, a former Olathe Public Schools teacher, said.
Ambachew used to be an English as a Second Language teacher and put her own kids through the system.
While they have all graduated from the school district, she is concerned about her cousin and nephews.
“I know we’re not safe even at home, but school shooting makes me worried. Maybe home schooling is better,” Ambachew said.
Ambachew was recently involved in an active shooter situation at a Dallas airport. She cannot imagine putting children and teachers through the horror she felt.
The news of the Olathe East shooting was very upsetting for her and her daughter, Hasset Habte.
“I've been pretty worried about being in a shooting incident for about half my school career,” Habte said. “I’ve had enough, how much longer are people just going to let this happen — it’s a cycle at this point.”
Ahead of the school year, Olathe Public Schools implemented two new safety features: a crisis alert system and five new “School Safety Specialists” who will each work at the five high schools.
“I feel really good about it,” said Executive Director of Safety Services, Brent Kiger.
Kiger says the crisis alert system is a badge that every district employee will wear around their neck.
They can simply press the button three times and help will come. At the high schools, the entire administrative team, safety specialist, school resource officers and nurse will be alerted.
“If there’s a critical threat on campus, this button gives every employee the ability to notify everyone that we need to be going into a lock down,” Kiger said. “They don’t have to worry about finding a radio, they don’t have to worry about finding a phone or who to call, they can simply press a button and it goes to the right people.”
The district invested $2.2 million over five years on the badges to make sure reporting is easier and communication is faster in dire situations.
It consulted with school districts on the east coast that have utilized the product and received positive feedback.
High school students will also have an additional personnel roaming the halls starting this year.
School Safety Specialists, who are not sworn officers, will be surveying things like door locks, security cameras and offering on-site knowledge on the new crisis alert badges.
“We’ve historically had a third party vendor, we’ve decided to bring that inside and utilize folks that have extensive law enforcement backgrounds to help bring that perspectives to our high schools,” Kiger said.
They will not be armed or deal with any matters that are illegal in nature, but primarily act as a watch-dog and alert the resource officers on site.
“They are gonna be inside and outside a campus, they are going to be checking doors, making sure doors are secure," Kiger said. "If they see someone in the halls that aren’t supposed to be, they are going to be addressing them."
As a part of the bond that was passed in March, the district has also invested in new cameras, locks and door barricading systems in the elementary schools.
“They could do more, but that is a start,” Ambachew said.
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