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Administrator’s Corner by Chris Dibble

Two very public events have once again grabbed state and national attention when it comes to school safety. The St. Paul Public Schools and Michigan State University are both mourning the losses of students to violent situations. As a school administrator, each time one of these events occurs I feel the obligation and pressure to make sure each and every member of our school community is kept safe. Albert Lea High School maintains safety procedures that are rehearsed and revamped throughout the year to not only make the school a safe and collaborative learning environment, but to also prepare to react to any situation that threatens the safety of our school.

For many years, staff and students of Albert Lea High School have been trained using the ALICE Training Solution, which is an acronym that stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate. This acronym is a list of choices and not a chronological system to use during what is termed a “violent critical incident” or VCI. In addition to the fire drills we all used to participate in, we now learn the fastest and most efficient ways to inform people in the building, the quickest ways out of the building and even what to do in case you were to encounter someone with the intent to harm other people. All building administrators are trained and re-certified as trainers in the protocol each summer.

If you have recently entered the high school through the Tiger statue, you may have noticed the construction of a new wall, office and entrance. This security upgrade is a part of the physical changes that will help further develop safety protocols in the building. Similar changes will be occurring at other sites around the district as well. This new entrance created a double-buzz-in system for all visitors throughout the day. In addition to this construction, the surveillance system is also being upgraded in many areas. The current system is currently being studied to see where additional and replacement cameras will be installed.

One of the best safety improvements does not happen by running drills or making physical changes, but instead using the eyes of people who use the building each and every day. The new “See Something??? Say Something!!!” campaign has been up and running for about one month. Using a Google Voice phone number, students and parents can report behaviors to the administrative team anonymously and situations can be handled quickly and discreetly. To this point, we have received messages about the use of vaping devices, vandalism, students being treated poorly and even some messages thanking us for giving people another way to improve the culture in the building.

I cannot conclude this column without thanking the families, staff members, students and community members who offer advice and information about keeping the school a safe and orderly environment. A big thank you must also go to the Albert Lea Police Department, who work collaboratively with the district to build healthy relationships with our students and consistently work to keep the school and community a safe place to live and learn. School Resource Officer Adam Conn has been an integral part of our safety planning and a main contributor to our administrative changes and improvements around safety.

Chris Dibble is principal of Albert Lea High School.