How a school shooting impacted this leader’s approach to safety
On Feb. 9, 2004, a student entered Columbia High School, just north of Albany, New York, with a shotgun. He walked into the bathroom, fired two rounds and walked through the hallways. Special education teacher Michael Bennett left his classroom to figure out what the noise was and was later wounded as an assistant superintendent subdued the student. That experience would forever impact Bennett’s approach to school safety.
Now, as superintendent of the Greenville Central School District in New York, Bennett spearheads initiatives and initiates frequent discussions surrounding school security. He sends out quarterly safety updates to his community, and every September, when school starts, he walks his students through what they can expect from the district if and when a security incident occurs.
“I’ve got to catch myself every once in a while because of my experience to make sure I’m not going overboard on what we’re trying to do in the realm of safety,” says Bennett. “But at the same time, ensuring what we’re doing is thoughtful, practical, and makes sense.”
Taking action
He’s currently conducting a school safety audit with the help of Jaclyn Schildkraut, the executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Her assistance ensures that the district complies with state safety requirements.
Bennett says the audit will give him tangible resources to present to his school board and community that highlight the district’s ongoing mission of prioritizing school safety.
There are also many front-facing safety measures in place, according to the district’s safety webpage. Every building is equipped with the Raptor System, a school resource officer from the Green County Sheriff’s Department, and a blue light system, which allows administrators to lock down the school from anywhere within the building. When a lockdown is initiated, all doors immediately lock and keycards are deactivated. Blue lights shine throughout the campus to alert that a lockdown is in place.
Furthermore, each school follows the same five standard response protocols in the event of an emergency. Each response is based on an “all-hazards approach” instead of having responses for individual scenarios. The responses are:
- Lockdown: In the event of an immediate threat of violence in or around the school.
- Secure lockout: Used for incidents that pose an imminent concern outside of the school.
- Hold: Limits the movement of students and staff while dealing with short-term emergencies.
- Evacuate: In the case of a fire, for instance, students and staff are instructed to leave the building.
- Shelter: During a weather-related event, students and staff shelter in place.
Seeking community
He adds that the audit provides another layer of security. Part of this goal is to ensure he is in tune with the current national safety climate and trends.
In 2018, some folks from the Principal Recovery Network, a national network of current and former school leaders who have experienced gun violence in their buildings, asked him to join the coalition. The network’s members share the combined wisdom of their experience with the larger principal community to assist administrators recovering from campus tragedies.
“For the first time in my life, I felt as though I had found people who understood what was going on,” he says. “We found our voice, a friendship, a bond.”
Shootings at a larger scale
Bennett’s work endures even as school shootings continue to reach astronomical levels. So far in 2024, there have been nearly 300 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. It falls roughly 50 incidents short of last year’s record-high of 349 shootings.
In August 2022, the Principal Recovery Network published a Guide to Recovery, a collection of best practices to help school leaders in the aftermath of such events. We encourage you to read the report and the group’s 2024 legislative agenda.
