HANCOCK COUNTY — Southern Hancock school resource officer Scott McDaniel wants to get to know as many administrators, educators, staff and students as he possibly can. Wednesday morning after a school safety meeting he made a stop at Brandywine Elementary to make sure everyone was doing well and to go over some safety measures.
One of the other things McDaniel feels is important as a district SRO is to make sure there is a great relationship between his school district, the other three county districts — Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock — and local law enforcement.
“Just this week, we had a situation where a man was reported to have asked school kids if they wanted a ride to school,” McDaniel said. “We actually shared that information with other school resource officers so everyone could be on the lookout.”
Now more than ever, school safety is at the forefront of both district and law enforcement officials throughout the Hancock County.
Officials with the Hancock County 911 Center hosted a gathering at Greenfield-Central High School for media members Wednesday morning. The goal was to discuss school safety with district officials, 911 personnel, law enforcement and SROs. Local officials want to spread the word on what Hancock County officials are doing, being as pro-active as they can to ensure the safety of students for the 2022-23 school year.
Greg Duda, Hancock County 911 Public Information Officer, said the gathering was designed to let school officials provide insight into what new safety measures they have in place for this school year.
“We mainly wanted to get the word out there that Hancock County is unified on our school safety plans,” Duda said.
Duda noted officials with the 911 center recently secured a lower cost from Rave Mobile Safety to keep the “Panic Button” app available to all county teachers and staff for the next five years. The app allows teachers and staff to call for aid at the press of a button, should the need arrive.
“We secured a cheaper cost for the app so the schools don’t have to worry about that funding anymore,” Duda said.
The app is just one of the many things district officials have worked on as of late to make sure county schools are safe. From hiring more SROs and making sure all school doors are constantly secure with only one entrance point, to having a unified approach to safety measures as well as incident responses, county officials are making school safety the priority.
Greenfield-Central Superintendent Harold Olin said they currently have four SROs in their district and would love to have eight if they can find the personnel. He noted county school districts have worked hard over the past several years, creating a common language for situational responses thanks to a total team effort.
“The 911 center, and the Greenfield Police Department for us, as well as the Sheriff’s Department have all come up with that common language, plans and operating procedures, and we’re learning a lot from each other and that’s the key having a format,” Olin said.
Greenfield-Central High School Principal Jason Cary noted there is pressure on administrators to do all they can to keep students and staff safe, but he’s OK with that.
“I feel the pressure as a parent, a community member and as a principal, but I think the important thing is we have a lot of good safety measures and have been doing them for a while now,” Cary said. “School safety has always been a priority for us.”
Eastern Hancock High School and Middle School Principal Adam Barton said school safety is always in the conversation.
“Just the upgrades we’ve added to our system and adding our own SRO, we feel like we’re in a good place when it comes to school safety because we know it’s about relationships and taking care of kids,” Barton said.
He talked about how the districts are using a “Handle with Care” program to keep an extra eye on students who might be going through hard times or difficulties, so that troubled students don’t feel left out.
“If law enforcement or a fire department official has a concern about a student, they don’t give us details, but they tell us to watch out for the kid and that’s good information to know,” Barton said.
Eastern Hancock Elementary School Principal Amanda Pyle said the connection with kids and making sure they get home safely is the priority for administrators every day.
“In the last couple of years, the county has made a lot of progress as far as getting law enforcement and the 911 center all on the same page,” Pyle said.
Officials with the Southern Hancock school district noted the importance of the Hancock County and School Safety Commission, where all district officials work together to keep county schools united and safe.
New Palestine High School Assistant Principal Craig Moore heads the local commission and works closely with Southern Hancock Safety Director Miles Hercamp to help keep district leaders and law enforcement unified in the approach to school safety.
“Having everyone on the same page, unified is key,” Moore said. “We’re always trying to do things as well as we can.”
Southern Hancock Communications Director Wes Anderson said it’s critical for all local officials to be involved in the safety conversation so they can share ideas, plans and strategies.
“We need to make sure what we’re doing is consistent, that our language is unified, our procedures are unified and the response is unified,” Anderson said. “We need to be the same from school to school.”
McDaniel said having the same response system in place for large-scale incidents is recommended through a program they all use modeled after a woman who died in a school shooting and texted, “I Love You Guys,” as her last words.
“The program ‘I Love You Guys’ has the same protocol we all operate off of … so if outside agencies come to help, they’ll know by the terminology being used we’re all on the same page and that’s so important,” McDaniel said.
