MURRAY, Utah — Many schools in Utah have ramped up measures to keep kids safe, from shooting drills to lockdowns and other more discreet procedures.
"So this past year, Utah passed probably the most comprehensive bill in the country thus far without having a tragedy first," explained Matt Pennington, chief of state security with the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Pennington's position came about as a part of House Bill 84, which passed in the state legislature earlier this year. It's a multifaceted approach to improving student safety, including a guardian appointed to each school.
"So, you have to have either a school resource officer or armed private security or a school employee who volunteers to go through training with law enforcement and would carry a weapon and be trained to respond to an incident," he said.
The identity of that guardian is kept confidential, along with any safety gaps currently being assessed by each school across the state.
"Some of the other stuff that’s happening is the panic alert being required in every classroom to alert staff and 911 emergency response," Pennington added. "We’re really focusing on trying to standardize all this statewide, and make sure everyone’s on the same page. So if you have a student here in Salt Lake County and you happen to move to Cache County or Washington County, it’s the same process, the same procedures, the same security measures anywhere you go in the state.
"We’re looking at security film, obviously, ballistic film on exterior windows, classroom windows, door locks, all of those things, just to make sure if something does happen, there’s a safe space."
Utah parents expressed their concern about school safety, including Isabel Harrison, has two young children and one on the way,
"It is kind of tricky, like the balance of okay, you don’t want to scare kids and you don’t want to make them fear school, and having a kid in preschool, it’s something that I think about every day," she said
Harrison said it's important to have a good healthy balance, to which Dahlia Nelson, a Murray mom of two, agreed .
"It scares me. It concerns me," Nelson said. "Like, how do I feel safe sending my kids to school? We need to have security, but we need to also respect children’s privacy and parents being able to get a hold of their kids and things like that.
"So it’s how do you find that middle ground?"
Both mothers were glad to hear there are measures being taken behind the scenes and have to put their trust in the school system every day they send their kids off.
"I’m definitely glad that we are talking about it, wanting to work on it, because it is important!" Harrison added.
Pennington said many Utah school districts already have silent alarms, and other upgraded technology and place.
"These active attacks aren’t new. This has been happening for quite some time, so you’ve already had districts that were proactive in that approach, which is good. You know, they’re not starting at ground level. They’re ahead of the curve," he shared.
Pennington claims that Utah is leading the way on many fronts and pointed out the Safe UT app he says all parents and kids should be familiar with.
"It’s anonymous reporting for any type of threats, suicidal threats, harassment ... so we can intervene and follow up hopefully before anything happens."
