`Area schools say they're ready if trouble comes up`

By Herald Staff Writers

RELATED STORY Like school shootings elsewhere around the nation, warnings apparently were ignored before a 14-year-old boy on Friday killed a science teacher and wounded three other people at a school dance outside Edinboro.

The violence followed school shootings last month in Jonesboro, Ark., in December in West Paducah, Ky., and last October in Pearl, Miss. The toll from all four shootings: 11 killed and 25 wounded.

Mercer County area schools in the last several years have taken action to prevent school violence, expanding the role of guidance counselors and making techniques such as peer mediation and crisis intervention the norm.

Here is what each district said it offers in the way of violence prevention programs:

Brookfield
The district's crisis intervention program was put together by Trumbull County Supervisor Peggy Wellington as part of a cooperative effort among Brookfield, Howland, Liberty and Lakeview school districts, Brookfield High School guidance counselor Wayne Bair said. If a school district has a crisis, a call is sent out to area schools and within an hour, counselors, psychologists and nurses are on hand, he said.

Bair said teachers have packets instructing them what to do in a crisis situation. The procedure instructs teachers to inform each other via phone chain about the crisis. Then, the staff meets to sort out the details of the crisis to prevent rumors. The teachers then talk to the students in their classes about the crisis, using material from the packet.

Students in need of help are placed in small groups to work with the counselors. In some cases, the counselors send the students home.

At the end of each day, the faculty meets to discuss what happened that day and what needs to be done the next day.

During a previous crisis, the program was tested, and everything went according to plan, Bair said. ``We had six counselors available in 45 minutes.''

Commodore Perry

The recent school shootings have prompted Superintendent Oliver Rodax toconsider asking Mercer County Behavioral Health to conduct an in-service day to help teachers identify signs of trouble in students, Rodax said.

The shootings also prompted the superintendent to consider training the Student Assistance Team to deal with guns as well as substance abuse, he said.

Under school policy, when a student is found with a gun, school officials contact state police and the student's parents. The student is expelled from school for a year.

If a shooting should occur in the school or at a school event, Rodax said he probably would call Mercer County Behavioral Health counselors.

Greenville

If a student is found to have a gun, Greenville school officials immediately call Greenville-West Salem Township police and the student's parents, said Stephen K. Ross, high school principal. The student will be subject to a hearing before the school board. If found guilty, a student younger than 17 will be expelled possibly for as much as a year, Ross said.

Special education students, found guilty of bringing a gun to school, can be expelled for up to 45 days. A student age 17 or older can be expelled permanently, the high school principal said.

A Student Assistance Team _ which helps counsel troubled students _ can report to guidance counselors any kind of mental health concerns in a student, said Fred Kiser, high school guidance counselor. The school also urges teachers to get more students involved in activities through such events as retreats, Kiser said.

After a tragedy like a Greenville student's suicide about a year ago, the principal calls the Student Assistance Team to decide how to inform the students and faculty and to make counseling agencies available to students and teachers.

Grove City

Concerned students in any grade can always talk to a guidance counselor, principal or teacher, Superintendent Dr. Robert M. Post said, and an anger control group at the high school is in its third year.

George Junior Republic _ a private, non-profit residential treatment center for male teens that is included in the district _ uses behavior cards that students take to classes, Post said, as well as various intervention techniques, psychologists and a special needs unit.

Middle school guidance counselor Bill Wise reserves peer mediation for groups that are having problems. ``I ask who has a positive suggestion,'' he said. Every kid can be a mediator,'' he said.

More often he relies on two simple techniques to defuse students' anger: ``grippers'' and documentation.

The grippers are actually exercise squeezers he keeps in his desk for students to use when they ``feel like hitting something or someone,'' said Wise. ``I grip along with them. In a short time they're laughing.''

``Every kid is a member of the `Let's Get a Grip Club' when they're so angry they a counselor for 26 years. ``I know I don't make the best choices when I'm angry.

The second technique is used when students feel something has happened to them or they have witnessed something. They're asked to write truthful sentences about what happened when and where; names of witnesses, the response and how they would like to see things resolved. ``Most of the time they write each other up but it's better than hitting each other,'' Wise said.

``Sometimes they write up one of us. It helps us get a handle of how angry they are. He then tries to bring the parties together to come up with a peaceful resolution.

``Every school has angry children. We've been awakened long before this tragedy. Kids have to be given a voice.''

Hermitage

Peer mediation groups, instructional assistants, guidance counselors and an alternative school setting are available in Hermitage School District to address student problems, said Superintendent Dr. Louis Mastrian.

``You'll never know when a volatile situation will take place,
``We have supports in place and students are aware that there are people they can talk to. We can't control what happens outside of school or on the weekends among students but we try to get to them.''

Farrell

Farrell Area School District has two groups that can address students who may be a threat to themselves or others: the Instructional Support Team and the Pupil Support Team. The teams are made up of teachers, guidance counselors and representatives from outside agencies, said Riley Smoot, conflict specialist and Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Department sargeant.

A teacher, a student or anyone else associated with the school can refer a student to one of the teams, which do a short investigation and then pull the student from class to discuss what was said, Smoot said. Parents also are called. ``It all comes down to the parent. The parent is going to say, `Help my child,' or `Leave my child alone.' ''

In some cases school programs such as peer mediation can be used, but students also can be referred to outside agencies.

If the school feels a situation can affect safety at the school it can react without parental consent, Smoot said.

``It works,'' Smoot said of the support teams. ``The students know they can talk to any teacher and something will be done.''

Jamestown

Jamestown Area School District officials had to put its weapons policy into action when a broken, unloaded handgun was found in the book bag of a third-grade student in a classroom on March 11.

If a student brings a weapon to school, school officials must call police and the student's parents, said David Shaffer, school superintendent. The student is suspended until an expulsion hearing is held before the school board, the superintendent said.

If a shooting occurs, the school district will ask for counselors from Mercer County mental health agencies and from other school districts.

Lakeview

The district started a peer mediation program this year with trained teachers and students, said secondary guidance counselor Norma Reinhard.

There are also student support groups, a student assistance team and a mental health counselor who comes on Wednesdays to work with students who can't get to a counseling center, she said.

``We try to give them many opportunities to work out things to avoid them from escalating,'' she said.

There was at least one time this year, however, that a student's alleged threats were reported. About a week after the Jonesboro incident a Lakeview senior allegedly threatened a male bus driver, she said.

``I explained to the parents that with the rash of incidents (nationally) we felt we could not ignore that,'' she said. ``It does make us more sensitive to those issues and keeps us on our toes.''

A weapons policy was instituted about two years ago, she said. ``We feel our kids are good and have had no major concerns with weapons. We hope we can keep it that way.''

Reynolds

The district's secondary grades have had a peer mediation program for three years and have three teachers trained in mediation techniques. The teachers then train students who have the time and inclination to be peer mediators. Currently there are 75 trained students.

``We've been having some success with that,'' Superintendent Maddox Stokes said. ``One thing we don't know is how long it lasts.

``We also try to protect our buildings from outsiders,'' he said. ``You have to be alert at events, looking for people who you know had a grudge that day or made comments. You look to see if they could be carrying something or have been drinking.''

The district was one of the first in the county to ban backpacks in class, he said. ``Protection is the key word. Not only do we have a right to explore these issues, but a responsibility to all these kids and their parents,'' Stokes said.

Sharon

Calls to the district seeking comment were not returned.

Sharpsville

For elementary students in crisis there are Instructional Support Team and guidance programs, said Superintendent Dr. Derry Stufft.

For sixth- through 12th-graders, there are guidance counselors, as well as Peer Helpers and the Student Assistance Program.

``The sad part is,'' he said, ``if you look at Edinboro, Arkansas, it's anywhere U.S.A.''

West Middlesex

The shooting in Edinboro has been a subject of conversation among faculty and administrators at West Middlesex Area schools. ``I've had teachers talk about that all day,'' principal Russell Ridenbaugh said Monday. ``I've had teachers come in and ask about the weapons policy.''

``We had a dance here Friday the same as in Edinboro,'' said guidance counselor Shirley Donak.

Under the harassment policy, a student who allegedly made threats is called into the office and, depending on the situation, can be issued a warning, referred to counseling in school or with an outside agency, or, in serious cases, given a hearing before the school board.

Students are encouraged to become involved in programs such as peer tutoring, in which high school students work with elementary schoolers.

``We're looking for things and they're out there,'' Ridenbaugh said.

``Everyone has five, 10, 15 students who are capable of these things,'' Ridenbaugh said of his and other districts.

Starting in seventh grade, students attend guidance classes that are aimed at self-esteem. The classes also discuss situations in which someone makes threatening comments, and informs students what the guidance office is responsible to do in these situations.

``You have to have these things or you don't survive,'' Ridenbaugh said.
Wilmington Area Schools

Janet Shannon, high school guidance counselor/school nurse, said there is individual and group counseling as well as a CARE team of teachers and administrators who meet weekly to see referrals and do evaluations.

The Lawrence County Department of Human Services sends counselors once a week in case a student needs to talk and more often if there is a need, she said. There is also funding available to refer students to Sharon Regional Hospital System's bereavement program.

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Updated May 12, 1998
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