Orting School District: Safety and Active Shooter Training

Orting School District Staff Receive Active Shooter Training

August 30, 2016

Dear Orting Community,

Last fall we invited our staff and the Orting community to share their thoughts about what we're doing well and where we can improve. Our goal was to get a sense of shared values and priorities from our schools and community. We had 534 individuals respond. Participants shared 1,012 thoughts and assigned 30,062 stars to their top priorities from across the District. The top two celebrations were teachers, staff and leaders; and improved communication.

One of the top two concerns that surfaced was safety and supervision. To be clear, safety training is a priority for the Orting School District. It's a key element in creating a positive school climate for our students and staff. However, we heard your concern and we took action.

We began working on several safety issues including aligning harassment, intimidation, and bullying procedures across schools; developing new visitor and volunteer procedures; increasing partnerships with Orting Police Department, Orting Valley Fire and Rescue, City of Orting, and Department of Emergency Management; collaborating with OPD to tour schools; establishing school safety committees; and providing “Discipline and the Law” training from an attorney for district leadership team. And out of this work, in collaboration with our community partners, our district assembled our District Safety Planning Team to plan for potential emergencies through the creation of a High Quality Emergency Operating Plan.

Over the next two days Orting School District teachers are receiving training before school starts for our children. I am pleased to report that one of the results of your input is that part of that learning is focused on safety, including active shooter training. The training will be led four facilitators with more than 10 years’ experience facilitating active shooter training with school district employees and include discussions of potential scenarios particular to the Orting School District plans and procedures for each building.

Students and families across the nation have experienced issues of school violence and tragedy far too often. We believe this training in addition to the other safety efforts, policies, procedures and partnerships within Orting School District create safe and secure schools. We are committed to implementing purposeful, coordinated strategies to increase levels of safety and security and simultaneously promote student wellness and resilience, and believe these efforts improve students’ readiness to learn and build positive school climates.

Thank you for your input. It is valued!

Dr. Marci Shepard
Superintendent