Educators and first responders meet on school safety
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, August 9th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – More than 200 school administrators and law enforcement officers gathered at the Pendleton Convention Center yesterday for the InterMountain Education Service District summit on school safety. Superintendent Mark Mulvihill said it was important to refresh everyone’s minds on school safety plans as well as learn new things.
He said he learned that there’s a similarity in precursor behaviors between mass shooters and those bent on committing suicide.
“What we’re finding is that the precursor for suicide – the traits and behaviors of someone we’re seeing who is in crisis for suicide – mirror this,” he said.
Those attending the summit also got an encouraging report on the Oregon State Police crisis tip line, which began as a pilot project in the InterMountain ESD. Another thing he stressed is that people should not forget, as far as safety is concerned, there’s no place like school. “The safest place for students is in their schools,” he said. “There’s much higher risk of automobile accidents for teenagers or domestic violence for younger students. These active shooter events are very, very rare. However, when they do happen, they’re traumatizing.”
