ESD plans school safety refresher course this fall
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, July 6th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Official estimates of school shootings in the U.S. during 2022 stand at just under 30, with the shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May standing as one of the worst. The InterMountain Education Service District has played a large role in drafting school safety plans for all of its member districts in Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Baker counties.
The plan, which was devised by now-retired Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts, has all school officials and law enforcement officers in the IMESD operating in the same fashion and using the same language when responding to a potential mass casualty incident. At the time, Roberts pointed out that the same language is important because of the way rural law enforcement responds to back up its neighbors.
IMESD Superintendent Mark Mulvihill says it’s time for a review of the all-encompassing safety plan.
“We are going to activate our ‘I Love You Guys’ training this fall,” he said. “I talked to the superintendents at our June meeting and said, ‘Do we need a refresher? Do we need to get all our police chiefs together again?’ The answer was resoundingly, ‘Yes.’”
