Commentary: Back to school safety for our entire community

When a community works together as we do here in Collier County to keep our students and teachers safe in school, August isn’t only time for all of us to celebrate back to school, but to share some of what we have been doing to prepare for the new school year and what our community can continue to do together.

The long-standing partnership between Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) that has kept our schools safe for more than 41 years includes continuous review and responsible implementation of new safety technologies, processes and training.

If you visit any Collier public school campus, you will notice our front doors are now locked as an additional layer of security. Over the summer, each of our 50 schools received a new access control camera system. This is an enhancement to existing visitor screening procedures we have in place. Please visit www.collierschools.com/keepcolliersafe to view our parent tutorial video for more information on this.

Another enhancement this year will be an increased number of safety drills. These drills will ensure students know how to respond in case of an emergency. All high school students will be issued identification cards to be worn during the school day. This improvement will allow all high school staff and students to know who does and doesn’t belong on campus. Middle school students will be issued identification cards during the coming school year.

The Sheriff’s Office, Marco Island Police Department and Naples Police Department have scheduled a youth relations-trained law enforcement officer at each Collier school. This is accomplished through overtime when positions are vacant until full-time hiring is complete.

CCSO has also focused on training these past months. While training in the law enforcement environment is ongoing as tactics and threats evolve and change, specific training is delivered to our youth relations deputies as well as to our teachers and school administrators and staff. Also, additional emergency response equipment has been purchased and placed throughout school facilities.

Together we are committed to continuing to maintain our school safety and security best practices, and we will always review and improve our capabilities and resources to protect our children and community. We also recognize and appreciate the community’s role and responsibility in helping keep kids safe. Here are action items our community can help with:

• If you own guns, take immediate action to keep them out of the hands of kids. Use a gun lock or keep them stored in a safe that has controlled and limited access.

• Report suspicious behavior that you see or are aware of online or in our community. Call 911 for immediate threats or 239-252-9300 to report your concerns. You can also report through the school or CCPS’ “Keep Collier Safe” webpage.

• Connect a child in need to those who can help by contacting our CCSO Youth Resource Center at 239-252-0900 or to mental health professionals at David Lawrence Center at 239-455-8500.

• If you are a parent or guardian of a student, check what they are bringing to school, monitor their social media interaction and remind your student that there is a new law in Florida as of July that makes threatening harm over social media a felony. Even if comments are meant as a “prank,” a felony charge for a minor is very serious and can follow them for the rest of their life.

Thank you for putting your trust in the Collier County Sheriff’s Office as well as all our local law enforcement partners. Thank you for putting your child and trust in Collier County Public Schools. We wish all of Collier County a successful and safe school year!

Patton is superintendent of Collier County Public Schools and Rambosk is Collier County sheriff.

Guest commentaries

A guest commentary can be 600 words or less on a topical subject. Authors must have considerable experience, public involvement or expertise in the subject matter. A guest commentary may be returned to the author with a recommendation to resubmit it as a Letter to the Editor within the guidelines for letters. It is recommended that authors receive preclearance before submission; call 239-435-3457.