Disaster drills should be held regularly at schools, telephone hotlines should be set up for students to report threats and more emphasis should be placed on early detection of potentially violent students, a state panel studying school violence recommended Monday. The report follows a series of hearings around the state and draws upon ideas received from 700 surveys sent to schools. The panel advises that every school district huddle with local police, set up a crisis response plan and then make sure students, principals and teachers practice the plan.
Some districts already have such plans in place.
In Berkley, for instance, school officials worked with local police and fire departments to develop a plan that covered all possible emergencies. The district tweaked its plan last spring after the Littleton shootings. They are in place. We are as prepared as we could possibly be. The state report also encourages schools to enlist the help of psychologists in drawing up a list of warning signs that students may be plotting a violence.