Four years ago, a sixth grader from Rigby, Idaho, shot and killed two of his peers and a custodian at a middle school. The tragedy has prompted school officials to rethink what threat prevention looks like in the district.
Now, the hopeful squad of student run is fostering companions with homemade cards and assemblies. The volunteer father’s patrol corridor passes through his father on duty. A team of counselors, social workers and probation officers will come together to discuss and support students struggling. Thanks to the new mobile phone ban, students are talking more to each other. The positive outcomes of these combination efforts are measurable.
“We helped change…life,” said Brianna Vasquez, Rigby High Senior and Hope Squad member. “I had a friend who was drawn out of a hole in depression and suicide thinking because of (the hope squad).”
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Education reporting Collaborative, a coalition of eight newsrooms, examines the unintended consequences of AI-driven surveillance in schools. Collaborative members include AL.com, The Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News, Hekinger Report, Idaho Education News, South Carolina Post-and-Courier, and the Seattle Times.
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American educators work to prevent harm like the Rigby shooting. Many US districts have transformed into technology, particularly digital surveillance – as an antidote. Not everyone is being sold with that approach as there may be issues that include Privacy and security. Without broad agreement on which strategies will be most effective, some districts are trying to combine technology, ground threat assessment teams and mental health support.
Jennifer DePaori, a senior researcher at the Institute for Learning Policy, who studied school safety, said the multifaceted approach was “very wise.”
“People are the solution.”
In Rigby, educators are leaning towards human interaction. Artificial intelligence and digital surveillance systems are unlikely to identify people eating alone during lunch or withdrawal from friends.
“It’s all about culture,” said Chad Martin, director of Rigby’s Jefferson County School District. “It starts there. You just have friends, you have a group of friends, you have a connection somewhere.”
Rigby School Leaders uses technology to detect threats such as apps, stopits and more. This allows students to report safety concerns anonymously and includes monitoring software that monitors students’ keystrokes for nasty terms. Martin said they are useful, but they should be used in collaboration with human-driven initiatives.
The district version of the threat assessment team is one of the most impactful tools, Martin said. In monthly group conversations, school staff may notice that students who are losing their classes have parents who have recently been arrested, for example.
“Everyone has a little bit of information,” Martin said. “The goal is to be able to put those people in the same room and draw pictures that will help support the kids.”
Idaho is not mandatory Use of threat assessment teams within schools, 11 states. In 2024, the National Center for Education Statistics 71% of US public schools We have a threat assessment team.
The main model used by thousands of districts is the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). They were developed by forensic clinical psychologist Dewey Cornell after years of studying the murders committed by children and teens, including school shootings. He said digital surveillance technology can provide schools with a “illusion of safety and security.”
With CSTAG, teams made up of school staff use a multi-step process when threats appear. Groups can suspend or relocate students, facilitate law enforcement investigations, and develop safety plans while conducting mental health screenings.
Cornell said the approach, if implemented correctly, is rooted in intervention rather than punitive. Co-authored by Cornell Recent research In Florida, where threat assessment teams are required, we find “low school removal rates and very low rates of law enforcement.”
“If you’re a school counselor and can help you work with a troubled child and get back on track, then you’re more likely to prevent school shooting, but also prevent shooting somewhere else and probably years of age,” he said.
The threat assessment team is not affected by scrutiny. Complaints have emerged about working without the knowledge of students or parents, or without staff members representing children with special needs. Discrimination against black and Hispanic students. Depaoli from the Learning Policy Institute said there is a need for more research into whether threats are properly identified and whether students are provided with appropriate support.
The Jordan School District in Utah uses the CSTAG model. Travis Hamblin, director of student services, acknowledges “human connections” to enhance how districts deal with threats and increase student safety and well-being.
Earlier in this school year I received an alert through Bark, a digital monitoring tool that scans Google Suite accounts issued by students’ schools. It flagged middle schoolers who uploaded hand-drawn photos of guns.
Throughout the CSTAG decision-making process, the threat assessment team avoided unnecessary escalating the situation by determining that students were not harmed, Hamblin said. They chalked it immaturely and asked the students to refrain from such drawings.
The district will hire someone who is a former administrator and counselor, issue bark warnings and communicate with school staff. All Jordanian school administrators are receiving threat assessment training along with selected staff.
“The digital tool for us is a tool. It’s not a solution,” Hamblin said. “We believe people are the solution.”
Student-led efforts in Idaho
In Rigby, one of those people is Ernie Chavez, whose height streams him in the hallways with middle schoolers. He is with his dad on duty. Throughout the school, students reach out to Chavez for the High Five. He was greeted with applause and cheers on a February afternoon.
Similarly, since 2021, district hope units have been actively present on campus. Student-led coalition, It has been implemented in thousands of schools The aim is to promote connections and reduce the risk of suicide across the US and Canada.
“We refer you to counselors every year. These students go from the worst moments of their lives (to get help),” Vasquez said. “We build connections between adults and teachers in our students.”
Hope squad members notice their peers looking down or isolated, and reaching out with greetings and handmade cards. A member of Rigby High Senior Dallas Waldron said:
The group is also planning special events, such as a week of mental health activities. Sophomore Emily Raymond said the shooting showed that “people need to feel included and they need to find that hope.”
Another change: No new mobile phones. Previously, students would “sit in the corner, isolated, staring at the screen,” said Rigby Middle principal Ryan Erickson. Now, “They’re playing the game, they’re running stupidity… They’re actually having a conversation.”
Meanwhile, the approach to violence is Strong“It’s not perfect,” said Jefferson’s manager, Martin. “We’re coming out of things that weren’t ready or weren’t on the radar yet. But we’re trying to deal with them and do whatever we can to support our kids.” ____ The Associated Press Education Compensation receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP standard For charity, list of ap.org supporters and funded compensation areas.
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