Members of Aspen School District’s Safety Team spent a week at the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) convention discussing School Safety best practices with colleagues and experts from across the country.

The team returns to the 2024-2025 school year armed with new ideas and evidence-based practices and strategies to continue to build on ASD’s School Safety program.NASRO, a nonprofit founded in 1991, is the world’s leader in school-based policing for school-based law enforcement officers, school administrators, and school security and safety professionals who work as partners to protect schools and their students, faculty, and staff members. The organization hosts an annual conference where thousands of School Resource Officers (SROs) and school safety leaders attend to discuss and learn about threats students and schools face.

Members of the ASD Safety Team who attended the conference are: ASD School Resource Officers, Deputy Cameron Daniel, Officer Alyse Vollmer and Deputy Dru Lucchesi; Aspen High School Assistant Principal Becky Oliver, Aspen Middle School Principal Amy Kendziorski. Also in attendance and representing the Roaring Fork Valley was Pitkin County Sheriff Michael Buglione and SRO Basalt Police Officer Jason Hegberg.

In recent years the ASD School Safety Team has been working to increase collaboration with community partners to bolster the district's school safety protocols and ensure that the district is current with evidence-based best practices.  The team has been focused on intentional and campus-wide safety that includes but is not limited to building security upgrades, strengthening partnerships with area first responders and law enforcement, and continuing the use and practice of Standard Response Protocols (SRPs).  The SRP provides a unified approach and common language when responding in emergency situations. Learn more about ASD School Safety here.

Among the guest speakers at the conference was Dr. Bernie James, a professor of law at Pepperdine University, who implored educators and School Resource Officers and educators to embody the mantra, “you exist to intervene.”

Dr. James is a leading expert on education law, which is the subject of one of many courses he teachers at Pepperdine. He is a contributing editor to NASRO’s Journal of School Safety and is author of the School Safety Law Blog.

He stressed that although acts of school violence are of “low probability, they come with high consequences.” It’s the reason schools must always be prepared and have a comprehensive safety program. The safety team members from the Roaring Fork Valley were lucky to get their own Q&A session with James.

Oliver, who co-chairs the ASD Safety Team, said something of utmost importance in designing a comprehensive school safety plan is the development, use, and importance of what is called Behavioral Threat Assessments (BTA), which must include mental health professionals, law enforcement, and school staff.  BTAs are conducted when a student makes a threat of violence or engages in concerning  behavior that risks the safety of others and the school community. BTAs are an evidence-based practice of investigating and assessing these behaviors with a focus on understanding the situation and how best to mitigate safety concerns and support the student. These  assessments are part of the overall, comprehensive, evidence-based school safety plan.

Building a Comprehensive School Safety Plan

A comprehensive School Safety Plan needs to consider all of the dangers schools and students face and what safety strategies and preventative measures will be used to ensure students are educated about such dangers.

What should a comprehensive, evidence-based school safety program include?

• Mental health support
• Behavioral Threat Assessments
• Suicide Risk Assessment
• Online safety education and support
• • Sextortion/Sexting
  • Human trafficking
  • Social Media platforms
  • Access to substances
• Substance misuse prevention and intervention
• Bullying prevention and intervention
• Building/Campus Security

"Our safety team is grateful for the opportunity to have spent time together at NASRO, learning from leading industry experts in school safety," Oliver said.

Some other key takeaways for the team: 

• Encourage students, parents, and staff - “If you see something, say something.” Safe2Tell is a great anonymous report system. 
• Help students and staff with situational awareness, thinking fast, and taking action. This is meant to help students and staff should they be in a situation where they need to take action and do not have the opportunity to lockdown in the practiced fashion.
• Consider adding “Stop and Think” drills, where students have an opportunity to take one minute to stop and think about what they would do in an emergency situation. This is especially important during transition times and lunch.* Understand that school laws are laws of intervention and that the expectation of law enforcement and school officials is to intervene whenever safety is at risk. Current case law supports, and in some cases, requires immediate intervention.
• Continue work on a reunification plan, tabletops, and community-wide collaboration on emergency planning.

"ASD has a dedicated safety team focused on continuously updating our protocols, researching best practices, and learning from law enforcement and experts to ensure a safe learning environment for our students and staff," Oliver said.For more information on the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), click here. 

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When the students’ art came off the walls in Aspen Elementary School last month, Director of Facilities Joe Waneka took one look at the chipped, dull walls, and grimaced. 

“We have to repaint,” he said. “This is no good.”

The paint job wasn’t originally on the punch list of the work for this summer, but Waneka had saved money on some other scheduled projects and directed the savings toward the paint. 

"We have world-class teachers,” he said. “We must have world-class facilities."

No one knows how to stretch the dollars more than Waneka. Installing an energy-efficient boiler, for example, earned the district a $33,000 rebate from Black Hills Energy.

Waneka also turned the district on to co-op purchasing entities such as OMINIA partners and E&I Cooperative Services, which contract with leading national suppliers to deliver volume discounts and streamline the procurement process. The savings allows Waneka to do more with the voter-approved bond money earmarked for long, overdue maintenance. "We have got to work smart," Waneka said.

Summer Work

Crews are pulling up old carpet, tearing out old floors, getting up in the ceilings to install new heating systems, painting classrooms and upgrading storm drains, walks and ramps.

Citing one of the district's five pillars of its Strategic Plan, Waneka said,"we must be good stewards of our resources."

When crews tear out sod to get to the underground pipes, the sod is replanted in other areas throughout the district. 

When the carpet is ripped up in the elementary school classrooms, it will get recycled back to the manufacturer. ASD has partnered with Interface carpet on their ReEntry program, which recycles vinyl backed carpet to eliminate the need to dispose in the local landfill. Through the program, ASD joins other organizations in diverting millions of pounds of used (or post-consumer) carpet from landfills.

"Our landfill is filling up," Waneka said. "We need to do our part in being good stewards of resources and help take away some of the burden on our landfill."

As the crews ripped up the ceilings in classrooms to install a new custom heating system, Waneka wanted to take advantage of the work. In the future, if the district would like to add a cooling system, crews would not have to rip up the ceilings but simply connect HVAC to the chiller plant.

"We had this opportunity to plan ahead and we are taking it," he said.

One of the most visible upgrades will be at the football field. A chain link fence that marked the entrance from the AMS parking lot down to the field has been removed and will be replaced. 

"This is the front door to our athletics program - we have this beautiful field and we really need to have a welcoming entrance," Waneka said.

In addition, crews are addressing ADA concerns, which includes parking and ramp access to the field spectator stands.

As Waneka walks the campus, talking with his team and with contractors, he smiles. 

“I am excited for the teachers and students to have a refreshed learning space that is conducive to the great work they are all doing,” he said.

Current construction rundown:

AES:

• Renovations are actively taking place with fresh paint and carpet throughout the classrooms. 

• The Fan Coil Units (FCUs) replacements are underway, staggering pod by pod throughout the summer. 

• Continued efforts of deep cleaning and community utilization of the remaining space during the construction continues. 

AMS:

• Front walk and handicap parking have been removed. Necessary earth grading, storm drains and new walks are being installed. 

• The upper corridors are being patched, painted and finished with new carpet. Continued efforts on the main and lower level will continue in the upcoming weeks. 

• The Maker's Space is being renovated with new case work and countertops. 

• The new transaction window at the front office is scheduled for the end of the month with the needed drawer and reception countertop to be installed.

• Asphalt removal for the athletic field ramp and new walks are underway. Continued restriction of field use during construction.  

AHS:

• The roofing and skylights replacements have started, continued efforts will progress throughout the summer.

• The commons and corridor flooring is being replaced, starting at the south entrance working clockwise throughout the main floor throughout the month and followed by second floor commencing early July. 

• Continued efforts of deep cleaning and community utilization of the remaining space during the construction continues.