BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The duck-and-cover routine of the 1950s taught school children to shield themselves in a nuclear attack.
The drop-and-hold drill of 1998 is designed to protect students from an outside spray of gunfire.
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WHEN SCHOOLS OPEN
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Northern Kentucky students start returning to school Monday. Here is a list of when each school district starts the 1998-99 school year:
Beechwood Schools, Aug. 28
Bellevue Schools, Aug. 25
Boone County Schools, Aug. 24
Campbell County Schools, Thursday
Covington Schools, Aug. 31
Dayton Schools, Wednesday
Erlanger-Elsmere Schools, Aug. 24
Fort Thomas Schools, Aug. 25
Gallatin County Schools, Tuesday
Grant County Schools, Wednesday
Kenton County Schools, Wednesday
Ludlow Schools, Aug. 24
Newport Schools, Thursday
Silver Grove Schools, Thursday
Southgate Schools, Thursday
Walton-Verona Schools, Monday
Williamstown Schools, Tuesday
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On their first day back in the classroom, most students will learn about stricter student regulations, tighter security and a larger police presence.
There will be frank discussions about acceptable behavior and inappropriate actions that will result in suspensions.
And educators will be putting a new emphasis on respect. Principals, school board members and superintendents said students must learn to show respect to fellow students, teachers and themselves.
"There's a real fine line between the hysteria of the community and what's really happening," Boone County Schools Superintendent Bryan Blavatt said. "But there's not a school in the world that can say it's free of the potential of violence."
Some schools in Kenton County will set up police substations inside their buildings. Others in Northern Kentucky will increase their relationships with DARE officers.
Schools in Louisville are going to teach students how to drop to the ground on their stomachs and cover their heads with their hands during an attack outside, where students have nowhere to take cover.
Students caught inside during an attack would be taught to take cover behind tables or other barriers and stay away from windows and doors.
The new safety drills came in the wake of violent acts in Pearl, Miss.; Jonesboro, Ark., West Paducah, Ky.; Edinboro, Pa.; and Springfield, Ore.
To minimize opportunities for violent acts, the Kentucky legislature is also requiring every school to create a "safe school plan." The Safe Schools Law will help districts by funding school safety programs. The law also established a center to study the problems associated with violence and train school employees to deal with them.
Principals will be required to report to police any acts of violence on school property, and teachers and other school personnel will be given increased access to juvenile criminal records.
The real work will be within the schools, in the classrooms, between teachers and students.
And the efforts are necessary, said Peter Blauvelt, president of the National Alliance for Safe Schools, because school safety is generating national attention.
"Our vulnerability is out there," Mr. Blauvelt said this week to a group of Northern Kentucky administrators. "We need to create proactive school safety plans."
Campbell County School administrators spent the summer in several seminars about creating safe schools. The district is now working on its own plan.
"We're in the process of looking at everything that might be a safety problem," Bill Voelker, director of instruction for Campbell County Schools said. "Everything is aimed at safety for the kids, right down to the playground equipment."
In Boone County, administrators want to create an open and trusting environment between students and staff.
"You can put in all the metal detectors and do all of the technology," Mr. Blavatt said. "But I can guarantee you find out about it from another kid."
Boone County students will see posters in every classroom, spelling out rules and regulations and the consequences. A letter from Mr. Blavatt will tell parents that students breaking the rules will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
In Covington, schools are kept locked, and most are behind fences. The district requires all students and staff in grades 7-12 to wear ID tags, and a security officer and other disciplinary personnel will be on hand. Middle school and high school students must use transparent book bags.
The see-through bag policy started last year to prevent students from carrying drugs, guns and other illegal items to school. Principal William Grein said the policy worked so well, it will remain.
"It's clear or mesh bags or no bags at all," Mr. Grein said. In Fort Thomas Schools, administrators tightened student codes of conduct. At the beginning of the school year, students will be told what types of behavior are acceptable. They'll also learn the consequences for bad behavior.
Students at Ludlow High School are working with their city police to prevent crises and strengthen relationships between students and law enforcement.
Six students and the police department will develop cooperative ways to prevent problems -- from school violence and drug use to self-esteem issues -- that teens often face. The students are helping Ludlow police apply for a $135,000 School-Based Partnership Grant from the U.S. Justice Department.
Schools in other parts of the state are taking action, too.
These strategies are being hailed by experts and law enforcement officials as steps in the right direction.
"Teachers are dealing with a changing clientele," Mr. Blauvelt said.
"They are running out of options. Administrators need to give teachers other alternatives for handling situations."
Tighter security, new rooms await students
