BUCKEYE, AZ — The news of another mass shooting brings attention to the safety measures that are being done to keep children safe in schools.
Several school districts gathered in Buckeye and invited different city fire and police departments to go over safety plans and protocols Tuesday.
Some of the school districts have multiple buildings spread across multiple cities, so going over plans with the different agencies is crucial.
“It was just getting us all in the same room to have these tough conversations and try to take us to the next level to make sure that anything that might’ve not been planned or might’ve not been a foresight before, we’re getting that taken care of now,” said Sgt. Sean Tyler with the Goodyear Police Department.
Tyler oversees all the school resource officers for the department.
Mark Yslas, the superintendent of the Agua Fria High School District, told ABC15 they have started planning for the summit after the tragic Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.
“Safety of our students, the safe and friendly environments of our schools, that is our number one priority. That is what we think day in and day out. That is what we lose sleep over,” Yslas told ABC15.
Police agencies that attended the summit included Goodyear, Buckeye, Avondale, and others. Some East Valley agencies were also in attendance.
“There is no higher priority than safety. Before we even work on academics, students need to feel safe. Staff needs to feel safe and our parents need to feel safe sending their kids to our schools,” said Trey Terry, the school board president for the Agua Fria High School District.
At the summit, they discussed how to help students in times of crisis and what needs to be done in the event of an emergency.
A majority of the seminars presented on Tuesday came from the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping schools and agencies work together in crisis response.
Through the seminars, some learned that some of the simplest safety protocols could go a long way.
“The simplicity of locking a door. I think that is something that is so powerful that sometimes when we think of safety, we think of a dollar value and that it’s going to be extremely expensive. But, we can all implement just locking our doors and that can delay and save a child and a staff member,” said Jodi Gunning, the superintendent of the Litchfield Elementary School District.
This year is the first for all those West Valley agencies to come together. They hope to bring it back again next year and continue the important conversations of keeping children safe.
