Storey County schools make 'first of its kind' decision for student safety
Submitted by editor on Wed, 01/01/2014 - 7:33am
The Storey County School District Director of Transportation has become the first in the nation to take the pro-active step to hold interactive, scenario-based attack countermeasure training for school bus drivers. The first training takes place this Friday, Jan. 3 in Virginia City.
Director Kelly Knapp made the decision to give her drivers the benefit of protection training in response to recent active shooter incidents at Sparks Middle School and Renown Health, as well as the mounting national numbers of violent events in public spaces.
According to Director Knapp, on the day of the Sparks Middle School shooting she was in Reno with an employee on DOT business to pick up a bus that was in for repair, “We had some extra time, so we went to lunch at the Sushi Pier where we learned of the tragedy. I immediately thought, ‘what if this were to happen on one of my busses full of kids? It was a very frightening moment.” In conversation with other diners, Knapp learned of one who said she’d recently taken training in personal protection that was geared toward being prepared in active shooter situations. “She was so positive about it that I asked her to email details to me.”
Knapp contacted Jeff May, founder and CEO of Apex Security Curriculum Fundamentals (SCF), a Reno based security training and consultancy. May, who has developed a special curriculum to teach emergency security countermeasures to non-security personnel, has conducted training for the City of Fernley and the University of Nevada. According to May, “School busses are among the softest of targets. This training on Friday serves an urgent need and will be a first of its kind in the nation.”
Knapp says she saw the value right away. “In Storey (County), all of our routes are rural and radio contact is very spotty in areas. It could be difficult to react from an administration level in an emergency. My ½ hour with Jeff turned into 3 hours and at the end, I felt a burden lifted from my shoulders.” She noted that there is “no official manual to follow right now for these situations, but we need to be prepared.” Knapp notified her state director and got the ball rolling. “We just want to do all we can to protect our children and our employees.”
This breakthrough in public safety preparedness takes place in the Storey County High School Training Building at 95 R St, in Virginia City this Friday, Jan. 2. The event is open to the media. Classroom training runs 8a-noon, followed by active scenario training with drivers on the school busses. Transportation Directors from other Nevada school districts will also attend.
May says, “We can’t control the actions of others, but we don’t have to remain powerless either. We can choose to step out of the victim loop and take personal responsibility and accountability for our safety.”
ApexSCF is a Reno based provider of safety curricula to effectively address today’s threats of violence and facilitates empowered individual response to dangerous situations. Mr. May draws upon his in-depth experience while he served as, Chief of Police, Police Officer, Deputy Sheriff, Director of the Adam Walsh Sexual Assault Notification Program, Law Enforcement Training Officer, Domestic Violence Coordinator, and Terrorism Liaison Officer.
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