By Hallie Richwine

Silver Consolidated Schools Superintendent Audie Brown welcomed a full public audience Wednesday night. He thanked the attendees for taking the time to attend.

Among the panel were board member Ed Flores, Silver City Fire Chief Milo Lambert, Silver City Police Chief Ed Reynolds, New Mexico State Police Lieutenant Ramon Terrazas, and Grant County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Fermin Lopez.

Brown began, "I'm sickened that we even have to have this (forum), to have to prepare for this. Silver Schools have been proactive, responding quickly after Aztec and before the incident in Florida."

A school safety and security committee has been established, with short- and long-term goals to address concerns at every location in the school district. Brown suggested that all parents work directly with their students' schools to verify contact information on file is correct. Brown also emphasized that authorities are aggressively pursuing those who make threats.

"I would like to genuinely thank the Silver City Police Department, Silver City Fire Department, Grant County Sheriff's Office, and New Mexico State Police, who have been there every step of the way without hesitation," said Brown.

Reynolds then addressed the crowd, "Safety of children is important to all of us, and with current trends there is always that potential." He wants us all to be prepared on all levels.

The Silver City Police Department will continue to work with school administration as this is an ongoing process that may need to change. Reynolds reiterated what Brown mentioned, that the goals that have been set are for both the short and long term. One short-term goal is to hire security personnel at each school. While it is a goal, it will not happen overnight. Local law enforcement will continue to do frequent patrols at the schools.

In January Reynolds met with the upper administration of the school district for basic training and strategy, including laying out more training and evaluations at each individual school.

"If you see something, if you hear something - say something." Reynolds said. The latest statistics on active shooter scenarios show that at least one person knew about the plan, often more.

"Of course, threat assessment is for appropriate measures. The result may not be criminal, it could be counseling," he said.

Flores followed Reynolds to talk about what the board will do. He explained that although the state has mandated threat assessments, Silver Consolidated Schools had decided to do them and had completed theirs prior to the announcement. The threat assessments have been a great tool because they indicate what needs to be done at each individual school. Every day the community hopes there are no problems here, but with the recent incidents at Cliff and Snell it is necessary to move forward with the safety and security plans.

"What is the district doing? What do we want to do to prevent that shooter? Boots on the ground," Flores said.

The aim is to put armed security officers in each one of the schools in the district. Retired law enforcement officers would be great candidates, because they already have so many hours of training and experience.

"Like Chief Reynolds said, this is not happening overnight. We are currently in the process of creating a job description for a safety coordinator. Finance is getting on board. Once that person is hired, an armed guard will be hired at each school, to protect the school from the inside out."

Flores explained that if someone was to bring in a weapon, security guards will be able to respond within seconds rather than minutes. He then restated that the school district had different phases of goals. First, the faculty, staff, and students will be trained. Then, they will hire the security personnel. Lastly, infrastructure improvements will be made. "Things take time and money," Flores said.

A question came from the audience, "You said you're going to have training for officers on how to respond. Are you going to put security in all buildings?"

Chief Reynolds replied, "Hiring of security is up to the school, not the county or the city. In the meantime, we will have frequent patrols. We have adjusted our walk-throughs so there are no patterns. Until security personnel is on, we're going to schools and training teachers. It's really a mindset change. We're teaching what Homeland Security puts out, lock your doors."

The officers were then asked if once the security personnel were on location they would still have a passive presence, like stopping in a school parking lot to complete paperwork. Reynolds said this will continue.

A parent asked how Cliff is going to be monitored, considering the lack of law enforcement in the area.

Lopez took the microphone, "After the recent school shootings, we've changed the way we are covering the rural schools. San Lorenzo and Cliff are the farthest from the town. We've designated two uniformed deputies, visible, to be a deterrent." He said the state police are also coordinating coverage.

Clifford Thompson, interim principal at Cliff, said a mobile command post has come up in recent days and may be put in place.

It was then asked that if there are mental health issues with the kids, how those problems will be dealt with - poverty, homelessness, etc.

One of the main overall goals is to identify students in distress and work as a team.

Flores responded to the question of how parents are supposed to talk to their children about this. "Lock the doors. Remain quiet. Stay at the school until your parent comes for you. And always tell your parent or teacher if you hear another student has a plan." He also responded to the previous question about mental health, "We are forming a crisis intervention committee to help identify problems and make referrals."

Flores also spoke briefly about the app that the school systems is rolling out. Ben Potts of technology then spoke: "Two schools in the state of New Mexico are piloting the app. It allows for anonymous reporting of bullying and any other concerns. These reports are transmitted to administration at the student's school and reviewed." The Stop It app will be rolled out district-wide after the Silver Schools spring break.

Brown said this app will let them deal with root causes since all reports will be investigated.

It was asked if parents will know when the app is used, and ultimately they will. Administration will deal with the issue and the parent will be brought in. If the incident has been falsely reported, the student will be reprimanded. No report will be deprioritized.

A concern was voiced that the social workers are already busy in the special education department. Flores said the threat assessment was the first step, and now the crisis intervention part is being formed. He said that is a concern, adding extra work to staff.

Silver Consolidated Education Association President Katrina Bustillos asked the last question for the evening, "Everyone is wanting to make obvious improvements, and when I'm out in the halls at La Plata I sometimes see officers strolling around. Can they build relationships, so the kids can be more comfortable?" Bustillos said even by just talking to the students they may be more likely to interact if something is going wrong. Bustillos also worries about where the funds are coming from when the budget is already smaller than last year.

Superintendent Brown closed up the forum and asked that anyone with concerns contact his office or their school directly. Funding will be discussed by the school board.

He thanked everyone again for attending.