In 2000, Congress passed a law called The Childrenís Internet Protection Act. This law requires federally funded libraries and schools to†block or filter internet access†to pictures and material that are ìobscene, child pornography, or harmful to minorsî on computers used by students under 17 years of age.David Watson, safety and security director at El Paso County School District 49, said the district not only implements that law, which is the minimum requirement for schools to provide, but also contracts with a service to monitor for threats, mental health concerns, bullying and harassment issues. He said every student has a district Gmail address and Google account using their student ID number; the program is designed to perform regular safety sweeps through the studentsí school emails and Google documents.Watson said the program is set up to look for certain key words; for example, if someone types in depression or does a search for weapons, the system will alert the district. He said D 49 has had situations where students were not in a good place with their mental health, and D 49 was able to provide timely interventions as well as social and emotional support.He said these types of programs arenít without false positives; sometimes, they get an alert that turns out to be a legitimate school assignment. Watson said that isnít necessarily a bad thing because they might decide to monitor the student depending on the tone and wording of the assignment to make sure there isnít some sort of underlying need or issue that needs to be addressed.The parent community is aware of the program; the students; however, might know or not, he said. Parents can choose to receive email alerts and receive activity reports on their children. ìThe school district cares deeply about the mental, social and emotional well-being of our students, and this service helps provide that extra layer of protection,î Watson said.School counselors continue to work with the students despite the past year of online education by calling them at home to do interventions as needed, he said. The counselors have a good rapport with the students and address the issue student by student; they might send an email with a warning or call to speak to the parent and then the student about their behavior.The district safety team consists of the school principals, school counselors, assistant principals, Watson and his three safety and security specialists, as well as Psychologist Dr. Kim Boyd, director of community care. ìWhen you add in everyone on the safety team, itís a wraparound service; we work and communicate with each other to make sure the student is served and taken care of,î he said.D 49 also provides an additional layer of support, called 24 alert. Watson said with the 24/7 monitoring, if a student writes something at 1 a.m. about wanting to hurt herself or others, the real time sweep will pick it up. If the program thinks it is critical enough, they place a phone call to the district online staff, which is Watson and his partner David Pratt, senior safety and security specialist. The system will send an email of the excerpt, a text to tell them they sent an email and if it is critical, they place a call. ìThatís a 24 alert,î Watson said. At that point, they reach out to the parent and/or to law enforcement for a welfare check of the home, although many times, these issues can be mitigated by a phone call to the parent.He said D 49 is in the process of deciding whether to continue the 24 alert service. ìThe senior leaders will be taking a hard look at it and deciding how to go forward and what it will look like if we continue to do the 24/7 monitoring,î Watson said.D 49 also has a School Resource Officer Program, or SRO ó law enforcement officers contracted through the Colorado Springs Police Department and the El Paso County Sheriffís Office to provide a duly sworn law enforcement officer in the schools. Watson said two officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department are assigned to Sand Creek High School and Vista Ridge High School; they help serve the middle and elementary schools as needed and provide consultations to the school teams.The El Paso County Sheriffís Office provides three officers: one at Falcon High School, one at the Falcon Middle School Campus (including Bennet Ranch Elementary) and one at Horizon Middle School. Watson said it has been a successful program. They are looking at how they can also strengthen and provide those services at the elementary school level.He said there is a nationwide push, including areas of Colorado, to eliminate the SRO program because of tensions with law enforcement in certain parts of the country. ìWe have some really good law enforcement officers assigned to our schools that deeply care about the students and the safety mission,î Watson said. The law enforcement officers are seen by the students as confidants, counselors and mediators; they have developed good professional relationships with the students. D 49 participates in a poll called the Cultural Compass Survey. Year after year, the poll indicates the students feel safe going to an SRO with a problem.Watson said D 49 has a great leadership model that supports safety and security. He said they will continue to look into strengthening the SRO program and to implementing innovative safety and security strategies throughout the district. ìD 49 is fully committed to the safety and security mission, and we believe in the SRO program,î he said. ìWe will continue the program and strengthen our amazing relationships with our law enforcement partners.î
