My first week of "retirement" was spent at Weston High School — the site of the shooting of a principal by a student. Could this tragedy have been prevented? Were they prepared? What would have happened had the gun not been taken away from the assailant? These questions will ring forever in the ears of the Weston school community as they attempt to recover from this tragedy.

I should not have been surprised that first day at Weston to hear staff talk about their feeling of being unsafe. They could not move forward to recovery until their safety concerns were addressed. Those issues and concerns were much like what we have been attempting to stress here in Madison:

• locked exterior doors;
• a working P.A. system;
• phones in every classroom;
• identification cards;
• visitor procedures;
• simple, posted, practical emergency plans;
• two-way radios.

Sound familiar? These issues become huge and seem so much more important to them now.

Although these issues are very important in our ability to respond in a crisis and minimize possible injuries/deaths, there are other equally, if not more, important issues to prevent tragedies from occurring and being better prepared when they do happen.

Creating a culture of engagement and relationship, as we are attempting here, is needed. We have stressed trainings, procedures, and beliefs that:

1. identify warning signs of a student in distress
2. teach anti-bullying strategies
3. build a system to identify and respond to students who may pose a threat — our Violence Risk Assessment, adjudicated juveniles
4. assemble safety teams to identify issues at each school
5. define a code of conduct that everyone is aware of
6. respond to a sudden death or suicide with a crisis procedure which delineates responsibilities and a plan from incident to recovery
7. eliminate the "code of silence".

Hopefully, these should also all sound familiar to you. We have developed these procedures, trainings, and beliefs over the last seven years that I have been here, and in some cases even longer.

I have said many times while working for the MMSD that our schools are safe. I truly believe they are. However, I also realize that, short of building a large wall with armed guards around our schools, tragedy can strike.

What will help us prevent or recover from an incident like Weston's is to be diligent about safety and the issues I have just discussed. We can't become complacent and must always be looking at ways to make our schools safer. It will require all of us working together — students, staff, administrators, parents, Board of Education members, elected officials and our community.

In closing, I want to thank Superintendent Art Rainwater and my boss, Director of Student Services Mary Gulbrandsen, for allowing me to spend my first week of "retirement" in Weston. A special thanks to Kathy Halley who worked long hours and was tireless in helping the Weston staff plan its recovery stage. Many of our Student Services staff also assisted at Weston by interviewing every middle and high school student and every staff member.

My last parting words of wisdom — connect with kids. I have truly enjoyed working with all of you over the years. You are what make the MMSD the finest school district anywhere. Keep up the great work!!