SYRACUSE — The most recent mass-shooting in a public school in Parkland, Fla., Feb. 14 leaving 17 dead, has again heightened national awareness about keeping students and staff safe in schools. And the debate about tougher gun-control legislation has also been stirred up again.

Locally, the Wawasee Community School Corporation is part of a county school safety committee (also including Warsaw, Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley) meeting three times each year in the fall, winter and spring. When the spring meeting occurs, likely in April, the Florida incident will probably be brought up as each district gives updates on what they are doing to keep students safer.

During safety committee meetings law enforcement agencies also set up training for their departments in schools.

But Wawasee has already taken security measures such as installing a special film on entry doors to prevent glass from shattering into several pieces, keeping perimeter and classroom doors locked, security cameras and, more recently in fall of 2017, implementing the Raptor ID system in each school building. When someone enters a school building during regular school hours with students present, they must provide a form of identification.

“It (Raptor) has been well received,” said Dr. Tom Edington, WCSC superintendent. “Parents understand it is for the safety of students,” admitting he had prior concerns the checking of IDs could prompt complaints from some.

In addition, technology is in place to capture email threats if those threats contain certain words or language. “We can research where it came from and work with the authorities,” he said.

Although much of the national attention seems to be placed on tougher gun-control legislation, Wawasee has been placing more emphasis on providing increased emotional and social support for its students. Edington noted the district has more than 3,000 students who not only grow academically, but emotionally and socially, too, and “we want to support them as much as we can.”

A partnership is already in place with Bowen Center for mental health services and mental health therapists work in each of the schools. A meeting was held the morning of Thursday, Feb. 22, to discuss pursuing a Lilly grant for implementing a system to flag students who would be more at-risk to have mental or emotional related issues. Information such as slipping grades or input from school nurses or the Department of Child Services would be utilized.

Social and emotional programs, as well as mental and behavioral health, were also addressed in a letter Dr. Jennifer McCormick, state superintendent of public instruction, sent to U.S. Sen. Todd Young. The letter was part of a news release issued by the Indiana Department of Education where McCormick is urging lawmakers to pass policies decreasing risks for schools and increasing budgets to provide more resources.

There is also a little known state law, known as the “Red Flag Law,” enacted in 2005, which allows law enforcement officers to take away firearms from people they believe to be dangerous, such as those presenting a potential risk of physical injury, if there is documented evidence the person has a history of violent or emotionally unstable conduct and for other reasons. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill recently issued an advisory to increase awareness of the law, a law Edington said he only recently became aware of.

Edington, as he has said before, noted arming staff members has not been put in place because some of them don’t stay in the same room throughout the school day and would not have a weapon with them at all times. “Every one of these situations (school shootings) is different,” he said. “That’s why we keep school buildings locked down during the day,” and rely on school resource officers, who do have weapons, and move from building to building during a school day.