Community Partnerships Enhance School Safety

The Phyllis J. Washington College of Education

By Micah Hill, Emily Sallee, and Dan Lee

As part of their commitment to continually enhancing school safety, leaders within Missoula County Public Schools are forming new partnerships in the Missoula community and across the state.

One of the initiatives for the current school year, driven by the MCPS District Safety Committee, is the adoption of new language and response protocols from the “I Love U Guys” (ILYG) Foundation, a nonprofit that provides crisis response programs and training for school districts across the nation. These protocols offer a clear and concise action plan modifiable for a wide range of threats to school community safety.

Now, MCPS is partnering with the Montana Safe Schools Center (MSSC) to support the full implementation of the “I Love U Guys” protocols through staff training, starting with Meadow Hill Middle School in the fall and continuing with the District administrative team this coming June. MSSC staff also presented sessions on standard response protocols and grit for educators at the recent second annual Missoula Community Education Summit, where they also had an opportunity to sit down with a few building-level administrators over lunch to discuss threat assessment procedures and protocols.

The partnership between MCPS and the MSSC goes beyond building-level trainings. A prime example is the adoption of an anonymous reporting tip line this spring. Safer Montana (safermt.com) is an online resource designed for Montana students, parents, school staff and community members with a safe and confidential way to report bullying, school safety concerns and other incidents 24/7/365. It serves as a user-friendly platform that offers students several convenient methods (call, text, app, website) to report concerns that may otherwise go unreported. Since its implementation in 2021, 30,000 Montana students have had access to the tip line, and MSSC is advocating for statewide adoption of this valuable tool.

MSSC is also working with MCPS to schedule site assessments of all District buildings, offering a holistic perspective of strengths and weakness of safety (physical, cyber, and other) to address over time. The site assessments report gives school leaders a prioritized list of ways to increase safety in their buildings and on their campuses, and it can be repeated a few years later to assess for improvements over time.

The systemization of school safety is a community issue that requires community collaboration and support. Fortunately, the services and trainings offered through the Montana Safe Schools Center are available at no cost to Montana K-12 schools. MCPS leaders and administrators are among the Montana school districts prioritizing safety while also demonstrating financial responsibility.

See the original publication in the Missoulian.

Micah Hill is superintendent of Missoula County Public Schools; Emily Sallee is director of the Montana Safe Schools Center; and Dan Lee is dean of the College of Education at the University of Montana.