There have been a myriad of successes in this implementation process, like receiving a high-risk tip soon after implementation of the SaferMT tip line. Blakely noted that: “Without a tip line and mobile app, you are missing vital safety information. Students outnumber adults on every school campus by a factor of at least 10 to 1.” Dr. Emily Sallee, director of the MSSC, adds: “Kids always know more than adults [in terms of what is going on]. It’s always been that way, and it will always be that way.” Giving students the ability to anonymously and confidentially report tips increases the likelihood of seeing or hearing about a potential threat before it occurs, whether related to school violence, suicide, substance use, or abuse.
Emily Sallee, Nancy Berg and Molly Blakely: Part 2: Missoula County schools prioritize school safety
Hellgate Elementary School District Superintendent, Dr. Molly Blakely.
Tom Bauer, Missoulian
Dr. Emily Sallee and Nancy Berg, Montana Safe Schools Center; Dr. Molly Blakely, Hellgate Elementary School District Superintendent.
MISSOULIAN - As described in Part 1 of this two-part op-ed, the Montana Safe School Center (MSSC), housed at UM, works with schools and districts across the state, from Miles City to Columbia Falls to Polaris. Closer to their home-base in Missoula, it has had constructive partnerships with DeSmet, Sussex, Missoula International School, and Hellgate Elementary. The school leaders in these buildings have accessed a variety of services and resources through the MSSC, but none as systematic and time-sensitive as Hellgate Elementary School District (K-8).
Dr. Molly Blakely joined Hellgate Elementary as the new district superintendent on July 1, 2022. Hellgate Elementary is home to 1,500 students and over 200 staff — a “big little” district independent of Missoula County Public Schools. One of Blakely’s primary priorities as the new superintendent was to address school safety, which began with asking the School Resource Officer to highlight safety issues in need of immediate assistance. Blakely then contacted the MSSC and had one of the center’s staff, Tina Eblen, do a site assessment, a systematic tool to assess physical and cyber security of a property, saying: “It’s not easy to hear where your weaknesses are, but you need to know so you can fix them.” At that time, the MSSC also helped Blakely secure additional Stop-the-Bleed kits (one per building; fully grant-funded), and Blakely also moved forward with the process of improving communication between staff and with law enforcement, should the need arise. Blakely’s next steps were to implement the SaferMT anonymous reporting tip line funded by the MSSC, sign a contract with the Missoula Montana Airport as part of their standard response protocol and reunification plan, and schedule threat assessment and trainings for staff this fall.
In this day in age, school safety must be a top priority at all schools, like it has been this year at Hellgate Elementary. It is curious to note how many districts and school leaders continue to wait for an emergency to occur before scrambling for a plan. As Blakely notes: “You can’t be afraid of getting critical feedback,” because, at the end of the day “if something goes down, we have to be able to say we were prepared to keep our school community safe, and we followed a predetermined plan to do so.” If district leaders aren’t willing to take these precautions, it’s time for other educators, parents, and community members to demand for school safety to take a front row seat in their school leaders’ many to-dos. The price tag is hard to argue with when it’s free. In all reality, schools can’t afford not to.
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Contact: UM Safe Schools Center, 406-243-5230, safe.schools@umontana.edu