Few mandates are more important for schools than the protection of its students and staff.

Obviously, education, inspiration and connection are why we are here. But the fact that the community entrusts us with their children for much of the day must be top of mind at all times.

School safety is an evolving subject. New techniques and best practices are learned all the time. But the truth is that many schools in this country are a little bit farther down this path than Moffat County School District has been recently.

That’s changing.

Under the direction of Superintendent Mathew Neal, the district is working hard to catch up quickly. Superintendent Neal has made appropriately increasing school security one of the district’s top priorities.

One of the first updates to our system coming down the line is adding ID scanners at all school buildings’ front desk. These scanners, which have long been standard practice across the country for thousands of schools, will help us know who is in our buildings and whether some individuals should not be in them. A basic background check will alert school personnel to a potential concern, keeping students and staff safer.

We’ve had video cameras in our buildings for years, but we continue to add cameras and improve technology, equipment, and policies surrounding this practice. This helps us know if something is amiss in the moment, and also gives us coverage to review after the fact if something does happen. Once again: this makes students and staff more safe.

Refreshed training for emergency response protocols is also coming soon, ensuring the people in our schools know hope to respond when something goes wrong.

Further down the road, better entry systems will add another layer of protection to our schools.

We take the protection of our students and staff extremely seriously. It’s unfortunate that this is necessary, but we know all to well that it is, and we will continue to work tirelessly to provide the safest possible circumstances for our students to learn in and our staff to work in.