What’s being done to curb violence at Maryland Schools? Over the past few years, many devastating deadly stories have been plastered across the news, making school violence a hot-button issue for students, parents, school officials, and law enforcement. Just this year, 27 total school shootings have been accounted for across the country. Maryland itself has significantly contributed to this number in the past 50+ years, ranking in the top ten states with the most school shootings, per World Population Review.
To help curb this widespread violence, experts like Annette Anderson, deputy director of the Center for Safe and Healthy Schools at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, argue for a multifaceted procedure, like her “both-and-approach” method. “In a school, the most important position is that of the trusted adult. We have to empower every adult in a school building to be connected to kids,” she says. “It’s not just enough to put mental health resources in the building. You also have to train every adult, from the cafeteria manager to the maintenance person to the recess worker to the classroom teachers,” on how to best respond.
What’s Happening at School?
So with this approach in mind, what are Maryland schools, and the country in general, doing to combat these devastating crimes? According to a recent news release from the Maryland State Police, several resources have recently been initiated to curb school violence. One of these initiatives includes the Safe Schools Maryland (SSMD) anonymous reporting system. Through SSMD reports, individuals are able to anonymously and securely submit an anonymous report about a school safety concern. The forms can be accessed by calling 1-833-MD-B-SAFE, filling out an online form, or by downloading the free Safe Schools Maryland app. For non-emergency safety concerns, reports can be made to the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center by calling 1-800-492-TIPS.
School Safety Resource Officers
The addition of more School Safety Resource Officers (SSROs) is another strategy being used by Maryland schools to help curb school violence. In 2018, Governor Hogan implemented the Safe to Learn Act (STLA). “STLA required the State and local school systems to develop Behavioral Threat Assessment Model Policies, identify and report on the availability of mental health services for school-aged children, provide standardized SRO training, conduct school safety evaluations, and administer school safety grants,” according to the Maryland Center for School Safety.
Training to be an SSRO is now in session and filled with numerous safety models that were updated in 2021. These expanded modules include De-escalation, Disability and Diversity Awareness, Implicit Bias, and Restorative Approaches. Additional programs have also been added to SSRO training as well: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), Crisis Intervention, Dangers of Devices, Normative Adolescent Behaviors, and Understanding Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities.
One of the most significant tools SSROs use in their work is the new security systems placed in Anne Arundel County schools. According to spokesman Bob Mosier, almost 2⁄3 of the county’s schools have installed double-barrier entryways and classroom door lockdown devices to add an extra layer of security—clear barriers to anyone trying to access restricted areas. “As we started our meeting, I noticed the door had a separate deadbolt lock with a big red button on it. When the meeting was over I examined the additional lock and realized it was an ‘active shooter’ defense measure—something certainly not a thought when I was in high school 10 years ago,” says George Shenas, the golf coach at DeMatha High School.
Expanding Access to Mental Health Resources
Additional safety devices like this can be used to detect suspicious activity and respond to a variety of crises— many of which deal with a student’s mental health. With the knowledge that a student’s poor mental health can be a predictor of school violence, there has been widespread public demand for the expansion of school mental health resources. As a response, the Biden administration enacted the FY2022 bipartisan omnibus agreement. Part of the agreement is the disbursement of nearly $300 million to help schools provide mental health services, especially for the most vulnerable of students. Additionally, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) signed by President Biden last month designates another $1.7 billion to improve mental health services in schools and communities.
Maryland is taking its own legal initiatives as well: “Maryland recently enacted an Executive Order titled the ‘Task Force Bill to Study Behavioral and Mental Health and Guidelines on Trauma-Informed Approach Bill.’ The Executive Order tasks the Maryland Commission with studying mental health, ‘including access to mental health services and the link between mental health issues and substance use disorder,’” according to the University of Baltimore law review.
The American School Counselor Association recommends a student-per- counselor ratio of 250:1; Maryland’s current ratio is 327:1,”
—Maryland State Education Association
Maryland has also established a new 988 crisis number where both emergency and non emergency complaints can be reported. The line can be accessed by someone “experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis, contemplating suicide, or worried about someone who may need crisis support,” says the Maryland Center for School Safety. The number directly connects to phone-based support and provides connections to local resources that can help students manage their mental health.
Safe Spaces at School
But part of the responsibility still lies on the schools themselves. “It seems as though public schools don’t take fighting seriously or threats of it seriously,” says an anonymous DeMatha sophomore. “I feel that if I think someone wants to hurt me, I should have a safe place to ask for help without the school bringing us both in and them getting more mad because I am now a ‘snitch.’”
A lack of a safe space to openly talk is certainly one of the areas where Maryland needs the most work. Currently, the number of counselors in each Maryland school falls below the recommended ratio: “Right now, staffing levels for counselors and psychologists in Maryland’s schools are poor. The American School Counselor Association recommends a student- per counselor ratio of 250:1; Maryland’s current ratio is 327:1,” says the Maryland StateEducation Association. It hopes to change this with its Blueprint funding: “The Blueprint started to phase in this funding in FY 2020, adding more every year until 2027 when a predicted 557—nearly one-third of all schools in the state—are projected to receive the COP grants.”
But with initiatives to curb school violence like the Blueprint Fund, Maryland continues to make strides toward safe schools for all students, like the Dematha sophomore: “All in all, I believe that public schools need to get to the bottom of violence before it escalates and [create] a safe environment to ask for help without having to worry about your parents knowing and the other person knowing you ‘snitched.’”
By Kerrigan Stern
