Springdale Elementary School Increases Safety Measures

SPRINGDALE -- A policy on who can pick up children from George Elementary School kept a student safe when a stranger tried to pick the child up. The incident led administrators at Harp Elementary School to adopt a similar pickup policy.

A strange man showed up at George to pick the child up, said Allison Strange, Harp principal. The man didn't have the windshield tag with the student's name on it, a school requirement. When contacted, the child's mother said she didn't know the man and picked up the child.

The policy was in place at Harp for more than a week when parents drove their cars into the school parking lot Tuesday afternoon and waited in lines near the entrances. Older students left from two side exits on opposite ends of the school, while younger students left from the front.

Two staff members stood outside the kindergarten and first-grade pickup line, using radioes to read names off cards hanging from the rear-view mirrors of vehicles as they pulled up. Children left the building in groups of two or three, and waited for their parents to pull the cars up to the staff members before getting in.

Harp started using the pickup system March 31, Strange said. School staff discussed adopting the process before the incident at George, but the timing was right since parents and community members were talking about what happened.

"What came out of that (situation) was a positive learning experience for everyone," she said. "It's a tangible response, and we don't always get that, but we got that opportunity."

It's common for incidents, such as the one at George, to spark other schools to increase security measures, said Ron Stephens, director of the National School Safety Center. The center is based in Westlake Village, Calif., and advocates safety for schools worldwide. Incidents involving safety can spur change, because "you realize the vulnerability of schools," he said.

Without safety precautions at schools, children are exposed to dangers, Stephens said. They could be kidnapped or become victims of abuse.

"The stakes are high, and the precautions need to rise to the same level as the risks," he said.

Stacy Combs has a son in fifth grade at Harp. She said she believes her son is safer because of the new policy.

The new plan had other effects on the pickup process. Combs said she's noticed more staff members outside, and the pickup line moves more quickly.

The school has always had two staff members at each exit to help with pickup, Strange said. Younger students sit inside until their names are called, but older students are allowed to wait outside.

There isn't an increase in the number of staff members helping with pickups, Strange said. Those who help with the process are more visible now, because the four teachers that used to walk the older students to the exits now go outside with them.

Strange said she doesn't know how much faster the pickup process is, but school gets out at 3 p.m. and most of the children are gone by 3:12 p.m.

"If we've knocked off 2 or 3 minutes, then we're doing great," she said.

Most elementary schools have staff members outside to monitor the pickup process, Stephens said. The best option is for the same people to be outside with the students every day, so they can get to know each child and who regularly picks them up.

"It's about really knowing your students and who the players are," he said.

Permission forms, where parents list who they authorize to pick up their children, are also common among schools, Stephens said. However, this method can become difficult when there are custody battles and divorces. It's best for administrators to communicate regularly with students and their parents, so they can keep information up to date.

Student names on windshield cards at Harp are based off the forms completed by parents, which are called enrollment cards in the Springdale School District, Strange said. Each family automatically gets two cards, but they can request more.

If a parent tries to pick up a child without a card, they will be asked to pull to the side, Strange said. A staff member will use a radio to confirm with the office staff that the person's identification card matches a name on the child's enrollment card.

"It's not saying they can't get their child," she said. "It just delays the process."

Combs said she saw this happen once while picking up her son. The person didn't have a windshield card, and they held up the line a bit.

Gary Compton, assistant superintendent for support services, said he doesn't know how many elementary schools in Springdale use the system, but not all do.

All elementary schools in the Fayetteville, Rogers and Bentonville school districts have a windshield card system like the one at Harp, according to district officials.

Officials in the Fayetteville School District have found ways to make it more difficult for people to make copies of the cards, said John L Colbert, associate superintendent for elementary education. What the cards look like depends on the school, but most of them are on colored paper, different types of paper or are laminated. Administrators also tell parents at the beginning of each school year to be careful not to lose the cards and to alert the school if they do.

"We try to drill that into parents," he said.

Colbert said the possibility of a parent losing a card or someone copying it is why it's important for staff members to become familiar with who regularly picks up students. Familiarity makes it easier for staff members to recognize if something is out of the ordinary.

Colbert said the system is a good approach for the schools in Fayetteville, but it's consistency that makes it work well.