Katie Homuth of Woodstock said she is anxious “every morning” dropping off her fourth grader at Mary Endres Elementary School.  But it is not for fear of her son making friends or earning good grades, typical worries of most parents, but for fear of him being in the midst of a school shooter.

“I definitely get anxious,” Homuth said.

Her fear is not just because school shootings are headline stories today more than in generations past, it has somewhat to do with the fact that she was a student at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb on Feb. 14, 2008, when a shooter opened fire on her fellow students.

“It is in the back of my mind for sure, how could it not be?” she said. “I was not on campus that day but it definitely is very hard and very obviously way too close to home. I am not naïve to the thought that it can happen any day at anytime.”

Homuth’s fears are mirrored by those of Stacy Kallas of Huntley, whose 7-year-old son is a second grader at Leggee Elementary.

Though she feels, like Homuth, school officials are doing a good job to protect her child, she worries.

“I am one of those parents who gave my son a cell phone with GPS tracking, and a lot of people think I’m crazy, but I don’t care,” she said. “I gave it to him in kindergarten. I know it’s not gonna stop an active shooter but it gives a tiny bit of comfort. He has some kind of line of communication with me, and that it is in his backpack, and as soon as he leaves he can call me. We live in different times. It’s not like when we were at school. You didn’t have to worry about any of that.”

While it is likely not many parents would disagree with these mothers' fears, area school districts say they are regularly implementing security features at their schools.

From adding additional resource officers, providing mental health training for most anyone in contact with students and constructing secured vestibules, area school districts say they are aware of the fears and doing their best to protect students.

Dan Armstrong, director of communications and public engagement for Huntley Community School District 158, said one significant addition this school year are new resource officers at the Square Barn Road and Reed Road campuses.

Each campus has two elementary schools and one middle school. The new officers, who by profession are police officers from Algonquin and Lake in the Hills, are primarily housed at the middle schools but able to quickly respond in an emergency to the other buildings, Armstrong said.

The officers are primarily based at the middle schools because, Armstrong explained, middle school-aged students are an important age group to work with about “appropriate behaviors” that at the high school level can result in more infractions.

“At the middle school, that is a very formative time when students are figuring out identity, learning who they are, gaining more freedom, independence … making their own decisions,” he said. “It is a very important time for us to work with them on what is appropriate behavior as they head into high school and beyond.”

In 2015, the district hired a chief security officer who works from the district office and who is a former Huntley police officer. Armstrong said his role includes staying apprised of best practices in safety, staying connected with officers at all the other schools, overseeing traffic flow of students in and out of the schools, checking facilities for safety risks, training new employees and substitutes and facilitating safety drills and seminars.

At the high school, where there are more than 3,000 students, is a longtime resource officer who also monitors activity at Leggee, located on the high school campus on Harmony Road.

The campus also employs “a number of campus supervisors,” many of whom are former police officers who monitor activity there throughout the day.

The presence of the police officers at the elementary levels also helps in forming positive relationships with law enforcement officers, building relationships and gaining trust as a person who can help, Armstrong said.

In the 2015-2016 school year, the district also implemented structural enhancements such as reconstruction at the high school including one main secured entrance and vestibule staffed with a campus supervisor who scans visitors in and out and uses the Raptor Technology system. Raptor requires a visitor to present a photo ID, which is then run through a security system searching for criminal background.

Armstrong said the district always tries to “strike a balance” between being open to parents and the community, and safety and security.

“We have not really experienced any kind of negative feedback,” Armstrong said. “Folks have been understanding and reassured with the new system.”

The district also has installed shatterproof glass at all their schools, implemented security cameras at schools and installed them on school buses.

Much the same goes for other area school districts such as Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 and Woodstock Community Unit School District 200.

“It’s always a process, always examining what can we do to make our buildings safer, it is never something you stop doing,” said Kevin Lyons, director of communications at District 200.

As of this year, all Woodstock schools, which serve around 6,400 students, have been updated with secured vestibules, security cameras and the Raptor Technology security system.

“We haven’t heard any complaints (regarding the Raptor system),” said Lyons whose own children are students in the district. “Parents trust us with their children. Safety is their concern, as it is ours. They are willing to go through a slight inconvenience in order to keep their children safe.”

Last school year, the district added a school resource officer at each high school building in response to students saying that would make them feel safer following the Feb. 14, 2018 shootings at Stoneman Douglas in Parkland Florida.

Not only do students feel safer seeing a police officer with a gun and a badge in the hallways, but there is an additional value, Lyons said.

“They hear things, kids talk to them about issues,” Lyons said. “There is an intangible measure that there is an officer there that they trust that they can speak with.”

The district did experience an alleged threat of violence via social media two years ago and it was immediately addressed, the student was arrested and charged criminally before anyone was hurt.

“We really have to take these things seriously, whether the person intended to make the threat or not,” Lyons said. “That is not something we can really tolerate. I hope (that incident) set the example that when it does happen and kids are asked to leave the school and a kid is arrested. I hope it really sends a message that this is really nothing to joke about.”

In fact, school safety is taken seriously by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office. They say they have and will continue to pursue criminal charges when threats are made.

In 2018, seven McHenry County area juveniles were charged with crimes related to making school threats, in 2019, so far there have been seven additional cases.

“The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office is committed to helping foster a safe school environment conducive to learning and student development,” said McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally. “Any threats against a school, students or faculty are intolerable and will be prosecuted accordingly.”

Kim Dahlem, director of student services for High School District 155, said the district initiates an annual safety survey. The district also formed a safety council made up of parents, school personnel and students.

From what was learned in the survey, the district has installed additional security cameras and added security personnel at each of its high schools. Each building now has two security guards hired from an outside contracted security company rather than just one. Each school also has one student resource officer, who also work as a full-time police officer.

The district, like the others, also pays attention to students’ social and emotional well being and looks for signs of distress, Dahlem said.

“We don’t look at just school safety, about security, we look at social emotional support,” she said. “We added social workers, psychologists, mental health counselors throughout the district and increased our partnership with Rosecrans and the McHenry County Mental Health Board.  You can’t talk about safety process without talking about social, emotional support.”

Over the last two years employees at all buildings, from administrators to lunchroom and custodial staff, have been in the process of being trained to spot signs of social, emotional distress, she said.

For students, there is a district-wide campaign of “see something, say something,” she said.

Whether it is a concern of drugs, weapons, a school threat, intimidation or bullying in person or on social media students are encouraged to report it.

Officials at Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 say new security measures this school year include new entrance security systems at all main entrances of school buildings.

Visitors must identify themselves to be allowed access to any building. School volunteers must fill out an application and undergo a background check, and the district has increased the number of lock down drills they will conduct this school year, said Denise Barr director of communications and public engagement.

During the school year, the district also will introduce a new mobile app to streamline and enhance safety and security measures.

Last year, the school district installed instant door-locking devices on all interior doors. The district also engages in ongoing training of staff and meets annually with police and fire departments to discuss school safety and encourage first responders visits to schools, Barr said.

Each district said it has district-wide help lines and online links, which are posted throughout the schools for students to use in a crisis. District officials also encourage students, or anyone in crisis, to use the McHenry County texting system. Text the word “Mchelp” to 274637 and the user will receive a response from a licensed and trained counselor.

Barr also encourages McHenry County area students and adults to download “McHelp” as a free mobile app to use in times of crisis.This also is an anonymous service.

Joshua Starr is chief executive officer of Phi Delta Kappa (PDK), an international not-for-profit membership association for educators which conducts annual poll’s of the American attitudes toward public education. He said, overall, parents are confident that their children are safe while in school. He said based on polls, parents do not say safety is the main concern, rather they are more concerned with funding.

“Nationally, the data shows, despite school shootings, schools remain safe for the most part,” Starr said.

He said, when polled shortly after the Parkland shootings, there was an increase in concern over school safety. However, generally safety is not a main concern of parents and parents “do not support arming teachers at all.”

Parents do like the idea of metal detectors, school resource officers or security guards and mental health services in the schools.

For local moms, Homuth and Kallas, they each said, in general, they do feel safe sending their children to school but in the back of their minds is always the question of “what if?”

“I know that my son’s school would do everything in its power to keep all of the kids safe,” said Homuth.

Kallas said she commends Leggee on their efforts to keep her child safe but “I have thought about, should I home school him? But how much can you keep your kids in a bubble?"