Oswego SD 308 set to hire security coordinator

OSWEGO – Even before the tragic mass school shooting May 24 in Uvalde, Texas, Oswego School District 308 was planning to take its security precautions to the next level.

New for the 2022-23 school year will be a full-time school safety and security coordinator.

The district is conducting interviews for the post and expects to hire the new security coordinator during the summer, District 308 Superintendent John Sparlin said.

“Once that happens, the first job will be to audit the facilities and our current procedures as we work over the summer getting ready for the 2022-23 school year,” Sparlin told the Oswego School Board at its June 6 meeting.

“This position includes the requirement of a successful first-responder background to ensure effective coordination of safety and security training for a broader range of staff,” Sparlin said.

Responsibilities for the coordinator will include safety drills in collaboration with the two Oswego police officers who are assigned to the district’s two high schools and safety planning for large school events.

The security coordinator also will develop assessments of the traffic flow in and out of school properties at arrival and dismissal times to improve safety, Sparlin said.

Sparlin outlined the district’s continuing efforts to provide security at school buildings and events. The district is the seventh largest in Illinois with an enrollment of more than 17,000 students and operates 13 elementary schools, five junior high schools, two high schools, one alternative school, one therapeutic day school and one early childhood center.

“We partner closely with our police and fire districts with regular communication that includes ongoing safety meetings and training between their leadership and ours,” Sparlin said.

Since 2015, the district has hosted a training institute known as ALICE, for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.

The institute has ALICE-certified instructors in every school building, Sparlin said, while certified administrators work with the police resource officers to plan and conduct building-based training with staff members.

This is followed by training with students and staff together in safety drill exercises throughout the year. The district has a pair of two-day training sessions planned this summer, Sparlin said.

The district also hosts annual crisis-safety meetings which include all first responder agency partners, including Plainfield, Kendall County, Oswego, Montgomery and Aurora.

The sessions review and update emergency response plans, share ideas and provide training through joint tabletop exercises, Sparlin said. The last such session was June 1.

School emergency plans include feedback from first responders, Sparlin said. They contain response plans for a variety of dangerous scenarios. The plans are specific to each school building.

The district’s schools have secured entrances and a monitored, single point of entry, Sparlin said.

“Schools also have the ability to lock all exterior doors immediately and alerts are sent to school district staff and first responders should an event or threat of a violent situation occur, to assist in reducing response time,” Sparlin said.

The two school resource officers are assigned to the high schools but also work with training and safety drills at all of the district’s school buildings, Sparlin said.

“It is unfortunate that we have to do these things in schools. But as unfortunate as it may be, it is necessary so that when situations occur, we are all as prepared as we can be,” Sparlin said.