The Beaver Area School District has been in communication with representatives from the Sandy Hook Promise regarding their Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS). After investigating several products, it seems clear that the SS-ARS is the best option for our district for several reasons.
First, the SS-ARS offers adults and students the ability to submit an anonymous tip in three ways: 1.) Phone call, 2.) Website, 3.) iOS or Android App. Once our affiliation process has been completed with the Sandy Hook Promise team, we will have access to all three methods to submit a tip, and we plan to “push” the App using our Meraki system to all District owned iPads for the 2018-19 school year.
Secondly, we believe that their three step process will enable district officials and local law enforcement to receive actionable, life-saving tips more quickly than with other products due to their one-of-a-kind crisis center. Crisis counselors staff the crisis center 24-hours a day, 7-days per week to receive tips, and each counselor has an undergraduate degree, a minimum of 3-years of experience, and 500+ hours of crisis training.
Once a tip is received, it is “triaged and dispositioned” by a crisis counselor. Based on the assigned level of urgency, school officials and law enforcement officers are either notified immediately or during the next business day between 6AM and 6PM. Once notified, school officials and law enforcement can jointly assess the situation, intervene appropriately, and take protective actions.
Finally, Sandy Hook Promise representatives have agreed to work with the District to educate students and community members on the signs and signals associated with school violence. We believe that their unique trainings will help to foster an “up-stander” culture (active), rather than a bi-stander culture (passive).
The District is in the process of completing the affiliation process with Sandy Hook Promise to bring their Anonymous Reporting System to our community. As soon as I know more, I will update you here.