Journal & Topics Media Group

Parents Express Communications Concerns In Niles High School Dist. 219

Security Audits Announced At West, North Campuses

Niles West Principal Jason Ness discusses recent safety and security incidents at Niles North and an October incident at Niles West at a safety meeting with parents at West last week.

After recent threats at Niles North High School, and the memory of last month’s Florida school shooting fresh in minds, Dist. 219 officials held parallel meetings at both district schools to discuss security and hear from parents.

At the meetings, district administrators said they would soon hire an outside firm to conduct a security audit of both schools. Comments were recorded in smaller breakout groups, some of which recalled students’ experiences and reactions by parents, as students and parents learned of a Feb. 21 bomb threat and a Feb. 23 threat made through social media, both at Niles North in Skokie.

An estimated 90 people, mostly parents, met at Niles West High School for a meeting led by Principal Jason Ness. Between 100 and 150 people met at Niles North for a meeting led by Supt. Steven Isoye. Both meetings took place the evening of Thursday, March 8.

Niles North High School.

Isoye and five school board members made their way to Niles West after attending the Niles North meeting.  

Ness recalled a recent lockdown in October when a student brought a pellet gun to Niles West, which was observed, reported and treated as if it were actual firearm until the situation was fully investigated.

Concerns and suggestions made at the meeting and smaller breakout sessions were recorded and would be given to auditors. Isoye said district officials are making inquiries of companies to understand what is involved in conducting such an audit along with costs.

Isoye said the incidents, in which no one was injured, were effectively a test of school security protocols.

One concern by parents was the lightning speed information, not always correct or verified, flying back and forth through text messaging and social media about unfolding threats.

During the October weapons threat, messages were circulating on Facebook identifying the student with the weapon, but that information turned out later not to be true. Skokie police said they used Facebook during the bomb threat as a way to quickly disseminate accurate information. One parent said they hadn’t thought to check the police social media page.

Skokie police said they also have school resource officers at each campus with the backing of a large force of detectives and street officers ready to respond to any major school incident.

Skokie police at the West meeting said often times, these types of security incidents are fluid and quickly evolving, meaning what might be true at one point might not be just 10 minutes later.

Several parents complained emergency messaging coming from the school was only in English. Ness acknowledged the issue, saying the difficulty is students and families speak as many as 70 primary languages.

Some parents questioned specific security measures, such as why there is only one security person stationed at the main door handling multiple tasks at once, and how security keeps non-students out in the morning when they all arrive at once.

One mother said her sophomore-aged son knew it was not a drill when he heard helicopters above.

Another West parent said her child was not scared as the bomb threat unfolded because they knew the threat was at North, but was somewhat traumatized after the event.

Assistant West Principal Mark Rigby said, although widespread announcements discussing the availability of counselors were not made at West, teachers were instructed to be on the lookout for students who might benefit from counseling and see that they recieve it.

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