Harford County School Safety Forum Draws Hundreds

BEL AIR, MD — The Harford County Sheriff's Office hosted a town hall on school safety Thursday evening that drew hundreds of concerned citizens. After 17 people were killed in the Valentine's Day massacre at a high school in Florida, many parents in Harford County said they were alarmed by threats at local schools.

"I with you and your children am invested in the safety of our schools from a personal standpoint," Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said. "My oldest has gone through Harford County Public Schools. My youngest is still a tenth grader at Bel Air High School."

In the aftermath of the Feb. 14 shooting in Florida, he said there was an influx of threats. "We follow up on every single thing that is brought to our attention," Gahler said. "In the past week and a half, we were pretty much doing nothing but following up on perceived threats."

The sheriff said that while social media may be tempting, a more efficient way of getting investigators to look into a threat was to call 911.

"When you see it and you share it with your closest 400 friends and then they start to share it, that creates a lot of additional investigative work...to follow back and see if there is any legitimacy to the threat," Gahler said. "If you see it and it concerns you, the quickest way to have us on it is to dial 911...."

Bel Air, Harford Technical and Havre de Grace High Schools were on alert due to threats that were not deemed substantiated since the Feb. 14 shootings in Parkland, Florida.

In addition, two girls at Edgewood High School were charged as adults after authorities said they wrote a threatening note on a desk in an attempt to get out of class.

"They weren't threatening the school, as in violence; they were threatening the school with fear because they simply wanted to take advantage of everyone's heightened feelings," Gahler said. He said that other threats did not rise to the level of probable cause, and so no charges were brought.

"In all the other incidents...there was no crime," Gahler said.

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County and school officials discussed plans in place for security and improvements at Harford County Public Schools.

"School systems from across the country, including Harford County Public Schools, have seen an unprecedented increase in threats and reports of threats since the Feb. 14 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida," Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Canavan said. Threats came in the form of phone calls, emails and social media posts, she said.

"Students who are found in Harford County Public Schools to have made a threat against a school have been immediately reported to law enforcement in addition to facing severe disciplinary action," according to Canavan.

Assuring the community of commitment to vigilance, Canavan reported that Harford County Public Schools was reviewing existing safety protocols, including active shooter and armed intruder training under the direction of Coordinator of Safety and Security Donoven Brooks.

A newly formed task force that will include school-based, central office and support staff will also be working with Brooks on updating safety plans, she said.

A topic on which those in attendance seemed divided upon was school resource officers (SROs), with some asking for more presence on campuses and others saying they were concerned about negative consequences of having law enforcement in schools.

Every high school in Harford County has a school resource officer except for alternative education, according to Gahler, who said two middle schools have officers as well.

Havre de Grace is the only jurisdiction in the county that has an SRO in every school, and its program is run through the municipal police department, according to the sheriff.

"We don't have the staff to have an SRO in every school," Gahler said. "If that's the road we eventually go down, we have to add staff to my agency and several other agencies, and that cannot happen overnight." Training an officer to be a deputy or a school resource officer takes months, he explained.

County Executive Barry Glassman said he was coordinating resources to increase access to mediation and mental health services "in response to this [recent] tragedy and others" across the country.

"School safety is just not a school problem," Glassman said. "It's a community problem, so we must come together as a community."

Harford County is ramping up its mediation programs, available to citizens — including students — who have been bullied, according to the county executive, who said they would be available "so we learn to talk to each other instead of resorting to violence." Details will be posted on the county website next week, he noted.

In the next two months, Harford County's community and emergency services personnel will offer free safety training as part of the "Prepare Because You Care"series.

Mental health was an area where Glassman said the county was making advances as well.

In January, he authorized funding in next year's budget for a 24-hour walk-in crisis center in partnership with University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake and the Harford County Health Department.

"This will assist in timely treatment so if you or a loved one or a student in their darkest hour needs someplace to go, I want someplace in this county open 24/7 with a 24/7 phone line [so] that we can get services to families and young people," Glassman said.

More details are expected on this program in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, "If you see something, say something. Our first line of defense is the collective vigilance [of] everyone in this room," Glassman said. "...our first responders are second to no one in the state of Maryland, so I know that they drill and they are prepared."

Added Glassman: "Coming here tonight, you have strengthened the safety net of every child" in Harford County.

The forum will be broadcast every Friday at 9 p.m. in March on Harford Cable Network. It will also be posted online.

• School Safety Forum Announced By Harford County Sheriff

Photo by Elizabeth Janney.