EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) says it is making progress on school safety changes. The district presented its plan Monday, months after an outside review of all 40 EVSC locations.In February, school officials teamed up with National School Safety and Security Services for a comprehensive survey. It gave feedback on how safety can improve. Officials say they got the results a couple of months ago and have been working to address them.“Really the key was establish priorities, especially those focused on prevention, being proactive rather than reactive, and really looking at everything and anything, trying to take in the end to create a multi-layered approach,” said Jason Woebkenberg, EVSC Chief Communications Officer.What’s already done or underwayOfficials say several items are completed or in progress. According to the presentation, they include:Safety leadership: The district filled a full-time safety office leader position in July 2026.Student behavior: The Office of School Culture has been streamlining K-12 behavior supports.Law enforcement partnership: EVSC and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office formalized a comprehensive memorandum of understanding during the 2025-26 school year.Police training: EVSC police are training with local law enforcement on building entry, emergency response and scenarios.Threat assessments: The district began standardizing threat assessment procedures across the corporation at the start of the 2026-27 school year.Cameras: The district has adopted a camera lifecycle and replacement plan. It also updated board policies on video access and retention.Emergency communication: The district tightened its structures for informing staff and families in an emergency.High-priority items still aheadThe district also listed 11 high-priority items. Among them:Increasing active supervision of students in common areasIncreasing “See Something, Say Something” signage and providing ongoing training for students and staffStandardizing security response protocols across the districtEvaluating school entry vestibules, access control systems and security cameras for repair or upgradeReviewing school resource officer coverage during and after school hoursTraining building administrators in Incident Command Structure and the reunification processFinalizing annual training for administrators on the district’s handheld wand weapons detection systemOther items include standardizing visitor check-in and building entry procedures and training non-instructional staff on safety procedures.“This is not just a wave of a wand. We are digging into this to where we’re making sure that we are doing the very best, most conscientious look at security so we keep our students as safe and our staff as safe as possible,” said Michael Duckworth, EVSC School Board President.Encouraging students to speak upThe plan calls for more signage encouraging students to speak up if they see something concerning. Henry Kathman, a North High School teacher, said he believes students want to help.“I do firmly believe as a public educator that our students want to be able to act in a safe learning environment. I also believe that fundamentally most students are more than willing to help us help them,” Kathman said.What’s nextThe district’s next steps are to identify the resources needed for each priority item, create short- and long-term implementation plans, and continue projects already started. It also plans to launch a new anonymous tip line from the Indiana Department of Education in January.Officials say the School Board will vote on the new plan at its next meeting. The district also plans to give parents and students quarterly updates.Copyright 2026 WFIE. All rights reserved.
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