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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (WXIX) – Northern Kentucky University is finishing its first-ever course on school safety, an online elective designed to give future school administrators a foundation for responding to crises, including school shootings.
The course is aimed at students pursuing careers as school principals and covers all aspects of school safety, according to NKU Associate Dean for the College of Education Ginger Blackwell.
“The idea is to focus on all aspects of school safety,” Blackwell said.
Course born from fear after Parkland
Blackwell said the course was developed after the Parkland school shooting, when student teachers began arriving with heightened fear about working in schools.
“We want to ensure that a lingering fear in the back of their mind doesn’t keep them from doing what they need to do to make the world a better place,” Blackwell said.
First-grade teacher among those enrolled
Vanessa Rush, a first-grade teacher in Erlanger, is enrolled in the course as she works toward becoming a principal. She said the anxiety around potential school crises is something educators understand.
“Unfortunately, I think it’s something we do have to deal with in this day and age. I think before taking this class it was a lot of panic and chaos,” Rush said.
Rush said teachers already know how to execute a lockdown or respond to a fire, but the course offers a broader view — including how to work with students to move past crises and prevent them.
“It’s important because then it’s not so much panic and chaos that comes out of the blue; it’s that I understand that they’re having a hard time, and how can I work with them and their family and outside resources to get them what they need,” Rush said.
Course wraps up next week
The course concludes next week. It has included talks and interviews with safety experts and parents of school shooting victims. Officials described it as a heavy course that has already generated significant interest from students.
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