Arlington Schools To Include More Details About Threats In Messages

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington Public Schools plans to adjust how it communicates with parents and the rest of the school community by providing more details about security threats at schools in the county, according to the school division’s superintendent.

Due to increased concerns about safety and security at county schools, the superintendent on Tuesday also highlighted the responsibilities of the school division's school safety coordinators that it now relies upon for security.

In an update to the school community, Francisco Durán, superintendent of Arlington Public Schools, said he had been reflecting on how APS communicated with the school community about recent incidents that had occurred at schools in the county.

“We will be making changes moving forward,” Durán said in a Feb. 8 superintendent’s update. “If there is a police presence at school, or any threat to safety, we will alert the school community affected as soon as possible. Moving forward, all messages regarding school safety will include the nature of the threat in as much detail as we are able.”

In evaluating some of the recent communications with the APS community, there were cases where school officials did not include information about the nature of the threat. “So we need to ensure this happens consistently,” he said.

Two weeks ago, a Wakefield High School student died from a suspected drug overdose. Wakefield also was placed on lockdown as Arlington County Police officers searched the school for a potentially armed trespasser. Classes were canceled at Wakefield on Friday, Feb. 3 to give students time to process the death of the student and the lockdown that occurred on Thursday, Feb. 2.

It is unclear whether the school system could have provided additional information to the school community about either incident that occurred at Wakefield.

In his Feb. 8 update, Durán said there are three instances when APS cannot share detailed information about an incident:

• In a medical emergency, APS notifies families that there is an ambulance at the school due to a medical emergency, to provide reassurance that there is not a broader threat. The school division cannot share any further information with the school community as part of its legal obligation to maintain student’s private medical information.
• When a school receives a threat of violence under active police investigation, APS works closely with the Arlington County Police Department to ensure APS does not jeopardize an investigation by releasing confidential or inaccurate information ahead of the police report. Once the investigation is complete and the report has been posted, APS can share it with families.
• In most cases, APS cannot provide specific information about disciplinary action related to individuals involved in making threats or other unsafe behaviors, due to student privacy.

In the Feb. 2 incident, police were dispatched to Wakefield at about 12:30 p.m. for the report of a trespasser. Initial information received by Arlington County’s Emergency Communications Center indicated the trespasser was known to carry a firearm, police said. But no weapon was observed during the incident, according to police.

The school was placed on lockdown as police investigated the incident. Police ultimately determined the trespasser was not currently on school property, and students were dismissed on time.

In June 2021, the Arlington School Board voted to remove school resource officers from its schools. The vote was in line with recommendations made by both Durán and a work group that spent the 2020-21 school year studying the issue.

Instead of police officers, APS is now using specialized school safety staff at its schools. After the recent incidents, Durán wanted to highlight the role of these school safety coordinators.

"Due to increased concerns regarding safety & security, I want to highlight the responsibilities of our School Safety Coordinators (SSCs), the mandated training required for SSCs, and how they support safe learning and work environments in our schools," Durán said in a tweet Tuesday.

In Arlington, school safety coordinators, or SSCs, seek to create a safe learning and work environment at middle and high schools. SSCs also provide support to elementary schools, rotating between all 25 elementary schools in the county.

All SSCs are required to have a School Security Officer certification through the state of Virginia, which is a non-law enforcement certification designed to provide additional resources and training for those providing safety and security functions within schools.

SSCs are required to adhere to all Department of Criminal Justice Services requirements and regulations, and School Safety Officer Licensure Manual and Regulations. The training program from DCJS consists of 16 hours of initial training, with additional continuing education every two years.

Arlington's SSC training program will include 60 hours of initial training with additional continuing education every year, APS says on its webpage about SSCs.