AUBURN - In an era of school violence, local school districts remain vigilant in protecting their students, and are enlisting parents, administrators, teachers, staff and students for help.

Policies and procedures in the case of violent incidents are in place for Cato-Meridian and the Auburn Enlarged City School Districts. Building lock-downs, evacuation plans and maintaining visitor logs are just some of the security measures in place. Auburn has security cameras which they are updating for digital feed; Cato-Meridian is in the process of installing cameras as part of an EXCEL grant.

But instead of waiting for violent offenses to occur, these school districts are trying to stop the behavior before it starts, using the observations of parents, school staff and students, character education and establishing a trusting environment in the school as a way to provide help for students who need it.

“I firmly believe that everything begins in the family,” said Debra Bobo, superintendent of the Cato-Meridian Central School District. “I think the family and school partnership is paramount and communication needs to take place. Parents are the first to notice behavior. If school staff notices behavior first, dialogue needs to flow freely from the school to the home.” Bobo sees incidences of school violence as a failure of communication and a reflection of a deeply ingrained, systematic problem.

Students need people in the school to talk to if they need help, she said. And the school needs resources to help them.

“You have to have a trusting relationship,” she said, “so kids can report and you can get to the bottom of it.”

Last week, Asa Coon, a 14-year-old student at SuccessTech Academy, near downtown Cleveland, walked the halls of his school with a gun in each hand, shooting five people and killing himself in a classroom.

“Why was he an outcast? Why did he rebel in that drastic, tragic way? What signs and indicators was he giving to the school staff?” Bobo asked, referring to Coon and the staff at SuccessTech Academy. “I think we have a responsibility and obligation to know which students are outcasts or loners.”

And certainly establishing a trusting environment for students is one way to ensure safety. But the students also have a role, and Cato-Meridian and Auburn have both embedded character education into the daily routine, emphasizing the need for students to respect one another and their feelings and property. The theory is the education would lead to a willingness of students to report violations of respect, fights - both verbal and physical - and will make them better citizens later in life.

And in the case of Auburn, the character education has already made a difference.

Joseph D. “J.D.” Pabis, superintendent of Auburn schools, said that an altercation was averted at the end of last year because students reported the conflict to teachers before it escalated into violence.

Character education is integrated in education in Auburn, with students reciting daily some version of the Character Pledge - a pledge that affirms the idea to be respectful to others.

“It's reminding students constantly that there are other students around us and we should respect their feelings and space,” he said.

“It's an inclusion model to work with students and hopefully it becomes a way of life,” he added.

Pabis noted that no school is completely safe; there are incidences of school violence the same way there are substance abuse issues, he said.

For the 2005-2006 school year, Cayuga County school districts reported 46 incidences of assault, 19 incidences of reckless endangerment, 447 reports of minor altercations, 200 incidents of intimidation and 29 reports of weapons possession, according to the state Department of Education.

School safety is of the utmost importance for districts. But how to prevent school violence is oftentimes a difficult question to answer, Pabis said.

“If there was a magic answer Columbine wouldn't have happened. Virginia Tech would never have happened,” he said. “What we do is ask our staff if they notice any irregularity in a student's behavior, to report it to an administrator or counselor and let the professionals, especially the counselors, deal with it.”

Pabis also noted that schools were physically designed to be “open, welcoming, lots of space and open light,” and were not meant to be secure facilities. The security technology has caught up with the times, he said, but the physical plant has not.

Though these superintendents place emphasis on the support of staff and parents, they also recognize the need for technology to supplement their work.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on Wednesday a proposed bill to provide school districts federal funding so they can purchase security cameras and metal detectors, establish safety hotlines and foster deeply ingrained partnerships with law enforcement.

“In too many of our schools across upstate New York, violent incidents mar places that are supposed to be safe havens for learning. Parents should be concerned about their children hitting the books, rather than concerned for their safety,” he said in a news release. “This bill will spur the federal government to lend a helping hand to local school districts so they have the funding they need to incorporate safety measures that will provide our students with the safe learning environments they need and deserve.”

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239.