One week after the hostage crisis at a Russian school, local school districts are reviewing and, in some cases, updating their own security procedures.

E. Comet Burley, the assistant superintendent for administration and pupil services at Champaign schools, said the Russian tragedy has caused Champaign to take another look at security measures.

“From my vantage point, I’ve talked to and e-mailed all our principals,” Burley said. “Each one will have to submit a crisis management plan to me by the end of the month. After that, we’ll have a crisis management team on each campus to respond to any situation.”

Burley said each principal had been given a Prevention Awareness Checklist to help secure his or her campus. The checklist asks the schools to review procedures for employment screening and physical security of bus yards and garages. It also asks them to review transportation security and train their employees to recognize and report suspicious activity.

“Every school is required by state statute to have a crisis management plan,” he said. “It must be updated each year and as the personnel in the crisis management team change.”

While recent events have made people more aware of school security, Burley said it has been a continuing concern for schools.

“With Columbine still in our minds and the incident in Springfield yesterday (when a gunman shot and killed a guard at the State Capitol), we’re always trying to make sure we’re on the same page,” he said. “The main thing is to raise everyone’s level of awareness.”

Kathy Jessup, public relations coordinator for Urbana public schools, agreed that security has been a top priority for many years.

“Most school districts after Columbine went through reviews of their security procedures, and again after 9-11,” she said.

Jessup said the Urbana security procedures weren’t written by school officials but by city officials who are more familiar with those concerns.

“Urbana’s procedure was written by the Urbana Police Department and Urbana Fire Rescue Service,” she said. “School officials aren’t trained in these things; law enforcement and emergency officials need to develop these plans.”

The plans are complicated for several reasons, Jessup said, including the many different situations that could arise.

“Each response is different,” she said. “You might want to keep the students in the building, you might want to get them out – it all depends on what the situation is.”

Jessup said the plans are also complicated by the nature of terrorism.

“The bad thing about a terrorist is he’s not going to look any different from you or me,” she said. “It complicates the procedures.”

However, there are procedures that account for that, Jessup said. Illinois law requires any visitors to check in at the school’s office, two Urbana schools have visitors buzz for entry and all Urbana schools leave only their front doors unlocked.

“People can’t come at us from all sides,” she said.

Kathleen Patton, principal of University High School, said her school’s security has been easier to manage because of the school’s size.

“It’s a much easier task at a school like University High because it’s a smaller school and we know all our students by name,” she said. “At the larger, suburban schools I’ve worked at, there’s so many people that there could be strangers in the building and we wouldn’t necessarily know. We’re very lucky to be such a tight-knit community.”

Patton said University High, as well as any school district, is committed to student safety.

“Columbine was a major force in American schools,” she said. “It’s certainly nothing new since then. We review our security plans constantly. Obviously, after education, student safety is our priority.”