The head of the Agency of Education is encouraging schools to review their security protocols, following the shooting of a social worker with the Department for Children and Families.
Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe encouraged Vermont schools to review and update emergency preparedness policies in a memo issued Monday.
“While our schools continue to be some of the safest places for our teachers, school administrators and children to be, these tragic events remind us that violence can reach us in our homes, our places of employment and even our schools,” Holcombe wrote.
Holcombe issued the memo days after Lara Sobel, a social worker, was shot Friday while leaving City Place, an office building in Barre that serves as the headquarters for the Vermont Agency of Education.
“This week has all of us at the AOE paying tribute to the incredible and brave work being done by so many, including at DCF and in schools, to make sure every Vermont child has a chance to grow up healthy and strong,” she wrote.
Holcombe recommends that schools make sure they have a team in place to coordinate emergency responses, review any current plans to ensure they are up-to-date, and coordinate safety plans with local first responders.
She also encouraged schools to revisit their visitor policies.
