MSD addressing importance of safety and security

MEDFORD, Ore.- The Medford School District addressed the importance of safety and security during its work session Thursday night.

After the false alarm lockdown at Hedrick Middle School in February, the school board wanted an update on the district’s safety strategies. Ron Havinear, the Medford School District Security Director, discussed the importance of training, like the community emergency response exercise they did last summer, along with how school staff members interact with the students. He says having a supportive environment and genuine connections with students is one of the main contributors to keeping them safe.

“Our number one preventative measure in this is effective culture and climate. This is our number one preventative measure,” Havinear said, “And we cannot provide lip service to this concept, we have to do this for real”.

Lori Higgins, Principal of Hedrick Middle School, says the training and policies the district has in place kept everyone prepared and safe. She says she couldn’t be more thankful for the school resource officers who went to work right away.