KEARNEY, Nebraska (KSNB) – Kearney Public Schools is introducing a new safety initiative for the upcoming school year.
KPS will use an app called Safe2Help that will allow parents, students and staff in the district to anonymously report any concerning behavior, including bullying, threats or concerns about self-harm.
Once a report is submitted through the app, it is sent to a trained crisis counselor at Boys Town for immediate assessment. From there, a team within the school reviews the information to assess the situation and find the best solution to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
Team members may include school administration, staff, counselors, and teachers.
Jeff Schwartz, KPS director of safety and security, said adding another way to report concerns to the district will hopefully encourage more people to do so.
“I’m excited to have another tool that can improve our district. Often times we prefer to say, ‘Hey, call!’ If something is going on, if there’s a crisis, we hope those calls come to our school, but not everyone wants to do that,” Schwartz said. “They want to remain anonymous, and this gives them the opportunity to do that, and it might bring something to light that we didn’t know about.”
While the district hopes the app will lead to more reports, it still prefers calls to the office, especially for serious matters.
“We always prefer the phone call because the more details we get the better. But not everyone is willing to do that, so for us this is just another way to increase security,” Schwartz said.
The app is not exclusive to KPS; many other districts across the state already use it.
Schwartz said they plan to promote the app at back-to-school events and via email to parents.
To learn more about the Safe2Help app, click here.
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