The Silver Falls School District School Board received an ODE safety and security site assessment and an update on the district’s response to a recent swatting incident during the July meeting.

Superintendent Kim Kelson said the ODE team assessed each building and recommended low‑cost fixes and procedural changes as well as larger investments such as expanded camera coverage and intercom upgrades. Kelson said the ODE team praised the district’s school pride, cleanliness and knowledgeable site leaders but flagged concerns including incomplete camera coverage, inconsistent door locks, blocked exit doorways and limited principal coverage at small campuses.

Kelson outlined several district responses: a centralized district safety committee that will meet monthly and include rotating local police and fire participation; a new functional‑needs form for evacuation planning; updated classroom posters and evacuation maps; and regular tabletop exercises for administrators. She said the district will keep building‑level safety teams and require site teams to submit minutes or notes to the district office to inform the central committee.

Board members and staff discussed capacity issues raised by small buildings that sometimes lack a full‑time principal. Kelson said the state (PACE/ODE) recommends both site teams and a districtwide committee and that the district will work to balance safety needs with budget constraints; she noted stipend reductions had been a prior cost‑saving measure.

Kelson and staff described lessons from a swatting incident: law enforcement changed a reunification site at the time, and some procedures had to be adapted. The district conducted a debrief — or “hot wash” — with ODE and local law enforcement; Kelson said the building lockdown and exit worked well in one building but that the transfer to the middle school was “on the rougher side.” The district plans reunification practice, improved communications templates for parents and an emergency operations manual.

The ODE assessment also recommended improving intercoms in high‑volume spaces and adding protective window film, signage and evacuation aids in some areas. Kelson said some recommended changes are straightforward and inexpensive and other items — notably more cameras and certain alarm work — will require funding and may be proposed in future grants, including a COPS grant application she said the district will resubmit next cycle after technical access issues delayed one application.