Kennewick board reviews safety response after Kamiakin threat, pledges follow-up and continued community engagement

The Kennewick School District Board of Directors heard updates Tuesday on school safety following a recent threat at Kamiakin High School and a district-held safety summit, with district leaders describing follow-up audits, an FAQ for community questions, and plans to fold safety needs into upcoming levy conversations.

District leaders said the summit drew strong turnout and produced questions the district will organize into thematic FAQs and responses for public distribution. Superintendent Hanson told the board the district has asked Kennewick Police Department (KPD) to conduct safety audits at every campus and that those audit findings will inform prioritized facility and program investments.

Board members and staff stressed the importance of student voice during the district’s response. Diego, the student representative to the Superintendent Student Advisory Council, reported students felt reassured by seeing a KPD cruiser at Kamiakin and said some students missed school after rumors; the student rep also described how the SAC is collecting student feedback to share with district leaders.

School safety staff and administrators described current staffing and how safety is funded. The district reported that 86 percent of students said they feel “safe, included, and welcome” on the districtwide survey (a repeat of last year’s result), and that 89 percent of students said they have at least one adult at school they can talk to. The district also reported increased safety personnel this year: school safety officers in elementary schools rose from 8 last year to 17 this year; middle schools have one security guard each, legacy has one, high schools have two guards, and the district coordinates with eight school resource officers (SROs) assigned to middle and high schools.

On funding, staff described SRO arrangements with KPD: the district receives quarterly invoices from KPD and pays the district’s contracted share; district staff said the invoices and contract will come before the board for any formal updates. Board members were told the district pays for the SROs’ contracted time on campus (staff characterized the invoiced portion as the district’s share of the officers’ cost while they serve in schools). School safety officers are district employees funded through district levies and program allocations, per the presentation.

Several board members and the superintendent said immediate follow-ups from the safety summit include publishing an FAQ, continuing community conversations (possibly additional events at other high schools), and conducting KPD-embedded safety reviews at each campus to identify physical-access fixes such as fencing and perimeter upgrades. The superintendent said findings from those reviews will be used to determine whether proposed changes should be included in the district’s upcoming levy asks.

Public comment at the start of the meeting included a resident who urged the board to address staff speech on social media after an out-of-district shooting, saying teachers “have a professional and moral duty to uphold the values of decency, empathy, and respect.” Other public commenters praised the district’s hiring of additional administrators at specific schools.

Board members said they will continue to explore both low-cost and capital investments to improve safety — including possible additions to levy proposals — and indicated further reporting and follow-up to the board and public are planned.