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Police and educators: mental-health supports and relationships are central to school safety
Summary
A police chief and a panel of school safety professionals told the Keystone Education Report that bullying and social media are primary day-to-day threats, and that proactive mental-health supports, behavioral threat-assessment teams and parent engagement are critical to making students feel safe.
Christopher Robin Stein, chief of police for Silver Spring Township, told the program that his department focuses on "the individual level of bullying" and that "social media is a huge factor," urging parents to report concerns and to keep lines of communication open with children and law enforcement.
A three-person panel of educators — Dr. Michael Vukovich (superintendent), Dr. Aaron Skirban (director of safety and security, Allegheny Intermediate Unit) and Dr. Angela McMasters (school psychologist, Indiana Area SD) — emphasized that mental health and relationships are core elements of safety. "Safety and security are two related but different terms," Skirban said, distinguishing physical controls (access control, cameras, SROs) from whether students "feel safe," which he tied to meaningful adult–student relationships.
McMasters, who works with middle grades, said students are often carrying adult concerns such as food and insurance insecurity and are seeking mental-health supports: "A lot of students writing about just their basic needs," she said. Panelists recommended practical steps for families and districts: daily check-ins at home, parent advisory councils that review safety drills, transparent communication about threat-assessment teams, and building pro-social environments so students have trusted adults to turn to.
Panelists also described behavioral threat-assessment teams mandated across the Commonwealth to monitor baseline behavior and intervene when deviations persist, and they urged transparency so families understand the team's purpose and do not feel singled out. The program closed with a reminder that protecting students requires sustained cross-sector work rather than one-off spending.
