BUTTE — As classes are about to start up again, many educators were in Butte on Tuesday for the Jeremy Bullock School Safety Summit to learn how to keep their students and staff safe.
“How do we keep our school safe? How do we keep our kids safe? So we bring together a whole host of topics and experts in the field to educate our teachers and administrators about all of those topics,” said event organizer Ray Rogers.
The summit covered a variety of issues from bullying, mental health, COVID-19 precautions, even what to do in the event of an active shooter. The summit is named in memory of a Margaret Leary student who was tragically killed in a school shooting in Butte 26 years ago.
“And we don’t want to forget about that, right? And we do the summit every year to remember Jeremy and his memory, but to really talk about those issues that are so important about keeping kids safe,” said Rogers.
Keith Miller, principal at East Middle School, said they spent the past two years making the school's facility structurally safer so it will be a safe environment when kids return to class.
“Kids aren’t going to feel safe. And I think that’s the most important thing that people should walk out of here. We’re all agents of education, we’re all agents of learning, but it’s not going to happen if we don’t feel safe,” said Miller.