Elgin High School praised for response to stabbing

The Elgin High School community responded well to a worst-case scenario, district safety coordinator John Heiderscheidt told the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board Monday night.

"The incident was reported, it was isolated and it was handled," Heiderscheidt said of the January 18 stabbing of teacher Carolyn Gilbert by 16-year-old Angel Facio.

Two hours after the incident occurred, Elgin High staff members were debriefed. Those who were not present were left phone messages, Heiderscheidt said. Messages were sent out to parents within three hours.

Back at school on January 22, counselors were available to teachers and students. "Only 7 percent of students were absent that day, and that with a snowstorm in the morning," he said. Counseling were available at the school throughout last week, and continue to be available to staff, he said.

Last school year, a district-wide plan was designed by Heiderscheidt to tackle nearly any type of disaster that could befall a school.

Nearly 70 percent of the district's staff received lockdown and crisis management training, compared with 4 percent in 2005-06.

Heiderscheidt staged two tabletop exercises in the past year, simulating a chemical spill that forced a community-wide evacuation and a flu-pandemic outbreak.

He also traveled to local police and fire departments, holding safety summits for chiefs from U-46 communities.

Heiderscheidt's duties include acting as the point-person for local law enforcement agencies.

Briefing the school board last October, Heiderscheidt told members he hoped never to have to use the plan.

Communication is the key to handling a crisis, he said.

"Thank God we changed our system," board member Karen Carney said Monday. "Everyone involved in handling this incident is to be commended."

The district plans to conduct an after-action review and develop an action plan of "best practices" stemming from the Elgin High incident.

"This will take at least a month, probably two," Heiderscheidt said. "The staff (at Elgin) needs time to process."