A Hopkinton parent concerned about student safety in the Hopkinton Public Schools is planning on submitting an article for the May 2025 Annual Town Meeting to call for a safety assessment, potentially leading to the use of metal detectors in the schools to deter potential school shootings and other acts of violence.

“I’m quite passionate about safety,” said Sean Burtt, a parent of three HPS students, in a recent interview with the Independent.

Burtt and his wife, Andrea, are hoping to start a coalition of parents to discuss school safety. Andrea created a Change.org petition pushing for more school safety measures. The petition garnered 157 signatures as of Oct. 23.

National issues prompt response

Sean Burtt, an actuary, is passionate about data. He analyzed a Washington Post database to determine the national trend in school shootings from 1999-2023. They spiked in 2018 to 30 from 15 the previous year. There also was an increase upon the return to school in 2021 during the pandemic. The number rose from 42 in 2021 to 46 in 2022, a record high for that period.

“When we were growing up, there weren’t school shootings,” said Burtt. “The first big one was Columbine,” the 1999 incident in Colorado in which 12 students and a teacher were killed by two students who then shot themselves.

“I really started paying attention after the Georgia story,” Burtt said. News reports indicated in that Sept. 4 shooting, two teachers and two students were killed, and nine others were injured.

Burtt then went to HPS Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh with his concerns. He said she invited him to a late-September School Safety Task Force meeting, where he was allowed to speak for 30 minutes.

Swatting incident leads to action

The School Safety Task Force meeting Burtt attended preceded the swatting incident that occurred at Hopkinton High School on Oct. 1. Although it was deemed a hoax by police, it raised additional concerns for Burtt, who has a son who attends HHS and two sons who go to Hopkinton Middle School.

“It was scary for my kids,” he said. “People weren’t really sure what was happening.”

Burtt’s hope is that a Town Meeting article on funding for a safety assessment of the district’s schools would “get people talking about school safety.”

“We need to get some consultants in so that we know what our vulnerabilities are and the cost to implement something,” he said. “Consultants would give an objective perspective, not some fear-based one.”

Said Burtt: “Some people say, ‘We’re Hopkinton. We have an image to protect.’ But this is a national problem.”

Superintendent, HPD, HFD respond

In an interview with the Independent on Oct. 23, Cavanaugh stressed that she takes “a very earnest approach” regarding the safety of the district’s students. She explained that the School Department “works closely with the police” in developing safety plans. In addition, “There is a Crisis Response Team in every building.”

She added that HPD responded to the swatting incident “in under four minutes.” She shared this information in her Oct. 11 superintendent’s blog posted on Oct. 20. She stated that there is a “chasm of disparity between the actual danger and the level of response in a swatting incident.” While HPD highly suspected a hoax, “They still approached the situation as if it were ‘real.’ ”

On Oct. 23, the middle school had an ALICE drill, when, she said, “The students did not exit the building with their hands raised.” The acronym stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. ALICE drills are conducted periodically, although not for elementary school students, Cavanaugh explained.

Cavanaugh gave a presentation at the Oct. 24 School Committee meeting regarding school safety procedures as part of her superintendent’s report.

“Naturally, there are some things we do not share publicly, as to do so would compromise our ability to keep students and staff safe,” she explained via email. “There is a lot that happens, which I don’t believe townspeople are aware of.”

She noted in her presentation that one student previously commented, “My school is a bit scary to me because at the start of the year there were many false fire alarms.”

The superintendent said there are situations where a student with a potential mental health issue can be identified through social media posts and other activities that will alert staff of the need for the student to receive counseling.

Stressed Cavanaugh: “We are very good at providing support services.”

Regarding the Town Meeting article Burtt proposed, she explained via email that she ”will wait to see if the resident brings an article forth to Town Meeting in May and if the voters approve a feasibility study. It is only through a feasibility study that we can come to understand the costs.”

Cavanaugh also invited concerned parents to attend the School Safety Task Force meetings, which happen four or five times per year.

Lt. Scott van Raalten in an Oct. 23 email gave the HPD’s perspective on school safety measures. He noted that the Sgt. Matthew Santoro, the school resource officer, teaches the ALICE program to all beginning HPS teachers.

Added van Raalten: “Each year, the building administrators coordinate a review of ALICE protocols (differentiated at each building depending on the ages of the schoolchildren) for all school staff, explaining both the protocols adopted by the school and our department.”

“School safety plans, generally, are ever-evolving, as they are updated based on information shared at School Safety Task Force Meetings, concerns raised by building-level Crisis Response Teams, current research and consultation with the HPD,” he continued.

Van Raalten also addressed concerns about the swatting incident.

“Regarding the swatting incident, we have received training that prepares us for situations involving swatting and bomb threats, which we have encountered in the past,” he stated. “We maintain constant communication with the [Massachusetts State Police] Fusion Center and receive updates on current trends both locally and nationally.”

Continual training plays a role in an officer’s duties, van Raalten explained. He noted that the HPD Communications Department underwent training from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force within the past eight months on how to handle potential phone threats. In addition, officers recently completed active shooter response training.

“We regularly update our procedures to include best practices,” he continued. “We consistently consult with school administrators to share pertinent information and keep them informed about current trends. Our next training phase involves conducting joint exercises with our mutual aid partners and the Fire Department.”

Hopkinton Fire Chief Gary Daugherty said in an interview on Oct. 24 that he was at an active shooter training on the day of the swatting, which he found ironic. He explained that when situations like this occur, a mutual aid chief from a neighboring town will go to the scene, along with all firefighters.

“For things like this, we do a full department recall,” he said.”There is a minimum of five firefighters on duty. Off-duty firefighters are called to the scene as well.”

On the day of the swatting, he said there was a shift lieutenant, two paramedic ambulances and a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) response team at the scene with the mutual aid chief. Eight people were on duty at the time, and six off-duty firefighters were called to HHS.

Daugherty added that the department “does have a standard operating procedure” for active shooter incidents. It is modeled after the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 3000 plan, “which is the standard plan used.”

“Whenever we test our plan, we treat it like a house fire and do a full department recall,” he explained. “There is always room for improvement. I am never against testing our plan.”