We performed this inspection of the Moencopi Day School to determine the quality of safety measures in place to prevent violence against students and staff from internal and external threats. The quality of safety measures in place at Moencopi Day School was inadequate.
Specifically, Moencopi Day School did not have a comprehensive emergency plan. In addition, training on violence prevention and emergency preparedness was inadequate. As a result, the school's response to a gunman on campus in November 2013 was to inadvertently evacuate the students outside rather than locking down the campus. Fortunately, no one was injured during this incident. Despite training on crisis procedures following the incident, the school could not properly lock down the campus during our visit in January 2014.
Further, of the 18 safety measures we reviewed, Moencopi Day School did not have 12 in place. While no single safety measure is so critical that its absence at an educational facility is cause for immediate concern, we found that the more safety measures not in place, the less prepared the school is to respond to an incident.
We provide three recommendations to help Moencopi Day School improve its safety measures and its violence prevention and emergency preparedness training.