Minnetonka Schools reports major safety improvements after 15-month overhaul
Minnetonka Public Schools presented a comprehensive update on school safety enhancements implemented over the past 15 months, including new emergency protocols, staff training, and partnerships with seven law enforcement agencies. The district aims to address ongoing community concerns about school security while maintaining a learning environment.
Superintendent David Law opened the meeting by emphasizing that safety is a top priority for parents, teachers, and staff. "We take the responsibility of providing a safe place for students to learn and for staff to work very seriously," Law said.
Scott Gerer, the district's Security and Emergency Management Coordinator, outlined major initiatives completed since his arrival. The district has upgraded physical security at buildings, developed a unified emergency procedures manual accessible to all administrators and staff, and coordinated with law enforcement agencies serving the area. Notably, Minnetonka became the first school district invited to participate in regional active shooter response training alongside law enforcement officers—a move that established shared understanding of emergency protocols.
The district also standardized emergency terminology aligned with the I Love You Guys Foundation framework. Under the new system, a "Secure" protocol addresses external threats (such as police activity outside the building), a "Hold" addresses internal non-critical situations like medical emergencies, and "Lockdown" addresses active threats inside the building. Minetonka High School staff and students have already been trained to distinguish between these threat levels.
Additionally, the district partnered with the I Love You Guys Foundation to develop reunification training—procedures for evacuating schools and reuniting students with parents. A two-day training was conducted for 60 staff members, with a condensed four-hour version created for broader staff training across all buildings.
Executive Director of Communications Jackie Getty noted that the district distributed a gun storage safety initiative letter signed by both Hennepin and Carver County Sheriffs to all families. Survey data shows over 95% of parents report feeling their child's school is safe year-over-year, yet consistently request continued safety improvements. "You can't get too safe," Getty said, reflecting community sentiment. The district plans to evaluate emerging security technologies, including surveillance systems and staff communication devices, as part of ongoing enhancements.
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Notable Quotes (12)
Safety is something on all parents minds and on the minds of our teachers and staff and we take the responsibility of providing a safe place for students to learn and for staff to work very seriously
I grew up in the Minetonka school district I've lived in the district my entire life and have three daughters that went through Minetonka schools and I spent about three decades in law enforcement before coming to the school district as security coordinator
Initially it was really just learning more about the district and what was already in place both from a security standpoint whether that be physical security or plans and preparedness and there's been a lot of great things that have been done within the district especially as it relates to our buildings to make them more safe and secure for everyone
We have regular meetings both formal and informal with law enforcement I was just meeting with the representative from Minetonka Police Department yesterday on an issue so certainly the relationship we have with the SRO but we have a very good relationship with all the law enforcement agencies that serve our school district
Every spring law enforcement does a regional response training to train their officers and their supervisors how to respond in the event of an active shooter situation we were the first school district to be invited to participate and attend that same training so myself Jackie and our director Health Services attended that all day training alongside law enforcement
When he talked about the reunification process we looked at several different groups landed on the I Love You Guys Foundation then really worked with them closely to determine what did we need because they had a lot of different approaches that they could take and we helped them craft that two-day training for 60 of our people
We have an emergency procedures manual it's not that we didn't have emergency procedures in the past but we really didn't have a comprehensive manual that everybody in every school every leader was going by and so to be able to pull that all together and make that people felt like there was always a plan
A secure situation might be a situation where there's something of a threatening nature outside the school district that could be some type of police action or something going on outside we actually just had a recent example at Minetonka high school where we went into a secure mode and this simply means that any staff or students that are outside the building would come inside the building we would make sure all those exterior doors are locked school and classes would go on as normal
A hold that's a situation that doesn't rise to let's say the level of a lockdown but that's a situation where there may be something taking place in the school say in a hallway we've had a couple scenarios like this where there've been a medical situation involving a student or staff member something that we need to bring in let's say First Responders to take care of a situation
Although parents tell us year-over-year that more than 95% of them say that they feel that their school that their child's in is safe they will also say you can't do enough with safety keep our schools safe do more with safety it's come up on staff surveys it came up on the facility study task force survey it's come up in community surveys and it's not because they don't feel our buildings are safe it's because you can't get too safe
There's also things like technology that can help us improve safety at our facilities whether that is physical structure security at our schools which is constantly involving or whether that's device that we can offer to whether that be staff members or cameras in our school district things that will help us provide an overall picture of what's happening within our school district
Training is not a one and done situation and as we all know the threat environment across our country changes quite rapidly so we will continue to offer training each and every year to our staff because we tend to do what we are trained to do and the last time to learn about how you should respond during an emergency is during that emergency
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
Comprehensive manual developed to standardize emergency response procedures across all schools and administrative levels; available online for administrators and in physical format for staff reference
Gun storage safety communication distributed to all families; co-signed by Hennepin County Sheriff and Carver County Sheriff; developed through law enforcement partnerships
Internally-produced training video incorporating I Love You Guys Foundation terminology and processes; features law enforcement, EMS, and fire officials; used for staff training across all buildings
Two-day comprehensive training developed in partnership with I Love You Guys Foundation for 60 staff members; condensed into 4-hour presentation for additional staff training; addresses evacuation and parent reunification protocols
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Other Topics from This Document
Reunification Training and Crisis Response Protocols
Emergency Terminology Standardization
Law Enforcement Partnership and Coordination
Staff Training and Ongoing Preparedness
Communications Strategy for Safety Initiatives
Community Perception and Safety Confidence
Future Safety Technology and Infrastructure Enhancements
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