I received a call one evening from my director of security indicating that Gaggle had flagged a document that a student had written.
In that document, the student was actually writing a suicide note to his family.
Sharing some pretty exact details of a plan with some goodbyes.
Telling them not to blame themselves for his actions.
Using words that Gaggle actually noticed as threatening and as concerning.
And it was clear that this was a unique situation and a very serious one.
Within half an hour, we had police at the student’s house—we were in conversation with the student’s parents.
The student was taken to crisis intervention and hospitalized for the issues that he was dealing with.
I’m just thankful that we were made aware, we could intervene, and we could help this child.
The Gaggle program has just been very helpful to us as we look at safety and security needs here.
But even if it can just help us save one life, then it is well worth the time, energy, and money that it takes to help us keep our students safe.
The school cannot be the sole provider and the sole protector of our students—we truly have to work as a community.
I sent an email out to our administrative team the next day saying, “We saved a life last night.”
It’s not an email that I’ve ever sent before in my 16 years as a superintendent, and I hope I never have to send it again.
However, I’m reassured knowing that we have this system in place that can help us to help students.