BOLINGBROOK — Valley View School District School Safety Coordinator Leroy Brown and three members of the Bolingbrook Police Department visited with faculty and staff members at Oak View Elementary School Tuesday morning.

An informational session intended to clarify and inform staff about safety procedures, Brown answered questions and discussed the most effective practices to ensure child safety.

“We all have to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our students safe,” Brown told the group.“But we need your help because you’re the ones who have to keep our kids safe.”

Brown discussed general Valley View procedures during lockdowns, while Sgt. Jeff Drabek and officers Nick Reedy and Steve Furtek detailed the police department’s role should an incident occur in or near a school.

“We are far ahead of other school districts when it comes to security plans,” said Brown, informing Oak View staff that the advice of district officials is in great demand at regional, statewide and national school safety conferences.“And we have very good police departments in this area. They train thousands of hours on this and their response time is very fast.”

Brown stressed the importance of taking every drill seriously, whether it’s a fire drill, a soft lockdown drill, or a hard lockdown drill.

“Practice does not make perfect. It makes habit,” he said.

Brown then answered questions pertaining to the new security systems, emergency drills, lockdown protocol and panic alarm activation.