Tuesday was a treat. Michelle Ivey, our Director of Victim Services and I met with the counselors of all the Fayette County schools. You may not know how important school counselors are to this community. I do.

When I recall my school days, I remember with fondness the counselors. They served as sponsors for clubs that I enjoyed. They helped navigate my way to college and, in the process, helped shape my dreams.

Now that I am District Attorney I see how valuable they are to public safety. They are the first to notice that a child has been physically abused. They recognize the red flags that alert us that a student is a danger to others. They are the ones to whom small children report sexual abuse. Increasingly, we look to the school counselors when we need a neutral person to honestly assess a situation involving a student.

As you can imagine, counselors are frequently subpoenaed to court as witnesses. That’s why I met with them. They wanted information about the court process and advice about how to testify. I saw the meeting as an opportunity to continue to build the alliance developing between law enforcement and the schools. Soon I’ll meet with the school nurses for the same reasons.

Everybody benefits when the people we trust to keep us safe communicate well and work together. This week we had two good examples.

Both Whitewater High School and McIntosh High School faced threats of violence from students. In both instances, school officials and law enforcement acted quickly and effectively and everybody was safe. We locked up those who posed the danger and then we investigated to honestly assess the severity of the threats.

No doubt, school counselors played a valuable role.