Every day, students, faculty and parents enter Ladue School District buildings by the thousands. It doesn’t matter if they’re coming to learn, teach or drop off a forgotten lunchbox; every single one of them has been considered by Safety and Security Coordinator Tim Reboulet.
“[As a teenager], I was always interested in law enforcement,” Reboulet said. “I wanted to give back and serve the community and protect people.”
After graduating from the University of Missouri, Reboulet began his career in law enforcement as a St. Louis County police officer. In 1999, Reboulet was hired by the U.S. Secret Service, where he worked in the president’s detail for former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He was often tasked with the organization of safe movements.
“I was in Beijing in 2008 for the Summer Olympics,” Reboulet said. “I was charged to go there in advance and create a security plan for all of the president’s movements in Beijing and then execute that plan when he arrived.”
Planning for safety at the Olympics is just one of Reboulet’s experiences.
“I was fortunate enough to travel to 70 different countries and be a part of Olympics, inaugurations and world events,” Reboulet said.
While working in the Secret Service, Reboulet’s greatest motivator was keeping people safe.
“That’s why the Secret Service ultimately was a good fit for me, because we protect the President, their family, the Vice President and world leaders,” Reboulet said.
Reboulet was a Special Agent for 22 years, and he didn’t just protect presidents; Reboulet was a part of the Washington Field Office’s Intelligence Division, where he collected and acted on intelligence. Although Reboulet didn’t expect to take a role at a school district, he got a glimpse of working in education before coming to Ladue.
“Throughout my career in law enforcement, I worked with schools,” Reboulet said. “The U.S. Secret Service created what we call the Safe School Initiative. We would study school shooters and what motivated them to carry out those attacks, because if you could understand why somebody did something, you could hopefully prevent it.”
Taking preventative measures was key in Reboulet’s role as a Secret Service agent. At Ladue, he employs that same approach.
“To be successful as a Safety and Security Coordinator, [I think] like the bad guy,” Reboulet said. “[I] think about what the threats are, then mitigate those threats.”
Reboulet has brought many lessons from the Secret Service to Ladue.
“At the White House, [I protected] the building and the people within, but also [allowed] people to come and go,” Reboulet said. “I want to treat each of our schools like the White House, making them as secure as possible, but allowing students and faculty to have their freedom within [without having] to think about safety and security.”
To create a free and secure environment, Reboulet stresses the importance of student communication.
“You’ve probably heard it a million times, but if you see something, say something,” Reboulet said.
