Local school officials gathered in Camarillo this week to prepare for the kinds of things they hope never happen in their schools: terrorism, bombs, mass shootings or other violent attacks.

"We as educators have to not be afraid about talking about something that scares us to death," said Velma Lomax, a Ventura Unified School District board member. She was one of dozens of trustees and district administrators from Oak Park to Ojai to attend a Ventura County School Boards Association meeting Wednesday night about campus safety.

They met in the Ventura County Office of Education conference center and heard from Ronald Stephens, executive director of the Westlake Village-based National School Safety Center, and Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg and Trustee Scott Swenson of the Hueneme School District.

A student was fatally shot in February during an English class at the district's E.O. Green School in Oxnard. The topic for the association dinner was chosen long before the shooting, but Dannenberg and Swenson were on hand to answer questions from other educators about lessons they might have learned over the past few months.

Stephens praised Hueneme officials for the "boldness of stepping out in the community" days after the shooting and holding a town hall-type meeting.

Dannenberg, however, urged other school district officials to hold such meetings before violence occurs.

He said he was impressed with the community's reaction. People didn't just assign blame, he said, but asked what they could do to help make sure nothing like the shooting ever happens again.

Other school officials Wednesday asked what they could do to spot problems before something violent occurs.

"You want to be prepared without creating a witch hunt," Stephens said. "It's really hard, because on the one hand, if you go too far, they say, Oh, you're profiling. You're being ridiculous.' And if you don't go far enough, it's like, Well, why didn't you see this coming?'"

The job is difficult, and it's easy for others to Monday-morning quarterback, Stephens said. There is a need to be more vigilant, but that responsibility needs to be shared with the community.

"Every time we add a layer of restriction and investigation, it's got to be done with the finest of thinking and ... the will of the local community on how you balance it all together," he said, adding there are "no easy answers."