In the wake of the Parkland school shooting and all of the rhetoric being bandied about, I had some recent experiences at various schools while doing some delivery work I want to share. I was absolutely shocked at some of them. I also had a few key observations I would very much like to share with parents who have children in public schools. In today's climate we need to be vigilant and take interest in what is going on with our children. I personally feel that before we leap to gun grabs and even more infringement upon our personal liberties, we should examine the state of existing security measures in our schools systems.
I noticed around every school campus, we were never challenged by or even seen a hint of security until we were inside of the campus. Teachers and/or administrators were contacted through either an intercom system or by piggy backing into the building. Often times there would be multiple people waiting to be buzzed into the building and would enter after the first person was allowed access. Once inside, there were no security guards or police present in any obvious manner. Contact was made by entering the office to speak with someone, but one could easily slip down a hallway unnoticed in most schools. I am aware that most schools in this district use police officers as campus security, but their offices and presence aren't usually found near an entrance. The most disturbing event happened after we had spent 10 minutes unloading out front, transported all of the equipment into the campus past an unlocked gate, and waited outside of a building for 10 minutes waiting to be let in. A security guard happened to walk past a door and noticed we were standing there. When he walked out of the building, he asked us how we were able to get past the locked gate and why were we standing inside of the campus. That particular gate was to be kept locked at all times. This led me to conclusion that school and security should never be used in tandem.
Our schools are not secure. The measures that employed are simply not strong enough. I do understand that schools are supposed to be "learning", but that is a topic for another day. The one thing that really disgusts me is the fact that there are hard working parents that pass through more thorough security screening to guard their employer from theft than the measures that are being used to "secure" our schools. Let that sink in. There a few tweaks that could be made to greatly increase the safety and well being of children. First and foremost any security officer should be stationed at or near the front door. Security officers should handle security. They should scrutinize visitors, verify deliveries, and double check that entrances are secured and no one is loitering on grounds. They should be seen AND heard. One way auto locking door latches could be used on classroom doors. Two way locking doors on exterior doorways to control access into and out of the school. There are a plethora of existing and low cost options that could easily be implemented to thwart any would be attacker, but first and foremost should be a visible and active security presence that can do more than push papers in an office.