Parents of the HS Class of 2018 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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I don’t think one can ever just walk in to our local schools at any time, from K through 12. Each person has to be buzzed in. For special activities, a group monitors at the door to check who is coming in and out. Except for evening concerts, etc., visitors all sign in. I thought this was true everywhere.

Two police officers are in residence at the high school and there is frequent police presence at the elementary and middle school. At our private high school, a private security force of ex-military is brought in. And this is relatively safe suburbia.

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I was going to say S’s school is the same as @bearcatfan re security but now I’m not so sure it really is fully secure during the school day. Because sports teams are graded classes with daily scheduled class periods, during the school day some athletes need to get in and out between the school and their outdoor sports areas. When S was on the cross country team I think there was at least one side door that was open during their school-day activity period for athlete access to the gym and locker rooms, but I may be wrong. So in addition to having many unmanned points of entry outside school hours as @bearcatfan described the school possibly also isn’t fully secure during the school day. It’s a scary thought.

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Our high school is open before school and after school but locked down during school day, they buzz you in and then you can only go through the office and you have to show ID. This year for the elementary school, they changed it and they don’t let parents enter the school to drop the kids off, they let us walk kids to the door and say goodbye, which I think is much safer. Last year, we were allowed to walk into the school and walk our 1st and 2nd graders all the way to their classrooms unchecked. Who knows who could have been entering the schools! Even though it was nice to walk my 1st grader to her classroom last year, I’d rather give that up and drop her off outside the school and have no unknown adults entering the school and keep all the kids safe.

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@grandscheme being from Pittsburgh Joe Flacco is no draw…lol. Btw he started at Pitt before transferring to udel

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The problem with security is it doesn’t do anything if it’s a student causing the violence :frowning:

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Our high school has this no backpack rule which my kids really hate. They are allowed to bring their backpack to school but then they have to leave it in their locker all day. They can’t take it with them to class at all. And the school does lots of random locker searches, too. My daughter got called to the principal’s office for having Tylenol and razors (for shaving her legs- not empty blades) in her backpack in her locker because her father and I are divorced she often leaves stuff in her backpack when she goes between houses, it was an honest mistake. She didn’t get in trouble, but she was embarrassed. The school is just being careful. They were looking for weapons and drugs, too. I’m okay with that.

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DS’ school had 2 fire alarms yesterday resulting in 2 evacuations of the building. Principal came out on all forms of announcements, email, social media to let everyone know it was due to a faulty detector but it did put everyone on edge after Florida. Detector was replaced yesterday.

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That’s actually what I was alluding to @amominaz; in S’s large school it’s statistically likely that some students or recent former students or teachers have thought about doing something terrible at school. The lack of complete 24 hour security means that a person who “belongs” at the school could pretty easily stash things in the school during an unsecured time, for use the next day. I’ve been in the school a hundred times outside normal school hours and at different times of day. I have never once seen a school cop inside the building during off hours. I’ve never once been questioned by anyone about why I was there, even if I was alone and without any visible identifier such as my PTO badge. I don’t “look” suspicious, just a nondescript woman in her 40s, but lots of people don’t “look” suspicious.

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There was a power outage at the big high school school around the corner from me (my kids don’t go there but lots of my friend’s kids do) and my friend’s daughter said there were a bunch of kids in her class freaking out about it thinking someone cut the power so they could come in and shoot people. Horrible the kids have to even think that could be a possibility.

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My D says she doesn’t really enjoy going to concerts or big events because I hammered home too much that she needs to scope out exits, keep eyes and ears open, and look out for people acting nervous/strange. For me, seeing the World Trade Tower go down forever changed my sense of security. For my D, I think it was the Sandy Hook massacre. We lived in the next town over. At first no one knew what was going on so local police went to all the nearby schools, just in case. The days and months following her grammar school went crazy with the repeated drills and police presence.

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A pastor at a local church dedicated a sermon in what to do should a shooter come to church. Where to hide, where to not expect to hide because closet and confessionals are now locked to prevent dangerous people from hiding themselves or weapons, what directions to run in so as to get far away and not to run into fences. I suspect some other churches have undercover armed guards. The recent church shooting did for churches what Sandy Hook did for schools.

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I get anxious going to movies sometimes. I look for exits and stuff, not that it would help. The apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movie trailers don’t help!

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@MACmiracle - We attend a large church here in AZ. We definitely have a police presence each week.

I hate to fly anyhow, but 9/11 certainly didn’t help. Seems like we are always one step behind the ones who are attacking.

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We received this email from our schools yesterday…

Dear Parents and Staff,

It is a difficult day in our nation as we collectively grieve the loss of 17 children and adults in Florida. We may not know them personally, but we feel their family’s pain. Our own children do as well, which is why I am writing you today to outline what we have in place to reassure our students that their school is a safe and nurturing place to learn and grow.

We have increased police visibility at our schools to remind parents, students and staff that school safety is paramount to education in xxxx. There has been no threat against our schools. Our school counselors, teachers and administrators are available to students who need support in processing the horrifying shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and that support will always be there. They are also keeping an eye out for children who may be having a hard time but not necessarily seeking assistance.

In the area of fortifying our schools, the school district commissioned a safety audit shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012. Through this assessment, we have made safety improvements to our schools.

Secure Vestibule/Electronic Access Control – All 26 elementary schools have been renovated and equipped with new security vestibules. These vestibules are electronically locked and controlled from the main office. These controls are also in place at all intermediate and high schools. The doors at all school entrances have been replaced with industry-rated, bullet-resistant glass.

Video Surveillance – All campus common areas, access points and school perimeters are monitored and footage recorded via video surveillance. In 2015, xxxx began using the Hall Pass Visitor Management System that conducts an enhanced National Criminal Database Search on all volunteers as well as an automatic sex offender registry check on all visitors to a campus.

Perimeter Fencing – New fencing was erected at all elementary campuses to create a separation of space where students are engaged in outdoor activities. This measure also controls access to the public during the school day, except through the intended secure access point at the front office.

Intercom Systems – Substandard intercom systems were replaced at 17 campuses providing for a more reliable system for general paging, bell operations and emergency communications.

Mental Health Training - xxxx counselors, licensed specialists in school psychology, nurses, and sheriff liaison officers have been trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid, an intensive sequence of courses which trains staff on how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness. This training is open to the public on a monthly basis.xxxx employs 29 licensed specialists in school psychology.

In the area of youth mental health, which is a national issue, we are moving forward with plans to increase mental health assessments and referrals for students. We will accomplish this goal through hiring additional counseling and student psychology staff. Xxxx will also partner with the xxxx coordinate referrals, resources and counseling for students in order to assist in crisis response and crisis prevention.

Communication is paramount to any safety and prevention plan. We will reinforce to our students that if they see something or hear something that is of concern, notify an adult immediately.

While I am proud of the efforts taken to keep our students safe, I also recognize that we cannot let an incident like yesterday pass without our own reflection of current practices and what we can do to better serve our community.

In closing, talking with children about the school shooting in Florida can be difficult for even the most-trained adult, which is why the school district is offering the attached resources for parents and staff from the National Association of School Psychologists.Parent and Teacher Resources

Thank you,
Superintendent of Schools

This is all well and good, but everyone knows what door at the hugh school can always be found unlocked. I have entered school on numerous occasions just as school was letting out for the day but still filled with kids at EC activities and walked about without being stpped or questioned. I am not sure security measures would make a difference a lot of the time.

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I think our schools locally are pretty safe, but nothing is perfect.
I personally hate any spaces without good exit strategy–I can’t really blame a specific event for triggering my own paranoia. I always check for exits at movie theaters, churches, big events like concerts. Stinks that we can’t relax and enjoy life! I’m working on it but these situations all bring the fear up again for me. Hate flying (always have).

I keep tearing up when I learn new things about the victims.

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Small rural public school here. About 1500 students K-12 with Primary, Elementary, Middle, and High School all within 1 mile of each other. We have a School Resource Officer at the high school, I think full time but not sure about that. Local police department just posted via Facebook that effective immediately there will be an increased police presence at all buildings in the district with officers present for long periods of randomly scheduled time. “So if your children ask you why we were there, tell them we were there for them.”

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GEMS at Louisville is a yes!

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Yay for your S @LOUKYDAD!

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It’s so sad that these safety measures almost sound like prison.

I know being exposed to traumatic events affects perspective. I was a student at UF when the serial killer came through. We were on edge for months. It was my first semester there. I stayed, many did not. But I was meticulous about security, locked doors, loaded gun, door alarms, etc. I lived off campus, since I was a junior transfer. I would look in the showers and closets every time I came in. I remember having a male friend spend the night in my apartment, then the killer killed three roommates, one of which was a guy. Gainesville was crawling with cops, reporters, the entire main drag was lined with trucks. Then one by one they left as no further killings occurred. It was actually like you see on TV as people lose interest. I stayed vigilant through college.

I remember visiting after I’d graduated and saw kids apartments with their glass doors and windows standing open. It just reminded me how time passes and that the new kids didn’t have the same fears we did. That time in life is supposed to be carefree. But kids are having to consider the reality that the world isn’t safe at a much younger age. I too make note of exits and imagine how I would shield my kids if it came to that.

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@LOUKYDAD Congratulations! :D/