This week I had the pleasure of joining in a safety meeting at our school. A school resource officer came to our building to assess the safety of our school and give us suggestions of other things we can do to tighten our security.
We have always tried to be a welcoming school, but at the same time we want to be a safe haven for our teachers and students. How do you find that fine line of ways to let parents in for school functions, but also keep your building safe from anyone or anything that is looking to harm it? We are working together as a committee to identify the top tips to find the best ways to keep our school safe, but also a very welcoming environment.
What are some safety precautions your school takes when many parents are in your buildings? How does your school create a safe environment, but also is welcoming to visitors? We are looking for the best and easiest ways to do this, so any input would be wonderful.
Christina,
ReplyDeleteMy school is not the most welcoming place but it is safe. To get into the building you must have a fob or be let in by the front desk at the front door. If a parent comes to school to visit they check in at the front desk and get a badge with their name and picture on it. The faculty and staff have been told to stop anyone who is not wearing a badge or if we see the picture/name does not match the person that we see. Other than that, we plan for the normal drills and an intruder drill is one of them. One of the best trainings, thus far, has been a mass casualty training. I feel confident if a situation arose here at school or outside in the real world.
Davy
My school follows many of the same protocols as Davy. One issue we have at my school is construction workers. Workers have been at my school for three straight years working on various things. The foreman of the crew and selected other workers have county issued badges and they are visible on the person. Some of these crews are larger than others and random people are seen in the halls quite often. This is troubling to me. Also, Christina raised a good point about at after school functions. My school props the door open for events with no one to keep an eye on who is coming and going. As a leader, these after school functions fall on your shoulders. What if something were to happen then? Will teachers who are present hold any accountability?
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody else have these concerns about after school functions?
Great post Christina!
Recently my school had Fulton County Police Department to assess the security of our building. The officers came on a random day and we observed them walking around; however, nobody knew why they were there. Most of the staff thought it was for fire drill inspection or something like that. Two weeks later we had a staff meeting and the police officers did a safety presentation. During this presentation, we learned how doors around the building were not locked. We also learned that many valuable items were easily accessible from wallets, IDs, to money. Afterwards, our school hired two more security guards and implemented every door in the building be locked.
ReplyDelete