Student Safety an Important Issue

11/01/06
By Ryan B., Del.Aware Editor in Chief

School shootings have plagued the news recently. In particular, the Monday, Oct. 2 Amish schoolhouse shooting, just a few hours from Milford in Lancaster County, PA, has prompted heightened school security across the country.

Delaware Valley School District has maintained a stringent visitor check-in policy in the main offices of its buildings. Within the past five years, doors were constructed between main entrance foyers and main offices at each building in the district. Visitors must ring a doorbell and be “buzzed in” by an office secretary before entering during school hours.

The Times-Herald Record reported on the success of this approach in stopping intruders from entering the school. For a report posted on recordonline.com on Sunday, Oct. 8, the Record sent random reporters to enter local schools through main entrances to test each school’s security. According to the article, a reporter who visited Delaware Valley Elementary School was stopped immediately, finding a locked front door that required the reporter to be buzzed in.

The DVHS/DVMS building has three main entrances: one for the 11/12 high school, one for the 9/10 high school, and one for the middle school. Each requires buzzed-in entry through an office.

Other doors that open throughout the daily routine are those used by physical education classes to exit and enter the building to use the athletic fields. Generally, a physical education teacher accompanies classes while exiting or entering the building.

Otherwise, during the school day all doors other than the main entrances are locked to the public. Some, such as the door by the support services office in the middle school, the natatorium, and the 11/12 faculty lounge, are equipped with keycard sensors that allow teachers to use their school district issued photo ID’s to enter the building.

Photo ID cards are another security feature at Delaware Valley. All teachers, administrators, secretaries, and other staff are required to visibly wear ID cards during the school day, either on a lanyard or clipped to their clothing. Similarly, visitors must wear an ID card while traversing DV hallways. This allows for a quick check by staff and students to see if someone has legitimately entered the school.

Students, on the other hand, are not required to wear ID badges during the school day. At some schools, this practice is mandatory.

Hall monitors rove the building during the school day. The hall monitors are equipped with walkie-talkies, which allow them to keep in touch with each other, and with main office secretaries.

The infamous video surveillance cameras are another security measure taken by the school district. The original system was installed over summer vacation in 2005, and additional cameras have been added since. The cameras monitor both the interior and exterior of the high school building, including athletic fields, entrances, and parking lots. The cameras have also been placed in other district buildings, including at the main entrance of Shohola Elementary School. The digitally archived system allows the cameras to be used for not only security but disciplinary action.

As a longtime precaution, emergency plans for lockdowns and evacuations—both indoor and outdoor—are thoroughly reviewed and explained to staff in case of a serious security issue. Backpacks and book bags may not be worn or carried during the school day except in extenuating circumstances.

Security may be rather tight during the school day, but the cameras may be the only certain security measure protecting students before and after school. The school district hires security staff for athletic events, including officers from an outside firm and local police for the enormous crowds at Friday night football games, but students who arrive to school early or stay after school for athletic practices or extracurriculars may be at risk.

Hall monitors and teachers with bus and hall duty immediately before and after school alleviate some problems, but the extensive crowds of students that gather before the 7:50 morning entrance bell outside the school, either arriving early by bus or by car, may be vulnerable. After school, most of the teaching and hall monitor staff leaves around 3:00, and doors are left open with no secretaries to check visitors in. At a school with so many extracurricular opportunities, this could pose a problem.

Delaware Valley has been fortunate to remain a school whose security has only been compromised by vague, shallow threats. A series of bomb threats took place after the monumental Columbine shooting in 1999. Other threats have taken place since, including a lockdown during the 2003-04 school year for reports of a gun on campus. These breaches aside, the school district’s security measures have been successful in keeping the hallways and classrooms a safe place to grow and learn.

Related Links
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