After the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the country panicked about the safety of its students.
In reaction to the Dec. shooting, Perry has implemented new, stricter security measures.
The most noticeable security change is at the school entrances; now, most gates are closed in the morning and during the day to control traffic.
“We only have the south gate open that way we can control who comes in and out,” security guard Geo Rivas said. “It’s to maintain the way the traffic of the kids coming in and out, but then also because of [the Conn. shooting].”
Although closing gates may discourage entrance, they cannot completely block outsiders from entering. The gates are required to remain unlocked in case an emergency exit is ever necessary.
“I’m requesting that we have gates put in all around campus with push bars so if there’s ever an emergency, you can get out,” principal Dan Serrano said. “But when you do push it, it sounds an alarm, so you can’t do that just to leave campus.”
Despite a growing demand for a more secure campus, new devices like these would cost the school a lot of money. Although it is one of the bigger obstacles in obtaining better security, money is not the only issue. According to Serrano, the school was not built to be completely closed off from the outside world, especially because of the day care located adjacent to the student parking lot on the west end of campus.
“This school has so many openings, it’s hard to plug them all,” Serrano said.
PHS has also increased the involvement of its security guards. They are stationed by the open gates and doors in the morning to control entrance. There is also a security guard for every building on campus. Because of the school’s rapidly growing population, a new security guard will be hired next year, according to Serrano.
A controversial idea to ensure student safety is allowing teachers to have guns in the classroom.
“I’m totally against that,” Serrano said. He expressed that even if teachers were to go to a training that explained what to do in an emergency, he would be uneasy. He believes that most teachers would also be uncomfortable with this practice.
“You would have to provide at least two police officers full-time,” Serrano said. “Hiring two full time police officers all day, that’s expensive.”
Since its opening, the school has had regular fire drills and lock downs, mimicking the steps that would be taken in an emergency situation. The problem with these drills is that they are conveniently planned to be during a class period. In reality, an emergency situation could happen at any given time, including lunch or passing period.
“During a lunch period, [a drill would] be pretty rough because we have a lot of people to try to put places,” security guard Thomas Rice said. “If its a lockdown it doesn’t matter when it happens, you know to go somewhere and lockdown.”
The increased security comes with expense; as Serrano said, “It’s all about money; people want safety but you have to put your money where your mouth is.”
