With the beginning of a new academic term and the arrival of Superintendent Gary Niehaus, we expect many improvements in safety, technology and communication.

Safety is always a concern at school, especially with the ever-present threat of school shootings.  Protecting students should be the administration’s top priority.

One of the main safety concerns at South is the easy access to the building.  At any given point in the school day, at least one door is open and not heavily monitored. While it is convenient for students and parents to have easy access to the building, anybody could enter and potentially harm students or staff.

Dr. Niehaus experienced a school shooting in his previous district, and we hope that he will use what he learned in this situation to further improve safety drills at South.

His interest in having a safety team run practice drills is a great idea. We would also like to see the district introduce safety ideas promoted by safety organizations such as ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate).

The traditional lockdown drills where people turn off the lights and hide in a corner of a room actually put students and faculty in more danger, according to ALICE. The new active shooter model of school safety involves things like running away if you can, hiding quietly in a safe spot if you cannot and as a last resort, distracting and attacking the shooter to reduce casualties.

As for technology, we are appreciative of the improved infrastructure changes implemented this summer. However, the school is still far behind on updating computers and other software when compared to peer districts.

Many districts provide a computer or laptop for every student, which allows more ready access to technology on a daily basis. South could benefit from a program like this or even from simply having more computers accessible to students.

While students at South have access to the library computers, computers in certain classes, tutorials and after school, these may not be always be available. There is no guaranteed access to computers on a daily basis for every student, which is difficult for students who might not have access at home.

Lastly, student committees that communicate with the head of the district on a regular basis would greatly improve relationships between administrators and students. Allowing select students from grades ranging from middle school to the high school level to be part of such a committee would enable students to share their thoughts about what is happening and what can be improved within their school.

We support the idea of the hashtag OneGP that Niehaus has brought to the district and hope it will be used as a tool to unite our community for sporting events, academic competitions and other school events. In addition, #OneGP could potentially have a unifying effect during times that have historically been polarizing for our community, such as the North versus South rivalry game.

As we embark on a new school year full of renewed potential and promise, we are anxious to reap the benefits that result from Dr. Niehaus’ admirable efforts thus far. We hope he can sustain this momentum for the long term. After all, regardless of where we live within our community or what level school we are entering, we are all #OneGP.