Last year, security guards replaced the hall monitors at south because many felt that safety would be maintained at the school if these professionals were assigned to supervise the halls of the school.

With recent increased hostility and threats in school districts nationwide, and in light of recent events, the school felt the need to implement new policies and procedures to increase the safety while maintaining the educational environment.  

Personally, I feel that some of the measures the school has taken are not the most effective solutions that could be in place.

One of the policies that I do not agree with is they have chosen to lock the doors that go outside of the school from the main building to the S building. I think that these doors should not be locked and students should still be able to use them. I don’t think that these doors are unsafe because the doors are located in a private courtyard closed in by a locked metal gate.

With these doors blocked off, it poses a huge inconvenience to students trying to get to class. Now, I find myself racing up the stairs to get to my science and social studies classes. And I don’t know about you, but I get enough stairs exercise from walking up the IA building’s three flights of stairs to my math class every day.

I think it is important for students to stay inside the school between classes, but I think permanently closing off those doors for access to students and staff was a little excessive. I think the school should have put their energy somewhere else instead of at this, which wasn’t really an issue before.

I think that the lunch policies they have implemented now though are effective and better than they were. I think it is smart that students should only be able to enter and exit through certain doors. I think it is smart that they have the hall monitors and security guards standing there when students enter back into the building. I think this is effective, and I think they should always have the hall monitors patrolling the doors.

I think instead of having the hall monitor stay in the same pointless spot all day, they should monitor the entrances of the buildings when students enter and exit the building. I think this would be effective because if an intruder were to enter the building, a hall monitor would be right there at the door to prevent them from entering.

Although I do not agree with some of the new policies, I think it is smart of the school to put the safety of students first. Safety should always come first, since students should feel safe at school, and I think that the administration has gotten off to a good start in trying new policies and procedures to improve these issues at our school.