The
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Lock Down Friday, March 2, 2018
In the wake of the latest mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which killed 17 and wounded many more, school safety has emerged as an important issue to be tackled by students, teachers and administrators, especially at Cedar Falls High School, where almost all of the doors are unlocked and hallways and classrooms full of students and staff are accessible by virtually anyone. Previously, the only barrier between the school’s 1,131 students and 90 teachers and the next mass shooting seemed to be the blind hope that the school will not be the next to experience such a heinous crime, but now plans are in place to change. The high school will be implementing a policy starting Monday, March 5, that all eight entrances will be locked from outside, and anyone who needs to enter the building will do so through in the main doors by the attendance office, which is monitored throughout the day. The current Cedar Falls High School building was opened in 1954, when the concept of a school shooting was absent from the public consciousness. The school consists of three buildings; the main building; the annex, which houses metal technology; and an alternative program on Cedar Heights Drive. The main building has four lower floor entrances and five main floor entrances, and houses no technology to prevent or deter the shootings that have become increasingly common in America in the last two decades besides the the front-office being the only entrance that is constantly monitored and requires visitors to present valid identification to enter the school building. “Since we don’t frequently monitor the camera system to see who is coming in and out of the building, we have a sign that hopefully people read that says they have to bring their driver’s license and sign in at the main office,” secretary Angela Skarlis said. Upon a visitor’s entry, Skarlis scans the visitors’ IDs into a machine called the Raptor Visitor Management System, an innovative technology system which provides instant screening of registered sex offender databases in all 50 states and keeps a record of all visitors by scanning a visitor’s driver’s license, according to the company’s website. However, because the only thing that directs visitors to the screening is a paper sign taped to the front door, the system is flawed and provides a large
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CFHS to begin locking doors after killings in Florida school
future. “I want the student body advocating and understanding,” Wedgbury said as he stood before the Cedar Falls’ Senior Leadership group during power hour on Feb. 21. Students asked tough questions, and Wedgbury was there to hear their concerns. “When it comes to my personal experience in the CAPs education program, I went to Holmes [Junior High], Lincoln [Elementary], Peet [Junior High], [Waterloo] West High,” senior Tristan Snell said. “I think that we should lock all the doors after, and it should be a front door funnel because every other school does the exact same thing.” Wedgbury explained that unlike other schools in the district, Cedar Falls is lacking in a more concrete way to buzz in visitors, but that the school is actively working to find measures that Rachel Schmid Photo will work just as well. “We are the only building in our Cedar Falls High School will be implementing a new security policy district that you do not have to be that locks all eight school enterences from the outside and funnels buzzed in. That’s unfortunate,” Wedgvisitors and students through the main doors by the front office. The bury said. “Given our current setup, we change was propelled by recent school shootings and will be implecan’t do that. That would cost a lot of mented starting Monday, March 5. renovation, but we want to make it so margin for error or disaster. When implementing this policy of that there is at least an adult presence “Ideally, our building would be all locked entrances, Wedgbury said that can monitor and see people who set up so that it forces people to walk that there would be some inconve- come in and out.” After a senior asked a question through the office first. A lot of the el- niences to not only students but teachabout the school’s surveillance system, ementary schools are now set up that ers due to the unique setup of the high Wedgbury explained that the cameras way,” Skarlis said. “When they walk in school. now, even though we have the sign “Our building and set up is not ef- had recently been upgraded to ensure that says everybody has to check in at ficient. We’ve added onto this building that every entrance could be monithe main office, there’s no one stand- multiple times through various reno- tored, if need be, although there is no ing there making them do that.” vations, and the flow of this building, constant monitor of the film. “We just had [the cameras] updated,” WedgThe school administration recog- doesn’t make sense.” Wedgbury said. nizes these flaws and has begun talks Because the basement of the bury said. “We have significantly upof new solutions to the largely acces- school doesn’t connect, the student graded what used to be a decent camsible doors of the building. During the flow through the math wing entrance era system.” Another point raised during the week following the Parkland tragedy, and the enterance that connects to the principal Jason Wedgbury invited class athletic wing of the school is heavy, discussion was the use of drills to preleadership groups and department and there is no way in stopping that in pare for dangerous intruders. Today, as opposed to air raid drills that were chairs to weigh all perspectives when passing periods. the topic of school safety and school Adults will now be monitoring and common during the early years of the shootings arose. supervising all three entrances dur- building’s career, Cedar Falls CommuSince, 2015, the high school has ing the current four-minute passing nity School District requires “not less allowed more student autonomy than periods, and as soon as the four min- than one dangerous conducted during ever before when Power Hour was cre- utes are up, the outside doors will be each school year” as outlined in series 902.2, school safety, section c in the ated, which serves as a lunch hour for locked once again. students to move freely around the “Considering schools, that is where Board policies, which was last revised building, inside and out, to seek teach- we come to be safe, and we don’t want in April of 2014. “I know that we can become deseners’ help and have the luxury of an off- to jeopardize student safety in any way, campus lunch. shape or form,” Wedgbury said. “We sitized to drills because we do them “As we reflect, we also have to ac- want adults and students to feel safe often and people don’t always take things seriously.” senior Clare Rolinger knowledge that we have a very open within their school setting. School isn’t campus, very free, in and out, while re- a place where you should feel unsafe.” said, “but after situations like this, it is gardless of your set up, you can’t guarWedgbury said that locking all a really good opportunity to have disantee 100 percent safety. We certainly doors from the outside is an initial step. cussions about how to prepare.” “I do think that sometimes we have needed to take steps to improve our He also said all student leadership situation, and that’s our goal,” Wedg- teams may be follow up steps and ‘LOCK DOWN’ bury said. more safety precautions to come in the Continued on Page 3