By Jacob Key ´20
Keeping schools safe is the number one priority for all school officials. Around the country, schools have been taking specific precautions to ensure their schools are as safe as possible. Students need to feel safe to look forward to being in an encouraging environment. However, with the mass gun violence, schools around New Jersey are targeted, and many students are scared; this is taking the excitement out of learning and replacing it with fear. According to the news source Roll Call, Congress set aside one billion dollars in school safety assistance after the shooting in Parkland, which left 17 students dead, and is currently “ the only federal law to address mass shootings at schools.” Now schools are starting to use the federal aid to ̈shield up ̈ and bolster school security.
This year, schools in New Jersey have taken specific actions to increase the safety of their students. Here at DHS, new security measures are in place which leads to new protocols. No longer can someone drop off items directly to the main office. They must now leave the item in a bin outside the entrance. While the Automatic doors remain permanently locked to insure safety, trusted staff members have authorized key cards to be able to unlock the doors when and as needed to. Alarmed doors that alert higher powers that a specific entry was unlocked when it shouldn't have been. A resource officer who helps ensure the safety of students and staff and also panic buttons located in each classroom.
Over the last two years, DHS has sought to minimize gaps in school security by adding new security measures each year.. Mr. Tobin, Vice-principal of DHS and one of the leading members of the school security team, ensures that time, effort, and money has been put into making our schools safer. ̈ In the past two years, the school has put a significant amount of time, effort, and money into improving the security equipment and revising security procedures to make the school safer for students and staff, ̈ Mr. Tobin states. We have come a long way since last year and Mr. Tobin is very pleased with “the time, effort and money that has been invested in protecting our staff and students.”
Visible changes are being made not just for students but also for the staff. Staff continuously attend training to gather essential information regarding the safety of the school and the safety of the students.¨ The staff receives training and updates to security information from the administration. Training from outside organizations is coordinated by the administration,̈ Mr. Tobin states. Some other visible changes that have been put in place and is noticeable seen is the new arrival of our resource officer who also has set procedures and routines. Mr. Tobin states that the resource Officer “follows a different set of procedures in an emergency, compared to school administration.”
It is evident that the Dunellen district makes school security a top priority protecting and making its schools an encouraging environment for all students and staff. Administration continues to work towards making our schools as safe as they can be.
