From the first day of the school year, two main policy changes regarding school safety have been implemented. The first deals with blocking the entrances to both the Essex and Dougherty Ferry parking lots at 8 and 9 a.m. respectively. Levaughn Smart, coordinator of safety and security, says this will direct traffic flow of visitors to the Chopin Lot, where their entrances and exits from the campus will be better monitored.

The second safety policy change is locked doors throughout campus. According to Smart, this policy was implemented so the school could better control who entered and exited. Smart, with the help of staff, chose which doors to keep locked. The locked doors remain locked throughout the entire school day. In the future, Smart says he envisions every student with a proximity card, which must be swiped to gain access through certain doors with heavy traffic flow. However, this must be approved by the board and may not happen until second semester or next year due to the cost and time it will take to outfit each door.

“It’s a monumental task,” Smart said. “We’re going essentially from a bare-bones nothing to locking a place down and giving access to only those who need access. It’s all for the safety of the students.”

Smart acknowledges that locked doors can be a nuisance. Still, he thinks it is necessary.

“I always say this,” Smart said. “You lock your cars to protect your CDs and iPhones. But you don’t want to lock the doors to the school to protect yourself. You can replace CDs and iPhones. You can’t replace yourself.”

To read about recommended safety procedures from the National School of Psychologists: http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/schoolsafety_admin.aspx

To read The Kirkwood Call staff’s opinion of the locked doors, click here:

https://www.thekirkwoodcall.com/top-stories/2013/10/01/welcome-to-prison/