Indepedent School Security

[Anonymous]

Do these security measure really stop anything? I mean as seen at the grocery store in Buffalo, the armed security guard (retired police) shot at the shooter many times but it did nothing due to his armour. A planned shooter is going to get his way into almost any school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do these security measure really stop anything? I mean as seen at the grocery store in Buffalo, the armed security guard (retired police) shot at the shooter many times but it did nothing due to his armour. A planned shooter is going to get his way into almost any school.

**Especially** a "planned shooter" with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle (vs handguns carried by most security guards).

[Anonymous]

My kids attend Field and I'm impressed with their security. There is a guard "shack" at the entrance of the parking lot where all cars have to stop to check-in, unless they have a placard. There are three security guards on the campus at all times. They are not armed but if an emergency were to happen (if someone got past the guard shack), at least they could organize an evacuation or shut-down quickly and in an organized fashion. Lots of cameras, too. I am not sure what the "ideal" situation would be, in terms of security, but I feel very comfortable with Field's approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know as I would discuss this here, gee. That's not helpful to kids and faculty anywhere in our DMV community. I will say that as a teacher I have been gratified by what I have observed at some schools, and been surprised by some others. I even went so far as to write one a note once on what I perceived to be a blind spot when I visited their campus. I would ask directly about this and also observe on a school tour. I would personally look less for armed guards and more for vigilance and a sense of vigilant adults throughout the building. Do know that when multiple people are greeting you, they may be amazingly friendly and they are also (rightly) checking you out.

+1000

OP, why would you want a public discussion of a topic like this? Are you dense?

[Anonymous]

Live streams sitcoms and movies all day long.

[Anonymous]

When touring high schools several years ago with my kids, I was actually put off by schools whose doors were locked all day without freedom to move around outside during the day.

This might have been different had we been looking when the kids were younger- though I’m not sure.

Kids will mostly be going to college right after HS and don’t need to be kept under lock & key in HS, in my opinion.

One of my kids took public transportation for HS, which can be unsafe, esp in area of school, but was a tremendous growth opportunity for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When touring high schools several years ago with my kids, I was actually put off by schools whose doors were locked all day without freedom to move around outside during the day.

This might have been different had we been looking when the kids were younger- though I’m not sure.

Kids will mostly be going to college right after HS and don’t need to be kept under lock & key in HS, in my opinion.

One of my kids took public transportation for HS, which can be unsafe, esp in area of school, but was a tremendous growth opportunity for my kid.

Do you watch the news? Locking doors is not about keeping kids inside.
Public transportation is not a comparable “risk” that equates to why doors are locked.
And most (all?) HS I know in this area allow upper school kids to leave campus for lunch.
And lower schools have recess. Not sure why you think kids are locked inside all day.

[Anonymous]

The questions asked by parents on tours were about doors locked and single entry into the school. That is why I mentioned it. Most of the schools I am familiar with do not allow students off campus for lunch every day. The posts on this thread so far also mention access into the school and threats to kids.

As for the public transportation- far greater threat to a kid in the DMV from public transportation than a school shooting.

We can agree to disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids attend Field and I'm impressed with their security. There is a guard "shack" at the entrance of the parking lot where all cars have to stop to check-in, unless they have a placard. There are three security guards on the campus at all times. They are not armed but if an emergency were to happen (if someone got past the guard shack), at least they could organize an evacuation or shut-down quickly and in an organized fashion. Lots of cameras, too. I am not sure what the "ideal" situation would be, in terms of security, but I feel very comfortable with Field's approach.

I doubt any of those measures would stop a sniper style shooting that occurred at Burke. A security guard with a handgun cannot take out a sniper that has altered their guns to be fully automatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids attend Field and I'm impressed with their security. There is a guard "shack" at the entrance of the parking lot where all cars have to stop to check-in, unless they have a placard. There are three security guards on the campus at all times. They are not armed but if an emergency were to happen (if someone got past the guard shack), at least they could organize an evacuation or shut-down quickly and in an organized fashion. Lots of cameras, too. I am not sure what the "ideal" situation would be, in terms of security, but I feel very comfortable with Field's approach.

We have sent people to pick up our kids at Field on multiple occasions and never once has someone stopped the cars even though they didn't have the car tags...Most of the time the guard in the guard post
doesn't even look up. I think the security has been enhanced to watch the inside of the building and kids not the outside world.