Perhaps now more than ever, safety is imperative in every high school setting. According to CNN, there have been at least 80 school shootings in the United States in 2023. This number only grows with each passing year. There’s many factors at fault: the ubiquity of firearms, lack of school safety, and poor student mental health, just to name a few. Even so, debating the crux of the issue does little to save lives. Proactivity is necessary, especially when it comes to school safety.
It’s easy to assume a tragedy could never happen anywhere but a news screen, but that’s a dangerous outlook to have. Violence is everywhere, which means every high school needs to take precautions against it.
In the 2023-2024 school year, OLCHS has implemented several new safety policies to better ensure the security of the school. One of the most obvious is the introduction of digital IDs, which are checked every morning when students enter the building. These new IDs only work if the person is an active student at OLCHS and registered on Skyward. This makes it extremely difficult for any intruders to get inside OLCHS, even if their appearance could be mistaken for a student. Similarly, there are now only two entrances students can use. Increased security is also present at each entrance. All of these policies were found to be necessary by an outside firm during a security audit last spring.
“The company did a thorough review of our building and procedures and conducted interviews with staff, students, and parents. The summary of their report was presented to the school board and administration in May of 2023. Since then, we have been implementing these procedures,” assistant principal Marcus Wargin said.
While all of these safety measures are important, are they enough? It’s important to compare OLCHS to other high schools in the area to see how each school’s safety policies stack up against one another.
“Most of the schools in the area have a police liaison, a robust camera system, dean assistants, and a secure entrance policy. There are some technologies that we have that other schools don’t, like our automated door locking system. Many schools come here to see how we implemented this and how we use it,” Wargin said.
While school administration takes appropriate measures for school security, students also have a large role to play in their own safety. After all, students are the ones who know each other and know social circles more than even the most observant teacher. Safety and security is a team effort, and a united student body protects just as well as security cameras or automatic locks.
“School safety relies on all of us looking out for one another. I want to remind students that they are our first line of defense. If you see something, say something,” Wargin said.
