When I look back to my time in elementary, middle, and high school I cannot remember a time where I did not feel safe at school. Of course there were fights and the occasional bomb threat. In middle school and high school there was always a cop at the school. But I always thought that was just for the presence and to deal with the drugs at the school. I never imagined anything crazy like the events that happened in Connecticut or Columbine would ever happen.
When I was in college and student teaching I was at a suburban high school. They also had a police officer at the school. By that time I was more aware of our society and potential danger. We practiced lock down drills and although we hoped to never have to use them, we took them seriously. But yet I still did not believe we would actually ever need them.
Now I am a teacher. I teach in an urban city. The program I teach in for the Toledo Public Schools is housed in a separate building owned by the University of Toledo. It is in a pretty decent neighborhood. I hear stories of stuff that happens at other TPS schools and am thankful I am not there. Those schools can be rough. Security is tight in them but it can be breached. Earlier this year a student let in a couple gang members in a side entrance. They entered a class and beat up a student. They threatened the teacher and other students and then escaped. Scary stuff.
But throughout this school year I have felt safe in my building. TPS has three class rooms in our building. Two are in a separate wing along with a day care for kids with special and medical needs. In the middle of the building is the Lucas county Board of DD's Early Intervention offices. My room is in their wing. There are always people and kids and parents in our hallway. There is not a secure entrance. Anyone can walk in at anytime and no one would be suspicious because people of all sorts are always in those offices. In another wing is a preschool ran by UT. They are secured with a pass code you have to have to get in.
I was in my class when I saw what happened in Connecticut yesterday. And suddenly I no longer felt safe. We have kids who are adopted in our building. We have kids who have been removed from homes and are in foster care. I don't even know the crazy circumstances the the EI folks deal with. Our doors do not lock from the inside. There are no secure entrances. What is stopping an angry parent coming to try and are their removed child?
I hate that I have to think like this but it is reality. I have to think of this now. On Monday the TPS folks will have to discuss our lock down procedure. And the building as a whole needs to as well. My students are not easy to move. Three of them are plugged into walls. As much as it sucks, I have to devise a plan with my aides that we can use if something crazy happens.
This shouldn't be. Schools should be safe. I should not have to worry about these things. But I do. And that sucks. But it is reality. And there are sick and evil people. No area or building is safe as was shown yesterday. That is the last community that would expect that to happen. But this is reality and as a teacher, I must also be a security specialist.
We must make schools safe again!
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