Quincey Reese, Editor in Chief

Over the past few years, school security has become an increasingly important and discussed issue. At Penn-Trafford High School, this discussion has led to changes in daily procedure and safety for the 2018-19 year.

    Principal Tony Aquilio said that in past years, P-T has made a point of managing security by keeping doors locked unless an event is going on, having security guards and a school resource officer on hand and practicing various drills with students a few times throughout each school year.

    This year, however, these safety methods are being improved. Students may have noticed, for example, that the school has a tighter window of when it is to be open to students. Instead of allowing students through the doors at 6:45 a.m. when the teachers come in, 7 a.m. is the official opening time.

    Aquilio said this was done because he and other administrators felt that there was too big a gap between 6:45 a.m. and the school start time of 7:25 a.m. Allowing students in at 7 a.m., he explained, prevents any unsupervised activity that could be potentially harmful.

    Senior Natalie Wilson said that while she recognizes the effort to protect students by doing this, she preferred having the option of coming into the school before it becomes busy with students.

    “I feel like there is a purpose behind it and I know the school is trying to protect us, but I haven’t seen many threats or anything that suggests the change is necessary,” Wilson explained. “If something were to happen, it would happen whether or not students got in before 7 a.m. It’s inevitable.”

    Senior Zach Conley on the other hand said that the change did not have any negative effect on him or his schedule. Rather, he said it was a good decision for the protection of students.

    “It’s a safety issue. Anyone could get into the school before that time last year and go undetected. It’s just not a safe situation for us to be in,” Conley said.

    In addition to this, doors are being monitored more heavily throughout the day, alarms have been set to go off on certain doors if they are propped open for too long and more security cameras have been placed around the stadium, Warrior Center and the outside of the building.

    Students can also expect there to be armed guards to oversee activity at the entrances and exits to the school in a few weeks, a change which had to be approved by the school board before being put into place.

    Conley said that he feels a little unsure about having the armed guards, but that he still feels safer having them around this year.

    “I have heard from people at other schools that kids have gotten the guns off of the guards and that creates a safety issue, but I also feel like the guards are trained well enough to prevent that from happening,” Conley said. “It does make me feel better knowing they could keep us safe if something did happen.”

    Wilson said that even though the reasoning behind this coming change is discouraging, it makes her feel more protected going into school each day.

    “It does make me feel safer, but it’s kind of scary. It’s scary that it has to happen and that we have to have an armed guard to protect us,” Wilson said.

    School resource officer Dave Meyers, who has held this position for the past seven years, said that he feels P-T already had a solid security system in place even before making these changes. He explained that as technology and society has evolved, the school has made sure to meet these adjustments.

    “We are very fortunate that the school has a good emergency plan and security measures in place,” Meyers said. “All of these just enhance what we already had. It makes it better when they keep adding to it.”

    Aquilio added that there will also be a heavier focus on educating students about school security and proper safety precautions in the case of multiple related scenarios. This, he explained, is a concept he is looking to focus on because of the voices of the students in regards to school safety after the Parkland, Florida shooting last year.

    “It wasn’t the first time there had been a shooting in a school, but for whatever reason, that one kind of struck a nerve with students,” Aquilio said. “A lot of students were asking questions about what would happen if that happened here. So, when we started getting questions of ‘what would I do as a student?’ we realized we weren’t educating them enough on what to do in different situations.”

    Wilson agreed with this idea of having a greater eye on the learning aspect of school safety. While she understands that the possibilities of violent incidents that could occur is too widespread to completely account for, she said she believes it is better to be prepared.

    “I feel like doing more drills is a good idea, because you could put every security measure in the world in place and bad things will still happen. We always just need to be prepared for what could happen,” she said.

    The idea to make these safety changes first originated with a group of teachers, staff, principals and security guards referred to as the “crisis team.” The group only had a few meetings last year as it formed relatively late in the school calendar, but Aquilio said it is going to be more prominent in making security decisions in the future. The team has already discussed several of the school-based policy alterations in security and gotten them approved for this year.

    Meyers is one part of this crisis team. He said that his main role in the team is to be the connection between the police and the school. He is also in charge of enforcing federal and state law at the school, as well as being an open resource for students.

    Meyers added that he encourages students to report anything suspicious that they see to him or talk to him if they have any questions on this subject.

    Beyond the official school security changes, Aquilio added that teachers have also been instructed to be more visible and observant of student behavior. This includes any activity occurring in classrooms, hallways and at the entrances and exits to the building. He explained that they are to be watchful of violent threats, as well as issues such as bullying, and are expected to report any activity that appears strange or out of the ordinary.

    He also said that students have a similar responsibility. Whether they use the Safe School Helpline or inform a teacher, students are encouraged to report suspicious activity if it comes to their attention. Aquilio explained that administrators cannot help prevent and act upon threats or other negative situations if they are not informed of them, making it crucial for students to keep an open communication.