Do you ever think about what you would do if an intruder entered the school? Unfortunately, today many people may have these thoughts. Though we may think about what could happen, do we really feel that an event like this could happen?

The mission of the LHS administration is to provide a safe learning and working environment for all 1600 plus students and staff members. Fortunately, we have not had any major incidents in past years, but it is still reasonable to question if our students and staff feel safe at school.

The Bell staff discussed the feeling of safety at LHS, with the majority of The Bell staff saying that they do feel safe at school. The staff agreed that our school administration and district security take the necessary precautions to keep us safe and that their students’ safety is their primary concern, but that nothing is ever 100 percent preventable. The general consensus is that our school takes adequate measures to ensure the safety of everyone in the building, but some teachers keep their doors locked for an added feeling of safety. Most teachers go through active shooter training and from that experience they make modifications to their classroom, such as keeping their door locked, but leaving it propped open. In addition to active shooter training, fire and tornado drills are as much practice for our teachers as they are for the students.These scenarios are practiced not because there is an imminent threat of anything dangerous happening, but because it is good to be prepared.

A concern staff members had about school safety was students opening locked doors for other students. Teachers, administration and other staff members have time and time again warned students to not let other students into the school through a locked exterior door, but it still happens frequently. This is a major concern for our school’s safety because there is no telling who could be waiting around the corner to use the opportunity of the open door to make their entrance into the school. Students need to listen more to staff about issues that concern safety.

Another concern addressed by staff members was that students do not take fire, tornado or lockdown drills seriously. This could be due to a number of reasons including students believing that nothing bad could actually happen at school, therefore believing these drills are not necessary. The staff discussed that in the event of an actual crisis a student may not act the way they should, which could endanger their life or the lives of others. These drills are important to practice because in the event of an emergency, students and school staff members, need to know where they should be safe.

The Bell staff concluded that most of us feel safe at school, but we are aware that even the safest of places can be susceptible to dangerous and unsafe situations. We believe that if students stop opening locked doors for other students and takes emergency drills more seriously, there will be a more general feeling of safety in the high school.