How to Make East Texas Schools Safer
My heart hurts. I cannot comprehend the news I have been hearing today about a gunman taking his wrath out on children and educators. The vision I keep seeing in my mind is that of parents staring at presents under the Christmas tree that will never be opened.
To grieve right now is the natural thing to do. To pray is always the right thing to do. In the days and weeks ahead, the questions of why and how will come up quite often. Some will point towards gun control, many will talk morality and religion. My first thoughts are for the future safety of my kids and wife (a teacher).
All schools in East Texas have a security policy in place. I think I wouldn't be too far off the mark if I said that most of these schools could be easily breached. The main problem is that in many, but not all cases, the first line of defense already allows a potential gunman to be inside the front doors of the school.
I think schools may need to start thinking like many military installations do. Set up a command post(s) several hundred yards removed from the main entrance(s) of the school. Nobody makes their way on or off the grounds without passing through these posts. Anybody walking through the front doors of the school would still need to go through a second line of security protocol.
This is just an idea to throw out there. I know there would be logistic challenges to say the very least, such as how to properly staff these posts, the cost to get them built and stocked with surveillance cameras and high tech communications. I also know that there are schools in the area that do have a check-in post, but they really need to have a tougher set of guidelines.
I welcome any thoughts on this topic. This is just an idea starter that could lead to some solid implementations. Let us know what you think could have with school security.