Schools: Safe but 'something can still happen'

Catholic schools in Arkansas have plans in place to prevent intruders and deal with emergencies, according to school officials who say they remain concerned. Safety measures include intercom systems, security cameras, locked doors, policies and drills. Still, administrators strive to keep their schools welcoming places.

Published: November 11, 2006

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Marguerite Olberts, principal of St. Theresa School in Little Rock, looks at the new intercom installed by two technicians Oct. 26 at the school's front door.

Marguerite Olberts, principal of St. Theresa School in Little Rock, looks at the new intercom installed by two technicians Oct. 26 at the school's front door.

Deadly shootings by intruders and other safety concerns have caused diocesan and school officials to reexamine their crisis plans.

On Oct. 3, a man entered a one-room Amish school in Pennsylvania and killed five young girls and injured five students before killing himself. On Sept. 27 a male intruder killed one student and then himself at a high school in Bailey, Colo.

Since August, three other murders or shootings, including a 15-year-old student who killed his principal in Wisconsin, have occurred in the United States.

While shootings on school campuses are very rare, many of the schools in the Diocese of Little Rock are refocusing on violence prevention and trying to improve plans that were already in place. Each parochial school is required to have a crisis safety plan and review it each year, diocesan schools superintendent Vernell Bowen said.

Immediately following the shooting in Pennsylvania, Bowen e-mailed the principals and asked them to evaluate their plans in light of recent events.

"No matter how secure you keep it, something can still happen," she said.

Bowen said she hopes schools don't present safety concerns in a negative or scary way.

"It is very important that even when we have tight security that (it) is presented in a positive way," she said. "It has to be a welcoming place. We have to have a welcoming climate."

Bowen, a former principal at St. Edward School in Little Rock, said shootings are not the only issue that principals, faculty and staff are concerned with. Other issues include unauthorized personnel on school grounds, natural disasters, suicides and evacuations for fires, bomb threats or gas leaks.

"We've gotten lax again," she admits. "Every time there is a situation we learn something new about how we need to handle it."

Schools around Arkansas have implemented a variety of safety measures based on the number and age of students, layout of buildings and location of the school.

In an e-mail poll conducted by Arkansas Catholic, of the 17 schools surveyed:

Nearly all schools (88 percent) require parents and visitors to sign in at the office and wear a badge while on campus.

Eighty-two percent of schools lock all of their exterior doors except the front door. Of that, five schools even lock their front door and have an intercom and/or cameras posted outside to monitor visitors before allowing them in.

Three schools (18 percent) require all classroom doors to be locked during school hours.

70 percent of principals polled admitted that intruders in their schools are their biggest concern.

Six of the schools have security cameras positioned at the front door or at all exterior doors. Another two have security systems.

Every school conducts fire drills each month and tornado drills at least two times a year. Thirty percent of the schools already hold regular "lockdown" or intruder drills where the classroom doors are locked and students are positioned on the floor away from windows and doors. Another 24 percent of the schools will conduct or are considering doing regular lockdown drills.

Some principals interviewed said it is difficult to provide a welcoming, loving and safe environment while not scaring the children with discussions of disasters and intruders.

"It is harder for a school attached to a church environment because people come up to the church office looking for help," Marguerite Olberts, principal of St. Theresa School in Little Rock, said. "It just means that we have to be extra vigilant in watching for such individuals."

Two of the schools that have taken extra precautions are Our Lady of the Holy Souls in Little Rock and Immaculate Conception School in Fort Smith. Two years ago Holy Souls installed security cameras to monitor the school's five exits. Even though the front door is not locked during the day, principal Illeana Dobbins said everyone is asked to look for unauthorized personnel. Even workmen on campus must wear a visitor badge to identify themselves.

She wrote a letter to parents following the recent shootings and informed them on the school's safety plan.

"I think because it has happened (elsewhere), our parents are concerned about what is our safety plan," Dobbins said.

Sharon Blentlinger, principal at Immaculate Conception School in Fort Smith, said her school, which is located in the downtown area, has had an advanced security system for the past five years. All doors, including the front door, have a scanner to read specially programmed cards that are given to faculty, staff and parents. While employees can enter any door at any time, parents are only allowed access through the front door during school hours.

All others can enter the front door after being identified and "buzzed in."

She said trusting students can sometimes put a wrinkle in their system. If a student sees a parent at a door, they will occasionally open it and allow them to enter.

"I have to remind them if there is someone at the door, they have to come to the office to sign in," Blentlinger said.

Like many principals, the thought of having to conduct a lockdown drill makes her uneasy.

"We need to work on the intruder drill, but we don't want to scare the students," she said. "For it to be familiar enough (to the teachers and students), we need to do it regularly."

High schools pose some additional challenges because of the age of students and their increased freedom. Schools with several buildings and students entering and exiting the buildings all day also make it difficult to keep strict security.

Catholic High School in Little Rock is working with former FBI and Secret Service agents to survey the school's problems and address them. Principal Steve Straessle said the school's main building would be upgraded in the future.

"We have a moral obligation to provide a safe environment for our students," he said.

Michael Berry, headmaster at Subiaco Academy, said his students regularly use five buildings. Because a majority of the students live on campus, the school's plan has to include scenarios for crises at night and on weekends.

This week the school is installing 20 security cameras around the buildings and dormitories. While the buildings will remain unlocked, Berry said someone will be able to monitor the building entrances.

While the abbey and academy are located in a rural area, visitors regularly come unannounced to tour the grounds, attend retreats and visit the bookstore. Officials are considering installing a gate around the entire campus to add an extra level of security, Berry said.

"We feel the day has come that safety has to be at the forefront," he said. "I'd much rather sacrifice convenience over safety."

Sister Mary Angela Shaughnessy, a Sister of Charity and an education professor at Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., said talking about school violence is at least a starting point, she said, particularly since these incidents don't show signs of abating.

In fact, Sister Shaughnessy has been talking about school safety for the past 20 years. The nun is a lawyer and legal consultant to many Catholic schools and dioceses.

"For the first 10 years, no one took me seriously," she told Catholic News Service in an Oct. 12 telephone interview recounting her pleas with Catholic school administrators to prepare for worst-case scenarios. But that changed in the past decade, particularly after the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., and a shooting five years ago at a Catholic school in the Diocese of Scranton, Pa.

Catholic News Service contributed to this article.