Weekly Editorial
September 5, 2006

Safety First!

There is high value in knowing that our community’s most valuable asset, our children, is safe and protected from any unfortunate dangerous situation or event. One of the safest and most secure places in the community for our children should be our school building. Beginning this 2006-07 school year, the district is implementing relevant changes to enhance and improve each school building’s overall security process and procedures. The following recent changes have been initiated:

  • Building entrances will be limited to key designated locations and all staff, students, parents and guests will be asked to use these designated entrances.
  • All building visitors, including parent volunteers and workers, will be required to sign in the main office and receive a guest identification sticker.
  • Specific protocol steps for emergency phone calls from classrooms have been established to ensure emergency officials are able to respond quickly and efficiently.
  • Building lock-down and evacuation procedures have been updated.
  • Key fire lanes have been clearly marked adjacent to all buildings and these will be enforced both during the school day and for evening events.
  • The district is working with City officials, as students are encouraged to park in designated parking lots on school grounds.
  • Fourteen security cameras (eleven interior and three exterior) have been installed at the high school campus. This system, which views every corridor and hallway twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, is on our network and can be streamed to any computer in the district.
  • Access keys and building maps have been distributed to key public safety officials.
  • All HSPS school employees are required to complete a criminal background check. An on-line criminal background check is done on all school volunteers.
  • Efforts are underway to acquire defibrillators for each of our campuses.

Our parents, teachers, scout leaders, recess monitors, etc. always reminded us “Safety was First.” In the unique day and age we live in, “safety first” is now more important than ever. We at HSPS recognize this and are endeavoring to ensure our community’s most valuable asset, our children, are protected and secure.