Keeping the Fox Out of the Chicken Coop: School Safety
by Jill Jenkins
"An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure" Benjamin Franklin
My maternal grandmother owned a chicken farm (a chicken ranch in today's vernacular), but this was the depression and the eggs fed her large family and were used to barter for other food helping to supplement or husband's income as a glazier for Bennet's Glass and Paint. Foxes could decimate a coop of chickens. They would bite off the heads of all the chickens burying those they couldn't carry back to their large litter of kits. To protect her chickens my grandmother used multiple layers of protection: an sturdy outside fence protected the chicken's yard, a sturdy coop where the chickens were locked in the night, and two guard dogs. First, she had a sturdy outside fence made from heavy steel chicken wire that foxes could not gnaw through. Second, the fencing was buried three feet underground so foxes couldn't burrow under it. Third, the chickens were housed during the night in a locked coop made of heavy wood and strong chicken wire set atop of a thick pad of cement. Finally the chickens were protected by two trained guard dogs: Chin, a Chow and Birdie, a Labrador Retriever. Students in schools need to be protected by multiple layers of protection. Educators have no power over legislation or police departments, but can prvide the same kind of protection my grandmother did for her chickens
.
Fencing the Perimeter
Like the chicken coop, the perimeter of the school should be fenced. Obviously, the school doesn't need to bury the fence underground, but the fencing should be sturdy and tall enough that a teenager couldn't hop the fence as he recently did in Texas. Security cameras are a must. A combination of supervising teachers and aides with cameras surrounded by a high fence should ensure the safety of elementary students during recess and keep violent visitors with drugs and weapons from entering high schools and middle schools.
The Chicken Coop: The Building
Schools vary greatly depending on the level: elementary, middle or high school or the decade in which they were built. In the late 1800's to the early 1900's were built in multi-levels with many entrances and lots of windows. In the middle of the 1900's they had less levels, but still lots of windows and entrances. In the 1980's many schools were built as pods with the offices in the center of the school and groups of four classrooms separated by thin walls, moveable walls or a curtain. Many of these rooms had interior doors for teachers to move within the pod easily. The building had few or no windows; however,with the office centrally located, visitors had to pass half of the classrooms to reach the office putting those classrooms in peril if there was an intruder. To create a safe barrier to protect students in any of these designs is going to difficult and costly.
- One Entrance for Visitors
Schools regardless of their design need to create one entrance for visitors that is isolated from the classroom and manned with an armed resource officer who verifies the validity of the visitors need to visit the school and makes certain the individual is not carrying any lethal weapons. The officer provides a visitors pass after the individual signs in and states his/her reason for visiting.
- Doors
All doors need to be spring loaded so they automatically close when released and all doors exterior and interior should be locked during school hours. Doors should be electronically locked and all faculty and staff should be given picture identification cards containing an electronic key to open the door when needed. 
- Hallways
The hallways and the doors should be monitored with security cameras with an assigned armed resource officer in the command center monitoring all of the camera locations at all times. He should have radio access to a third armed resource officer who who monitors the halls and/or the outside police department as the incident demands.
- Emergency Button and Radios
Staff members and faculty should wear radios with emergency buttons on their persons either on their wrist or around their necks. In some school that I have taught in emergency buttons were installed on the walls, but teachers move around their classroom when they teach, or they take their classes to other locations on campus making the button useless. Furthermore, if an intruder to enter the classroom. the teacher couldn't sprint across the classroom to push the button without being noticed. The radios should connect the teacher to the security office command center where she gets immediate help instead of a secretary who answers when she has time.
The Guard Dogs: Personnel
Just like Chin and Birdie, the guard dogs at my grandmother's chicken coop, the staff should be properly trained on a regular basis. Everyone from janitors, aides, cafeteria workers, teachers, counselors, and administrators should participate in training on a regular basis. Most importantly is "buy In" so the administration needs to "sell" it to the staff. Some eager beavers will follow the procedures enthusiastically and to the letter of law. The administration does not need worry about this group. A second group will complain or refuse to comply. The administrators need to use both the carrot and whip with this group. Since the lives of both students and teachers are at stake it is important that these teachers learn the importance and comply or maybe they don't belong in education. The third group is the most dangerous. They are the staff who say "yes" but when the cards are on the table they do whatever they want. They are difficult to identify, but take a look at other activities they have given lip service to and let them know that there are consequences for not complying and be sure to follow through with those consequences.
The Chickens: The Students
If you have ever lived next to a chicken coop you know chickens are noisy. If you have ever lived next to a school, you know children are noisy. Both are even louder when they are frightened. Therefore, it is imperative to to trains students how to shelter silently in place. Their lives depend on it. They need to be able to identify and report potential danger that they observe in the school or on social media. Creating an environment that is both comfortable and safe so student feel safe confiding in teachers, counselors, administrators and resource officers is paramount. However, providing an on-line site for students to report such dangers could be another layer of protection. These reports would go to the security command center and be acted on urgently. Training staff to react and communicate dangers in a urgent manner could make all the difference.
In Conclusion
Schools can be safer if multiple layers of protection are instituted. Yes, it will be more costly, but students' and teachers' lives are worth it.
- Doors
All doors need to be spring loaded so they automatically close when released and all doors exterior and interior should be locked during school hours. Doors should be electronically locked and all faculty and staff should be given picture identification cards containing an electronic key to open the door when needed.
- Hallways
The hallways and the doors should be monitored with security cameras with an assigned armed resource officer in the command center monitoring all of the camera locations at all times. He should have radio access to a third armed resource officer who who monitors the halls and/or the outside police department as the incident demands.
- Emergency Button and Radios
Staff members and faculty should wear radios with emergency buttons on their persons either on their wrist or around their necks. In some school that I have taught in emergency buttons were installed on the walls, but teachers move around their classroom when they teach, or they take their classes to other locations on campus making the button useless. Furthermore, if an intruder to enter the classroom. the teacher couldn't sprint across the classroom to push the button without being noticed. The radios should connect the teacher to the security office command center where she gets immediate help instead of a secretary who answers when she has time.
The Guard Dogs: Personnel
Just like Chin and Birdie, the guard dogs at my grandmother's chicken coop, the staff should be properly trained on a regular basis. Everyone from janitors, aides, cafeteria workers, teachers, counselors, and administrators should participate in training on a regular basis. Most importantly is "buy In" so the administration needs to "sell" it to the staff. Some eager beavers will follow the procedures enthusiastically and to the letter of law. The administration does not need worry about this group. A second group will complain or refuse to comply. The administrators need to use both the carrot and whip with this group. Since the lives of both students and teachers are at stake it is important that these teachers learn the importance and comply or maybe they don't belong in education. The third group is the most dangerous. They are the staff who say "yes" but when the cards are on the table they do whatever they want. They are difficult to identify, but take a look at other activities they have given lip service to and let them know that there are consequences for not complying and be sure to follow through with those consequences.
The Chickens: The Students
If you have ever lived next to a chicken coop you know chickens are noisy. If you have ever lived next to a school, you know children are noisy. Both are even louder when they are frightened. Therefore, it is imperative to to trains students how to shelter silently in place. Their lives depend on it. They need to be able to identify and report potential danger that they observe in the school or on social media. Creating an environment that is both comfortable and safe so student feel safe confiding in teachers, counselors, administrators and resource officers is paramount. However, providing an on-line site for students to report such dangers could be another layer of protection. These reports would go to the security command center and be acted on urgently. Training staff to react and communicate dangers in a urgent manner could make all the difference.
In Conclusion
Schools can be safer if multiple layers of protection are instituted. Yes, it will be more costly, but students' and teachers' lives are worth it.
- Hallways
The hallways and the doors should be monitored with security cameras with an assigned armed resource officer in the command center monitoring all of the camera locations at all times. He should have radio access to a third armed resource officer who who monitors the halls and/or the outside police department as the incident demands.
- Emergency Button and Radios
Staff members and faculty should wear radios with emergency buttons on their persons either on their wrist or around their necks. In some school that I have taught in emergency buttons were installed on the walls, but teachers move around their classroom when they teach, or they take their classes to other locations on campus making the button useless. Furthermore, if an intruder to enter the classroom. the teacher couldn't sprint across the classroom to push the button without being noticed. The radios should connect the teacher to the security office command center where she gets immediate help instead of a secretary who answers when she has time.
The Guard Dogs: Personnel
Just like Chin and Birdie, the guard dogs at my grandmother's chicken coop, the staff should be properly trained on a regular basis. Everyone from janitors, aides, cafeteria workers, teachers, counselors, and administrators should participate in training on a regular basis. Most importantly is "buy In" so the administration needs to "sell" it to the staff. Some eager beavers will follow the procedures enthusiastically and to the letter of law. The administration does not need worry about this group. A second group will complain or refuse to comply. The administrators need to use both the carrot and whip with this group. Since the lives of both students and teachers are at stake it is important that these teachers learn the importance and comply or maybe they don't belong in education. The third group is the most dangerous. They are the staff who say "yes" but when the cards are on the table they do whatever they want. They are difficult to identify, but take a look at other activities they have given lip service to and let them know that there are consequences for not complying and be sure to follow through with those consequences.
The Chickens: The Students
If you have ever lived next to a chicken coop you know chickens are noisy. If you have ever lived next to a school, you know children are noisy. Both are even louder when they are frightened. Therefore, it is imperative to to trains students how to shelter silently in place. Their lives depend on it. They need to be able to identify and report potential danger that they observe in the school or on social media. Creating an environment that is both comfortable and safe so student feel safe confiding in teachers, counselors, administrators and resource officers is paramount. However, providing an on-line site for students to report such dangers could be another layer of protection. These reports would go to the security command center and be acted on urgently. Training staff to react and communicate dangers in a urgent manner could make all the difference.
In Conclusion
Schools can be safer if multiple layers of protection are instituted. Yes, it will be more costly, but students' and teachers' lives are worth it.
