Over the past few days, the administration established new safety standards to improve classroom security in emergency situations. They asked for doors to be locked at all times, allowing rooms to be be secured more efficiently. To make this request easier for teachers to implement, they also put a new magnet system into place.

“With all the nervousness about terrorism these days, it was just one of those little measures that is advocated,” Principal Alan Goodwin said. “In the event of an emergency, you lock your classroom doors, cover the windows and stay inside.” If a door isn’t locked already, teachers have to find their keys and then lock the door, delaying the security process.

Most classroom doors lock from the outside, making it inconvenient for teachers to lock their doors during an emergency. If doors are locked and closed at all times, students are locked out every time they leave the room. To avoid these disruptions, the administration put small magnets in all classroom doorways to prevent doors from closing all the way.

Retired Business Manager Eddy Campbell developed the idea of using magnets, a cost-effective alternative to replacing many of the school’s door locks.

Though the security changes are minor, they do make it easier for teachers to react to an emergency and lock down their classrooms.

“Everyone has to be aware of the fact that either domestically or internationally, there is a danger that we have to be prepared to defend ourselves against,” social studies teacher Wendy Eagan said.