School Security Issues

Students went back to school in Newtown, Connecticut today after Friday’s mass shootings.

So what security measures are in place in schools locally to prevent or respond to a similar incident?

The Negaunee Public Schools don’t have metal detectors inside the doors of their buildings.

They don’t have all the doors locked at all times.

But all of the doors of their buildings are except the main entrance during school hours.

Superintendent Jim Derocher says they’re required by state law to practice lockdown drills twice every school year, and they do have a crisis plan in place for each building.

However, if someone is as determined to cause havoc as the gunman in Newtown was, there’s very little a school district can do, no matter what security protocols are in place.

Derocher says that’s where the response comes in, and teachers and staff do know what their roles are in the crisis plans.

Back in Connecticut, the schools in Ridgefield, about 20 miles from Newtown, were locked down this morning on reports of a suspicious person at a train station near an elementary school.