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By Bill Christian
March 27, 2009
On December 2, 2008 three men
walked into High Point Elementary School in Washington County, Virginia.
Police said one of them barricaded himself inside the school. The school was
put into lockdown for several hours.
“Although their intent was not in
any way aggressive toward anyone in the school, it scared a lot of people,“
said Dr. Alan Lee, Washington County,
Virginia Superintendent of Schools.
He vowed to improve security at all
schools in the county after the High
Point incident.
“Following that we had a great deal
of emotion, which I think was legitimate emotion coming from parents, coming
from teachers that we needed to tighten our schools up more than we had,“ Lee
said.
Almost four months after the High Point scare, some
security measures are already in place and more are being added. Now, anyone
who enters High Point Elementary must be buzzed in by someone in the front
office before they are allowed to enter the school.
Internal security is also being
added at schools like Watauga
Elementary School. A
concrete wall is in place and locking doors will soon be added. Teachers can
lock themselves and students inside the classroom in case of an incident like
what happened at High Point.
But will all of this extra security be enough to keep students and teachers
safe?
“The most secure thing I could do
would be to put law enforcement officers in every one of our buildings and I
can’t do that,“ Lee said.
Seven resource officers watch over Washington County Schools everyday. Lee said
security has always been a top priority for him and other educators in the
county.
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/education/article/washington_county_virginia_schools_increase_security/22301/
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