“I’m fed up with school shootings,” said Carl Murphy, an Eastmont parent who called The Wenatchee World after talking to his child’s school principal. “I want to know why anyone can walk into a school and cause whatever harm they choose.”
Similar calls and emails from parents worried about school security in the wake of the shooting that killed 17, prompted both Wenatchee and Eastmont superintendents to post letters of assurance to community and staff members.
“We lock doors, we train and practice safety procedures and have switched from hiding during a potential shooter to flee, hide or fight, depending on the situation,” Eastmont Superintendent Garn Christensen wrote in a letter to staff Thursday afternoon.
But, he said in an interview, “It’s important to remember that even at Sandy Hook, that had one of the most secure campuses you will ever find, the shooter still managed to come into the school. The security measures didn’t seem to deter him much. He just shot through the doors.”
In that 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, 20 children, age 6 and 7, were killed, along with six staff members, by a 20-year-old former student. It was the deadliest mass shooting at a school.
“I’ve been in urban schools, with metal detectors, gates and security guards,” Christensen said. “The principals shared that it is a deterrent, but they still have situations with weapons. It’s a problem. There are no easy solutions.”
Murphy was pushing for measures that include double security doors where visitors are buzzed through the first door, get their identification checked and their photo taken before being allowed through a second set of doors, with a photo sticker on their chest.
Wenatchee School District’s Washington and Lincoln elementary schools and WestSide High School, all remodeled in the past three years, have the single entry, double-security door system.
Superintendent Brian Flones said all Wenatchee schools also have video cameras and electronic locks.
In Cashmere, a high school remodel project that is getting underway includes similar security measures. The bond proposal approved by voters on Tuesday includes locks and entry reconfigurations for the middle and elementary schools as well.
Eastmont has four elementary schools slated for modernization projects that will allow the single entry, double-security door design, but they’re at least 10 years out.
The district has taken interim steps to boost security including adding the electronic card locks on exterior doors and video camera surveillance at all schools.
East Wenatchee police and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office have electronic card keys and video access as well.
“We talked with RiverCom and police and they said timing is critical and they need the ability to immediately enter a school,” Christensen said.
Flones said Wenatchee also participates in active shooter drills, so police know the layout of the schools. The district has a five-member security team that includes a school resource officer, that helps make sure plans are in place and provide help with training.
“There are always new things coming for school safety,” he said.
Lockdowns have become part of the emergency training routine.
“We rarely worry about schools catching on fire anymore,” Christensen said, thanks to extensive sprinkler systems and alarm systems. “Our predominant worry is about an active shooter in the school.”
This year, he said, school administrators have been meeting monthly with police and fire leaders to look at “things we can do different or do better, to see what we’re missing. We want schools to be as safe as possible,” he said.
Eastmont has scheduled active shooter trainings for staff for the past few years. Last year, about 75 staff members participated.
The next training is set for Feb. 28. Christensen said he has received requests Thursday from other agencies and businesses asking if they can participate, so is opening it up to the community.
Flones and Christensen said security measures are only part of the picture.
“One of the best preventions is early warning,” Flones said. “We want to make sure students or parents tell someone if they have a concern about someone who has a behavioral or mental issue that might lead to an act of violence. We want to be able to provide help and assistance.”
Christensen agreed.
“I believe our most likely means for heading off these tragedies is the relationships we have with students, their parents, grandparents and our community. If these are strong, we have a much better chance of learning about and stopping a deranged your person, or adult than if we do not listen and learn from our community,” he said.
Reach Nevonne McDaniels at 509-664-7151 or mcdaniels@wenatcheeworld.com.
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