Morgan Rees ‘21, Morgan Bramwell ‘21:
In light of the school shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Episcopal has been prompted to look into adding more safety features to the campus for additional protection for students.
One of the biggest concerns with Middle and Upper School students pertains to the fact that the main entrances to the buildings are unlocked, and therefore open to intruders. Joe Shanahan, Director of Campus Safety, has new ideas to better protect the students, teachers, and staff. He says, “We are looking at locking the doors and giving middle and upper schoolers swipe cards.This can double as your ID, and you can swipe your way into the building. The good thing about the swipe cards is I can track them so I can see where everyone is swiping.”
Photo Courtesy of The Episcopal Academy Website
The majority of students seem to be in favor of this new plan. Ashley Lederman ‘21 states, “I know that other schools that have bigger campuses like us have swipe cards, like Notre Dame and Villa Maria. It would make me feel safer in the buildings if there was an intruder.”
In addition, the security staff is looking to improve the procedures that are already incorporated in existing policies. Michael Letts, Head of Upper School says, “We are looking at procedures of lock down drills and expectations and policies around those because we need to find ways to get a headcount of all the kids in the upper school and the campus center at all times just to make sure that we are keeping everyone as safe as possible.”
Another safety feature that the security administration is looking into is the universal turn locks on all the doors that a key is not needed for. That way, the case of an intruder, a student or faculty member without a key is able to lock the door without assistance. For example, “If you are in a club meeting with a Lower School teacher, and you are stuck in the classroom during a lockdown, you have the ability to turn the lock, which is critical for safety too,” explains Letts. Shanahan also mentioned in last month’s community town hall on campus safety that the doors of the chapel now lock, which they previously did not do up until this point.
There were also mentions of further training for faculty and staff members, to keep the students at EA safe. Mark Notaro, Head of Operations, states, “We, the facilities crew, are planning a part of the campus safety course training where we do all the drills and all the exercises. It’s everyone together, so it’s not just the four people on campus safety and the four officers, it’s everyone. And so even the grounds guys are part of that equation, and obviously the teachers.”
Students and faculty believe that EA’s incredible sense of community plays an integral role in supporting campus security. Shanahan says, “EA’s culture is its strongest asset when it comes to security, and the student body is really supportive. All the kids are great and there’s just a culture of a community aspect to EA everybody looks out for everyone else.”
Lily Buckley ‘20 says, “The community at EA is very united. We all bond together very well and I think if anything ever were to happen at school we would protect each other.”
Letts continues that the students have the responsibility of “taking care of one another.” He concludes, “If you see things or hear things that may be concerning, you need to speak up.”