How Schools Are Becoming Fortresses to Protect Against Potential Shooters

To deal with these risks, and in a context where Congress is slow to give the “the”, many schools, colleges and high schools are taking measures to protect themselves, even if it means becoming fortresses. For the past two months, students at a high school in the Akron, Ohio, school district have been required to arrive a little earlier in the morning. The reason ? From now on, as at the airport, they must comply with a complete search of their belongings.

Under the supervision of two police officers assigned to the establishment, the system is managed directly by the teachers and supervisors. “I’m looking for anything that can be dangerous, that doesn’t belong here: alcohol, drugs… anything that students aren’t allowed to take”explains Dawn Durban, a special education teacher.

In addition, all the doors and windows of the building are protected by an invisible film. With this equipment, a potential shooter will need almost two minutes, multiple bullets, kicks and butts to force entry. “We know that if we call the police, they will take an average of three minutes to intervene. So if we manage to delay an intrusion by two or three minutes, that can be decisive”, Judge Steven Thompson, the operational director of the Akron School District. Added to this are 155 state-of-the-art surveillance cameras. Alert buttons are also scattered throughout the site. “They put us in direct contact with the police”, specifies Kim Sabetta, the principal. From the classrooms to the cafeteria, the establishment is therefore overprotected.