Discussion includes limiting access to buildings
Security at Greene County school buildings was part of the discussion April 9 when the Greene County board of education discussed upgrading the after-hours key card entry systems at the high school and the intermediate school in Grand Junction. With the upgrade, the systems at the two buildings will be tied into one system for monitoring.
The board approved the project at a cost of $8,415 for the intermediate school and $9,667 for the high school. Some components of the high school system can be resold, superintendent Tim Christensen said. He added that he anticipates installing a key card system at the elementary school next year.
With the new system, a key card will not function as a master key for all district buildings. Staff who need access to more than one building will have to be verified in the system for each building. An advantage is that members of the community who need occasional access for a specific function, like a meeting or a practice, can be entered into the system for a specified period of time. The person would receive a key card that would work only within a particular time frame.
Christensen expanded the discussion to include a locked security system that would require visitors be “buzzed in” to the building. He said he was hesitant to talk about it but thought the conversation was necessary. “We’re talking about building relationships and that’s not a real great relationship builder. ‘Come visit our school but you can’t get in the door unless you buzz’ …but we need to be proactive and look at that,” Christensen said.
Board president Sam Harding visits school buildings all over the state in his work. He said about half the schools he visits already have that type of security system, with some of them much smaller than Greene County and some much larger. “It’s not so much the size. I think it’s a community feeling,” Harding said.
The schools now have unlocked doors during the school day but request all visitors go through a check-in at the office and receive a name badge before proceeding. Harding said visitors bypassing the check-in does not seem to be an issue, that generally school staff knows what visitors are in the building and their purpose for being there.
“This is something we won’t know we need until it’s too late,” board member Ashley Johnston said about a limited access system.
“The reality is a guy with a gun gets in anyway. A buzzer doesn’t stop him,” Harding said.
Board member David Ohrt said he has mixed feelings about school security. “I hate for the school to feel like a prison. You wonder who’s being locked up. Are the kids being locked in or is someone being locked out? …The reality is you can’t ever prevent every bad thing from ever happening, but we’re also responsible for keeping the kids safe,” he said.
The deadline for ordering the upgraded key card systems for the two schools did not allow that to be rolled into a locked limited access system. Christensen said he would get prices for installing a limited access system at all four school buildings in the Greene County district.
