Since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary happened, Douglas County School District  decided to take action and make schools’ safety a number one priority this year. “A task force was put together this summer reviewing safety procedures,” said Mr. Ness,HR assistant principal and head of security. “The task force consisted of all of the sheriff departments, and all of the fire chiefs in Douglas county, as well as some security officials from Douglas county.” We will be having a practice drill at least every two to three weeks.

     “There have been other ways to keep the doors locked and still have access to the classroom,” said Mr. Goings HR principal. The door stop in between the door and the door handle,known as the door stop method, has been approved. The door stop method will allow access in and out of the room while the door is locked. The handle will be propped down, and when incase of an emergency all the teachers have to do is simply pull out the door stop from the handle. The door block is a foam door hanger that wraps around the door handle and leaves the door open about a quarter of an inch. “It serves two purposes,” said Ness. “One, in case of an emergency you just grab it and pull it off and the door shuts and locks, and two it helps reduce the distraction because the door won’t always constantly be slamming shut and disrupting the class.”                                                                                                                                                                                               Both methods take less than a minute to “tear down” and will be more effective than teachers struggling with their key to lock the door in a real emergency. “The door block seems pointless when we all can just use the actual door stop that is provided to the teachers,” said Aubreanna Chelin, HRHS senior. “It can save the district money if we just use what is provided to us. To me it feels like the door stop will be quicker when in an emergency, than struggling with the door block.”

     Hopefully the new door block can be seen within the next couple of weeks. “You should be able to react without taking a lot of action,” said Ness.  “Reaction time is important, because that’s when you save people’s lives and when you can really make a difference.”

 Ashley Larrison, editor-in-chief