The safety of a student is supposed to be the first priority of any school. However, this safety is not always guaranteed. With possible threats of danger in schools, new strategies and safety devices have been implemented.
New SafeDefend boxes have been placed in classrooms to give staff members additional items for different kinds of emergencies.
According to Principal Ed Nelson,
“Our Central Office Administration made the decision in conjunction with our Board of Education to install Safe Defend,” Nelson said.
SafeDefend is an active threat protection system company that has been around for 12 years. SafeDefend is used in 11 states, around 300 districts, and almost 1,000 schools. According to SafeDefend’s website, there have been 1,131 homicides in K-12 schools in the last 30 years.
This new addition to our school will hopefully give staff members a better means of protection.
SafeDefend’s goal is to help give teachers, staff members, and students the upper hand when law enforcement isn’t there.
According to the owner of SafeDefend, Jeff Green, the boxes contain a “variety of items” that can be used in an emergency. While these boxes were being placed in classrooms, teachers were given training on how to properly use the items in the boxes.
The week before students begin school, teachers were informed about this new addition to classrooms.
Mrs. Jennifer Strathman, a PLTW teacher, recounts her experience learning about the SafeDefend Boxes.
“I was first informed when I walked into my classroom and saw the box. But then, I didn’t find out the details about what it was until we were taught about them during our meetings and training.”
For the training, the school’s staff was split into two groups.
First, one group went to get their fingerprints put into the system in the cafeteria. Only staff members can open the boxes in case of an emergency. Then, there was an opportunity to learn more about the purpose, contents, and other details regarding the SafeDefend boxes. However, because of privacy reasons, Nelson informed us that the Central Office of Public Relations staff will have to be the ones to release certain details about the contents of the box.
Physical Education teacher, Daniel Wheeler stated his feelings about the new addition to saftey.
“I think the boxes are great. It’s a great idea to try to keep our schools a little bit safer,” Wheeler said. “Anything that we can do to keep the school as safe as possible is a great idea.”
Wheeler also agreed that just having the SafeDefend boxes is a good deterrent against anything that might make the school unsafe.
The ultimate goal is to ensure the safety of students and all staff members.
