Shawnee Mission West's online student newspaper

smwest.com

Shawnee Mission West's online student newspaper

smwest.com

Shawnee Mission West's online student newspaper

smwest.com

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photo by Malcom Luna

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New Classroom Locked Doors Policy

Many school districts, now including The Shawnee Mission School District, have begun a new policy of locking all classroom doors during classes. At the Shawnee Mission School District, this practice is being put in place as a response to the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on December 14, 2012. As there actually were strong security measures in place at Sandy Hook, many wonder what it actually takes to ensure that students are safe at school. A sample of 25 West students revealed that 100% of those individuals disagreed with the new locked door policy of the Shawnee Mission School District.

When asked if he like the locked door policy at West, Jacob Gosserand, senior, responded, “ No, not really. On the rare occasion that I’m late then it’s really inconvenient. If it keeps people safe though, that’s what matters, but if the doors leading into West are locked anyways, what’s the point?

When Dr. McLean was told about the student’s opinions on the new locked door policy, he responded with, “ I respect that, I wish I lived in a world where this wasn’t an issue but there have been too many examples of a person walking into a public building and causing harm. The locked door is a temporary barrier to protect the students and teachers. Overland Park Police has said that if there was a shooter in the building, they would be on site in 6 to 7 minutes.”

“ I think there are better solutions, as this is just annoying for students. Maybe instead they could secure the main doors more?” sophomore Jack Snyder expressed in his thoughts of the new policy.

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In response to Snyder’s concerns, West Principal Dr. Charles McLean said, “ All outside doors are locked except for the main front doors which always have an SRO officer and or a teacher. I want somebody with a gun at the main doors because if a shooter were to come in, we need to be able to stop him there.”

 

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New Classroom Locked Doors Policy