It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since the
shootings at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, On April 16,2007 a lone
gunman entered the campus killed 32 people and injured 17 others before
committing suicide. It was one of the deadliest mass shootings by a single
gunman in US history. That event coupled with a retrospective of the shootings
at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as well as the tragedy at
Columbine High School should give educators pause about dealing with campus
security. Providing for student safety has become an important priority turning
some school entranceways into airport like security zones. In a number of
school districts, administrators have hired school resource officers, armed
police or deputies, to patrol the buildings as well as the surrounding
campuses. Last night I attended a community town hall to discuss security at
religious institutions. This is all an unfortunate sign of the times. But to
echo the words of the county sheriff and chief of police, we need to be proactive
rather than reactive. At the risk of being redundant, “If you see something,
say something.”
As many school districts are approaching the end of the
academic year, it is important, even critical, to provide a comprehensive
assessment of campus security procedures and make plans for the net school
year.
c. 2017 J. Margolis
