With only a few days left until fall semester begins for Oxford students, the Oxford Community Schools’ Board of Education cemented some of the safety precautions it will take in the coming school year at its Tuesday, Aug. 14 meeting.
Oxford High School (OHS) will receive the bulk of the improvements, the plan being to move from there to the rest of the schools in the district.
Some of the area surrounding the entrances and exits of the OHS parking lot will be equipped with electronic gates and bollards. Bollards are small polls placed in the ground that can keep cars from driving on the lawn or entering a restricted area, but do not hinder walking, lawnmowers or golf carts.
The board is considering more affordable options at this time, so the gates and bollards won’t be installed right away. Some areas of the grounds will also be equipped with chain-link gates that need to be manually opened.
Students and visitors to OHS will also notice more exterior signage on the building. These signs point visitors where they can and cannot enter, creating a more controlled way to monitor who enters and exits the school. These signs are expected to be installed at all schools in the district as soon as possible.
Aside from the high school, staff at the elementary schools received ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) active shooter training (see story on Page 1).
“All of our elementary principles and some other select district staff are today and tomorrow attending a certified ALICE trainer training,” said Sam Barna, assistant superintendent of business and operations. “We’re looking to have 14 or 15 people in the district certified as ALICE trainers.”
These trainers will be able to teach ALICE procedures to other staff members and make sure school employees are sharp on what to do in an unfortunate situation. Having certified trainers in the district will also save the schools money.
Aside from the certified training individuals, the board plans to have district substitute teachers and custodians take mandatory ALICE training online as well. Staff and students can expect to participate in active shooter drills throughout the school year to be prepared for such a situation.