District 207 is working to improve safety and security at our schools. Currently, although not permitted, students open various exterior doors to let other students into the building or students exit through non-authorized doors during the school day for appointments, lunch or other reasons. Both are a major safety concern.
Starting October 14, the door alarms and surveillance cameras on exterior doors will be activated. These changes are designed to keep everyone safe while keeping the school day running smoothly.
Students will be trained about these new protocols and provided further information about these enhancements and the expectations for doors.
Here is what students can expect:
- Exterior doors will now have alarms, except for the main entrance. The alarms are designed to make sure students don’t leave the building during the school day and to ensure students do not open or prop open doors to allow other students or unauthorized visitors from coming inside the school.
- The alarms will be set to allow for normal arrival, dismissal, and open campus. After dismissal, only a few doors will remain open for student use, and those doors will be supervised.
- After the school day ends, parts of the building such as academic wings will be locked. Staff will still have access, but this will limit student access to areas where no security staff are present.
- The door alarms are indicated by a small white box near the door. A red light means the alarm is active.
- If a student opens a door and activates a door alarm, staff will follow up with the student to understand what happened. In some cases, students may receive school consequences, depending on the situation.
Our goal is that these alarms will remind everyone to use the correct doors, not to open doors and not to let others into the building. This will increase the level of safety in our schools.
We understand that any change brings an adjustment period. Our goal is to make these updates with as little disruption as possible, while keeping safety at the center of our planning.
Thank you for your support as we take this important step in strengthening the safety of our school community.