Is Central safe?

Around the perimeter of Central, there are fifteen entrances. Students swarm around the two- side door and the basement entrances during passing periods and knock while waiting for their peers to open up the door. As calls for tightened school security and gun control have swarm the nation, new concerns regarding safety at Central have arisen.

In a survey randomly distributed to 83 students, 90% of students agreed that Central is easy to get in and out of. 17% of students said that they didn’t feel safe at school. If the survey accurately represents Central’s population, that is approximately 425 students who do not feel secure.

“The issue is that we have so many doors”, says Elisa Kirksey, who administers training to teachers regarding mental health and safety. “On the student’s part, I think there is apathy because they think that they can just go in and out and nothing will happen. Until something happens and it hits close to home, people will continue to leave and come back”.

There is a general consensus among guards and administrators that one of the greatest security issues at Central is the abundance of entrances and exits. “All the doors need to lock”, says security guard Jermond Bonner. “You go to other schools and their main doors lock, they have to walk through metal detectors and walk past security. There’s too many doors and just too many that get left unlocked”.

As for newly implemented safety procedures, there are no large changes. The doors on the West and Dodge street entrances now lock by themselves. Teachers receive online training to recognize potential threats and lockdown drills become more frequent. “I think there should be more being done”, says Bonner.

But the physical aspect of safety heavily relies on the student’s willingness to comply and refuse to let classmates into the building. “The kids need to pull their weight and not open the door for other students or anybody”, says Bonner. Kirksey adds, “I just need people to be more diligent”.

Unease is heightened after the Parkland, Florida school shooting that left seventeen people dead. “(A shooter) already has a leg up on us if the doors are unlocked”, explains Bonner. “It’s something that I think about every time I come into work”.