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During the summer of 2013, construction will take place in BV West to improve the school’s safety. Spotlight examines the reasons for

these changes and the implications of them. With re-cent safety concerns in American schools, the BV District is taking action in all of the schools to improve student safety. 2-3

Should Teachers be Armed?Spotlight editor Mitchell Bird explores the possibility of arming teachers to protect students. With a nationwide discussion on the topic, Bird shares his opinion on the significant safety suggestion. 4

Safety by the Numbers in BV Schools

New construction plan expected to help school safety

Special Edition

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ARE WE SAFE?

BVWEST

•9 BV Schools will change their

entrances by 2014

•Community members voted for safety bond in 2012

•The BV District has sped up many school safety plan time-

lines, some by even four years.

Information gathered from Feb. 7 BV District Press Release.

School SafetymArch 13, 2013BLUE VALLEY

WEST

Photo by Ryan Williams.

KATHERINE BYRKETSection Editor

While most students are looking forward to a summer full of swimming, sleeping, and sunbathing, the administration is looking

forward to a summer full of construction. During the upcoming summer of 2013, BV West is planning a large amount of construction that will transform many different parts of the school. One of the most significant changes will be to the front office. “The main office and SRO office will be moved forward under the overhang that is currently outside the main entrance of the school,” Principal Tony Lake said. “The front of the school will be opened for attendance, that way you have to go straight into the office when you enter the school.” Lake will also be experiencing a lot of changes in his own office. Its old location will be given up for a new one, near the front of the school. “Inside the current main office, my office and Mrs. Hartis’s office will move to a new location,” Lake said. “Many of these old offices, including the SRO office, will be transformed into additional conference rooms.” Because the school will be under a lot of construc-tion over the summer, it causes potential problems for students wanting to visit the school over the summer. Whether it be alumni or new freshman, they will need a way to enter the building. “During the summer, there will be a temporary wall in the main entrance,” Lake said. “This will block off the new construction and keep the main entrance clear for students to pass through.” All of these future construction plans have been in consideration for a long time. These specific changes were all part of the bond that was voted on last year. “This project had a big push in safety and technol-ogy,” Lake said. “One of our main goals is preventing anyone from just walking into the main building.” Excluding BV Northwest, all of the other BV schools have made changes concerning the location of the main office. Because BV Southwest was recently constructed, its office was already correctly posi-tioned. According to BV eNews, several bond safety proj-ects in BV have been moved up in importance on the long list of reconstruction. BV eNews is a newsletter that is sent out to people within the BV district. Nine of the Blue Valley schools are expecting changes to their main entrances. The newsletter explained that the main goal is to have “pinch-point entrances.” This type of entrance forces visitors to go straight into the main office when they enter the school. By moving the front office forward, BV West hopes to achieve this pinch-point entrance.

Excluding all of these major construction plans for the outside of the school, Lake wants to address a few safety issues he and the administration have encoun-tered throughout the school. They hope that these new safety improvements will prevent the situations from occurring. “One of our major problems is students who prop doors open,” Lake said. “We have security cameras that can tell us who is responsible for this activity, and then these students will receive consequences for this action.” Lake believes that this issue is extremely important to address because propped doors can allow anyone to enter the school. Although he understands that it is easier for teachers to leave a door propped when doing an activity outside, the students’ safety is much more important. In addition to this issue, BV West is also taking an-other safety measure that has to do with tardy students checking in at the main office. “We are also considering adding something to the main office where students will be ‘buzzed in’, but it is not set in stone yet,” Lake said. Aside from this major construction, there will also be many internal improvements to the school. The current broadcast and Exploring Health Professions (EHP) rooms will be swapped. “The main changes in my new classroom space will be the fact that we will have dedicated studio space that is connected to the room, whereas currently our study space is now in a different hallway,” Kurimsky said. “Also, with the new configuration, we will be able to more efficiently store our camera equipment.” Because this new classroom location is a big change for teachers and students, Kurimsky maintains an optimistic outlook, explaining that these changes are really all for the better. “I am definitely excited about this change,” Kurimsky said. “Certainly having the convenience factor for the studio will be a tremendous addition to our workflow. Being able to have a more efficient space will really be a positive for day to day activities.” Of course, with major projects like relocation, there is always the question of whether or not this change will positively or negatively affect students, and Kurimsky definitely believes the former. “I’m sure the change will have a positive affect on the students,” Kurimsky said. “Anytime you get something new, that adds a different level of excite-ment. The students will get an opportunity to work with a more modern and efficient workflow.” Although this project has been a lot to swallow, the district is very excited about the changes that are to take place. When it comes to students’ safety, the BV District wants to do all that it can to make parents and students feel comfortable and safe.

bvwnews.compage2 spotlight safety[

A Change for the BetterConstruction to front office will make school safer

“What do you think about the new safety improvements?”

Hall Talk:

“I think it’s a necesssary change. I don’t see how that will help the other entrances though.”

Sierra Menzies, Junior

“I will feel more safe if a stranger tries to come into the school.”

Austin Alejos, Sophomore

“I don’t mind. It’s not changing much.”

Noah Schnick, Sophomore

School B (Hours 3 & 4 Passing Period)

After School A, the reporters drove to School B and attempted to walk into the building. Emily went through the front door,

and Lauren searched for an entrance at the back of the building. Emily immediately ran into trouble. As soon as she walked into the office, she was questioned by the school’s attendance secretary. She was not able to prove that she was a student at School B, and was forced to leave with-out getting into the main building. However, Lauren was able to enter through a side door near the pool after a student opened it for her. She made it to the journalism room, and after explaining the experiment to both the attendance secretary and the journalism adviser, Lauren left the school. She then attempted to circle the school, but there were some road gates that prevented her from doing so.

School C (3rd/4th Lunch)

The reporters split up from the start at School C. Emily went around the side to find a way in, and Lauren went through the

front door. At the attendance desk, the secretary checked multiple lists of names, not finding Lauren’s. Learning that sick people are not put on any of those lists through observation, Lauren decided to say that she had been sick. The attendance secretary stamped her late pass, and she met up with Emily who had been let in near the cafeteria by a student. They got lost on the second floor, but they went into the broadcast room asking for directions and were shown the way to the journalism room by a student. The reporters talked to the journalism adviser and left the campus. Navigating around the school by car was a bit trouble-some, but not impossible.

bvwnews.com page 3spotlight safety]

Blue Valley: All AccessEditors test security at the other BV high schools

EMILY BINSHTOK & LAUREN PINOSection Editors

School A (Hour 3 & Hour 6)

Editors, Emily Binshtok and Lauren Pino, began their day by heading to a school they were familiar with. As they approached

the school, they noticed a conveniently open door on the side of the building. A teacher had left it open while getting something from her car, and Emily took the opportunity to enter through this side door into the band hallway. She made it to the journalism room without any trouble and exited the building. Later, Emily returned to School A to test the security of their front entrance. Since the inner set of front doors were locked during school hours, she was forced to enter through the attendance office and sign in as if she was a student there, which she was able to do successfully. Meanwhile, Lauren tried to fully circle the school in her car, but found it difficult to do so because of the one way roads and separate driveways.

School D (5th Lunch)

Emily went looking for a side entrance at School D, while Lauren entered through the front. The inner front doors were locked, so

Lauren went to the attendance office, signed in, and received a late pass. Not knowing where to go, she went to the FACS and technology hall by mistake. A teacher there pointed her to the opposite side of the school. After accidentally entering the room across from the journalism room and being given weird looks by the students there, she made it to the journalism room. Emily came into the room soon after, also with a pass, having been unable to enter through any of the side doors. Returning to the main office they met a woman who had just checked their i.d. numbers and names on the sign-in sheet. The woman was going to report that there were non-stu-dents in the building about ten or fifteen minutes after they had gotten in. The parking lot had some one way roads, but nothing that would seriously preventing circling the school.

SAFE

TYR

EPO

RT

With all the shootings at schools and other public places, students across the country have began to question the safety of their own

schools. On March 5, two senior Spotlight section editors decided to not just question the safety at Blue Valley high schools. They decided to investi-gate by seeing how easy it would be for them to enter the other district high schools and get to their journalism rooms as non-students.

Their intentions were not to cause trouble or embarrass anyone, and their hope was to not be able to enter. While their investigative report may not have been a true test of how safe any of the schools really are it raised important questions. Did our reporters get in the schools because they were girls? Could boys have gotten in? Adults? What if they had been dressed differently? Did students and teachers circumvent district safety measures? Regardless, the results were eye opening. School identities are not named in this report for the interest of student safety.

SCHOOL AOverall: B-

Front Door: B- (success; tough interrogation techniques) Side/Back Door: B+ (success; all doors locked)Parking Lot: B+ (one way roads)Information Protection: B- (vague map found online)Teacher/Student Security Practices: D (keeps doors open; held door open for a stranger; map and room numbers found on online)

SCHOOL BOverall: B

Front Door: A+ (failure; tough interrogation techniques) Side/Back Door: B+ (success; all doors locked)Parking Lot: A (gates, but not all were locked)Information Protection: C (map found online)Teacher/Student Security Practices: C (let in strangers)

SCHOOL COverall: B-

Front Door: B- (success; tough interrogation techniques) Side/Back Door: B+ (success; all doors locked)Parking Lot: C (possible to navi- gate with some ease)Information Protection: A- (traffic map found online)Teacher/Student Security Practices: C- (let in strangers; gave directions without questions)

SCHOOL DOverall: A-

Front Door: B- (success; tough interrogation techniques) Side/Back Door: A+ (failure; all doors locked)Parking Lot: B- (some one way roads)Information Protection: A+Teacher/Student Security Practices: A- (gave directions without questions)

OUR SCHOOLOverall: C+

Front Door: D (attendance office far away from entrance)Side/Back Door: A (away from students; all locked)Parking Lot: D (easy to circle)Information Protection: A- (traffic map found online)Teacher/Student Security Practices: C- (would let in strangers; would give directions without questions)

bvwnews.compage4 spotlight safety[

Protection or Danger?

Speculation arises around the hotly debated idea of arming teachers

School Shootings

Bath Township, Mich.: Forty-five people were killed, including 38 elemen-tary students, and 58 injured in three bombings by a school board treasurer enraged by higher taxes in the deadliest act of violence at a U.S. school.

1927

Austin, Texas: A University of Texas student and former Marine killed 16 people and wounded 32 others in and around the campus. He was shot dead by a police officer

1966

Littleton, Co.: Two students killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded more than 20 others before killing them-selves at Columbine High School.

1999

Blacksburg, Virginia: A student killed 32 students and faculty at Virginia Poly-technic and State University in the worst single act of gun violence in U.S. history.

2007

2012Newtown, Connecticut: Shooter Adam Lanza fatally shot 28 people, including 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Information courtesy of www. foxnewsinsider.com

Section Editor

With the unfortunate events at Sandy Hook Elementa-ry School and a few other

recent shootings, the whole country has been scrambling around the idea of gun control. One that has caused controversy is arming teachers. To sum up my feelings on the topic in a few words, this idea is absolutely absurd. Schools try to keep guns out of schools, so why would the answer be to bring guns in to keep guns out? Teachers, if armed, would have an extra responsibility that could be disastrous if not properly maintained and kept up with every moment of the day. The administrative staff and teachers are there to provide an education and get students ready to integrate into society. If a teacher is packing heat every day then that sends a message that they are not safe even inside a place that is supposed to be a safe haven for all. Another reason that teachers

should not be armed is that there are already personnel on site who have training in dealing with high stress and pressure situations where a gun would be needed. School resource officers are hired for the purpose of making sure that the school is a safe environment for the students and faculty. As long the officers do their job maintaining the school’s safety then there is no reason for the teach-ers to have guns. Even before the Sandy Hook shooting there were trial runs of arming teachers or students to prepare in the case of an intruder. A study done by ABC news in 2010 al-lowed for students to voluntarily sign up for a gun safety course where they were instructed to use a paintball gun shaped like a regular semi-automatic handgun. Later they were placed in a classroom where an armed intruder would come in at random times to simulate an attack. The students were rarely if ever successful in defending

themselves. The case showed most of the students unable to react quickly enough to get the gun out of the holster let alone defend themselves from an intruder simulated to be determined enough to do physical harm to them. Something else to consider is that if there was a school shooting there would be the element of surprise. The intruder would know who to attack first, the teachers. Not to men-tion the average teacher with barely any training would not be able to react fast enough to protect twenty to thirty students when a gunman comes running in guns blazing. Teachers should not be armed; that piece of legislation should be thrown out all together. It is an idea that will not work. It is an inap-propriate solution to the problem of keeping students safe from armed intruders because it exposes them more to what started the damage in the first place.

“Should teachers be armed?”Spotlight Staff Responds

Staff Vote“Yes” “No” “Undecided”

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mitchell bird