Parent concerned over security issues
With the recent spate of school shootings across the country, at
least one local parent is calling for beefed-up security at
Hollister schools.
Parent concerned over security issues
With the recent spate of school shootings across the country, at least one local parent is calling for beefed-up security at Hollister schools.
“We’ve lived all over the U.S. and this is the least protected school I’ve encountered,” said Vickie Lake, the parent of a fifth-grader and a kindergartner. Lake has been volunteering at Ladd Lane School for three years and said that the campus is extremely vulnerable.
“The motto of the school is safety first, learning second, but there are many holes in the safety at the school,” Lake said. “There are fences all around the campus, but the gates are all always open and unlocked. Anyone can walk onto that campus from the street and not be stopped.”
Lake understands the issues that can arise at an elementary school. She taught second grade in Colorado for nine years and understands both sides of the fence. Some of her concerns stem from the fact that other elementary schools, outside of California, seem to have much tighter security than the campuses she’s been exposed to here.
Things like swipe cards, door buzzers and security cameras are all very common in other cities and seemed to really curb the flow of parents allowed to wander to and from classrooms.
“Parents here don’t stop at the office to drop off a backpack; they go directly to the classrooms, and it’s the same with lunches. My daughter gives me a hard time because I knock on her classroom door if I have to drop something off, instead of just walking right in,” Lake said. “We just need to be smart about these things and play it safe.”
Maxine Carlson, principal of Ladd Lane Elementary, disputes Lake’s assessment and said that in fact her school is very safe. They ask all visitors to sign in at the front desk and wear visitor passes at all times when they are on the campus.
“We have a very safe campus. We have a school safety plan and perform regular safety drills. We all take pride in the fact that this is a safe and stimulating learning environment,” Carlson said.
In regards to unlocked gates around the campus at Ladd Lane and other schools in the district, San Benito County assistant superintendent Peter Gutierrez explained that all the schools in the district are community schools and as such must be open to the community for use.
There are a number of schools built in collaboration with the community, Gutierrez said. Marguerite Maize Middle School and Gabilan Hills School are two examples. The Hollister Parks and Recreation Department has access to the community schools so they can use them at any time they desire, however, Gutierrez said that typically isn’t supposed to be during school hours.
Gutierrez said that he had also heard of schools implementing security cameras for enhanced safety, but at a campus like any of the schools in this district, where all of the classrooms are outside, more than likely the cameras would be vandalized.
Lake also raised concerns over safety issues in the parking lots of many schools in the district, specifically Ladd Lane. She said that she’s personally witnessed very unruly behavior from drivers that are picking up or dropping off students.
“People drop off students where they’re not supposed to, they are rude and mean to crossing guards and I’ve even seen people going in the exits to avoid waiting in line to pick up their students,” Lake said.
Gutierrez acknowledged that parking lots are problem areas, but the district is doing everything it can to provide a safe environment.
“When school is in session if people are dropping off or picking up students we have school employees monitoring the parking lots and crossing guards,” Gutierrez said. “The challenge is that over the last decade more parents have started driving their kids to school rather than having them walk. It’s not just Hollister. It raises questions like are communities today being developed so that kids can walk safely to school.”
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at
po*******@pi**********.com
