By Ruth Tess, Contributing Writer
After the tragic incident at Marysville Pilchuck High School, we have questioned how safe our schools really are. Scott Sifferman, our vice-principal, willingly gave me a rundown of the procedures and precautions of Sultan High School.
"Every month, we have a variety of different emergency drills that we will practice. The most common associated with schools are the fire drills, but the reality is that schools rarely have fires. We practice lock down drills, intruder drills, and chemical drills. We were going to have a drill last week, but the weather had us postpone it again so we had a lock down drill this Friday. As for how we would react differently after the recent news, the biggest thing that it does is that it makes us stop and look at our own practices. We have safety measures in place that we constantly look at over and over again. Our school layout is pretty open, so we are mindful to keep the doors locked, since there are lots of ways to get in and out of campus. Recently, we've had teachers put a low tech rubber band device on their doors that allow doors to be locked at all times. Students can come and go, but if doors needed to be locked immediately, they just pull the rubber band off. There are changes as we continue to reexamine and find the best way to increase our safety. What we want more than anything else is for our kids to feel comfortable, because if they feel comfortable, they can learn. If you're worried about your surroundings, you're not focused on learning. The biggest thing to remember is that we are not panicked; we are always reexamining and improving security. It doesn't take a tragedy to make everyone put together plans. It's impossible to know what is in everyone's head, but we have wonderful people that care about everyone and we're going to do what we can to make sure this place is safe.GÇ¥
Shortly after my interview, I watched as Mr. Sifferman directed some visitors straight to the school office. As a student, I know that not every situation may be preventable, but we have staff who strive to create a safe environment for the students here at SHS, and that may make all the difference.
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