Students’s safety when they are at school is more important than ever. Whether that means understanding our school’s emergency procedures, participating in drills, or knowing about recent legislation that affects student safety, students should be informed and prepared.
As you may know and have heard, a PA system broadcasts important announcements everywhere on CSArt’s campus.
Before we opened CSArts, this used to be a middle school in Duarte unified. Duarte unified had a hardwired system that went everywhere except for the 400s, and we used that for a number of years, but now we’ve been transitioning to a wireless system, so the 400s can be included. So the fire drill last week was our first real good test of the wireless system, because it was installed over the summer,”
said assistant principal, Leon Metoyer.
Due to the novelty of this wireless system, however, they are still ironing out some of the system’s issues.
Obviously there are lots of hiccups and concerns, because people heard it outside in the 400s, but didn’t hear it in the classrooms… that’s a concern for all of us. What if there’s a shooter on campus? What if, you know, what if during duck and cover, if there’s an earthquake, we need to be able to communicate inside the classrooms…I’m also fully aware that I sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher underwater when I was talking,”
Metoyer said.
To fix these issues, Mr. Metoyer, Ms. Read, along with the facilities team are meeting weekly to ensure that issues concerning student safety are adequately addressed.
I’m working with our facilities team as far as like the physical wiring of that, because there’s still like wiring for the internet that needs to happen. And I’m working with our IT team, along with Mrs. Reed, to kind of go through that whole thing, and we’re probably gonna have to go do like a room for room check and go through everything and make sure it works…I also want to thank everybody for their patience, and please let them know that we’re working hard to fix it,”
Metoyer said.
On the rare occasion that an intruder lockdown occurs, Mr. Metoyer said every classroom is equipped with yellow emergency buckets.
What’s typically in there is some food, some water, some shock blankets, you know, like the ones you see after somebody runs a marathon… Reflective kind of stuff, and then just some stuff, basically to keep you alive over a long period of time.”
These yellow kits also include medical supplies such as bandages and blood clotting kits. Metoyer wants to assure students that, “…in the event that something like a shooting does happen our teachers have received blood pathogen training” as well as in person training on how to use Narcan nasal spray in the severe case of a fentanyl overdose.
In the future, are we planning to do in person Narcan training for students? Yeah, we’re just trying to figure out the logistics of how to make that happen.”
This is especially relevant now, as there have already been 45 school shootings this year at time of publication, as recorded by the school shootings database. In response, the Biden administration has recently announced new gun control laws and plans on, “…reducing the number of firearms sold without background checks,” according to whitehouse.gov. Biden has also taken initiative on promoting safe storage of firearms, especially in homes. In most school shootings, young adults take guns from their homes because of poor storage techniques. This bill has the goal to pass stricter laws and stronger penalties.
If you have ideas or feedback on how to make our campus safer, Mr. Metoyer specifically wants students to remember that they can stop by his office with safety concerns or suggestions, “I’m always happy for feedback!”
Renovations, Additions, and Reflections