<div>Within the past year there have been many changes to the Plainfield School District 202 as a way to help make the schools safer. There have been many new safety policies implemented into the schools, showing just how hard the district is working overtime to keep students and staff safe. Due to a rise in concern for students’ safety in schools, North has decided to create a mandatory policy that all doors should be closed and locked during class times. They have also added emergency buttons connected to every clock throughout the school. “In previous years, doors were able to be open, but in the locked position,” Assistant Principal Darnell Weathersby said. “But now we’re just trying to eliminate any extra motion or extra obstacles that a staff member would have to go through in order to secure their classroom.”To ensure the safety of the students and staff, the school is heavily enforcing this new policy and making sure all teachers are abiding by it. “Throughout the day, campus monitors, deans, and administration are making the rounds,” Weathersby said. “And if we see a door open, we close it. If we see a door open more than once, then we have an informative conversation with that staff member.”While this policy has been implemented as a way to protect students, not everyone likes it. Senior Veronica Nosek understands the necessity of the policy, but she said that with this new policy, she feels trapped in the classroom.“I feel like I’m being forced to be there as opposed to being there willingly,” she said.Not all students think of this policy negatively, however. Senior Sakina Rizvi believes this to be a good way to protect students. “I honestly don’t mind it,” Rizvi said. “I feel like it might be inconvenient to be opening the door every time someone goes to the bathroom or is entering the room, but it’s a good initiative. I just think it will take some time to get used to.”North has also put up emergency buttons throughout the school, both in classrooms and in the halls. The purpose for these is to press them instead of going to administration and alerting them.“The goal is if there was ever an immediate threat, as in, someone has a life threatening weapon, then there would be the ability to hit that button and immediately notify the Plainfield Police Department and lead them to the actual classroom,” Weathersby said. Each button is similar to a fire alarm: there is a box and a button. In order to set off the alarm, the cover is lifted, which causes the box to make a noise and the button is pressed, setting off the alarm. This sends an immediate message to the police department and to a SWAT team and alerts students to go into a lockdown. “At that time, the light should be off and students have been instructed to spread out to the best of their ability across the room and be prepared to counter or engage an intruder if they were to make it in,” Weathersby said. Students are also adjusting to the change of having these new emergency procedures and the ease of being able to contact police in a deadly situation. “I think it’s a good idea and keeps us safe, but it’s sad that we have to have these measures in the first place,” senior Jade Gumilla said. While students adjust to the buttons, there is the possibility of an accidental press or a button being pressed as a joke. Like any other safety precaution, there are strict rules and consequences around the buttons being pressed as a joke. “There’s a wide range of possibilities depending on the level of disruption and distraction,” Weathersby said. “It could be a school based consequence, such as expulsion, depending on how severe that distraction was.” Just as emergency buttons enhance school safety, technology also improves other school functions, like managing bathroom breaks with online passes. Students have shifted from using the traditional bathroom system of signing out on a clipboard, to using a website, Securly.com, to sign out. “I feel like there’s a lot more work to go to the bathroom now, than just signing out and grabbing the pass,” senior Emily Semrau said. This system works by allowing students to sign onto the website, say what room or teacher they are leaving from, select the bathroom in the wing they are in, and start the timer. “I feel like it isn’t super hard, but it’s really annoying that I have to say what wing, because I never know what room I’m in,” sophomore Ava Stroz said. Even with the new ease, students dislike the system more than the regular clipboard signouts. “With how much more we have to do just to go to the bathroom, I haven’t used Securly, once,” senior Alex Zhuk said. Despite the students’ aversion to the system, teachers are mostly indifferent to it. “It isn’t easier or better, but it is helpful, so students are only going one at a time and aren’t gone for long,” AP Statistics teacher Allison Prosser said. </div>

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Adjusting to new locked door policy

Within the past year there have been many changes to the Plainfield School District 202 as a way to help make the schools safer. There have been many new safety policies implemented into the schools, showing just how hard the district is working overtime to keep students and staff safe.