School security information

Dear parents:

MCCPTA has received a number of inquiries about school security and
MCCPTA advocacy regarding school security in the aftermath of the truly
alarming series of school shootings nationally.

Here are some basic facts about MCPS security policy and procedures:

1.  Each school is ultimately responsible for its own security plan and
procedures, although all schools are required to have Code Red/Code Blue
plans and drills.  The central MCPS office provides guidelines, training
for staff, technical assistance, and monitoring.

2. All high schools have one or more security guards and one "education
facilitates officer (EFO)."  Security guards are often retired policy
officers or military, but are not commissioned police officers.  EFOs
are commissioned police officers.  All middle schools have at least one
security guard; only two have their own EFO.  No elementary school has a
security guard or EFO.  The HS EFO's provide advice and occasional
assistance to all the schools in their cluster.

3. In general, schools are supposed to keep all doors except for their
central entrance locked during the school day.  The exception is those
middle and high schools that have portables, which require students to
move in and out of the building at each class change.  All elementary
schools with portables are supposed to have key card locking of the
doors between the schools and the portables.  Newer schools have been
designed to facilitate monitoring of the central entrance from the main
office.  This is not possible in many older schools.

4. In general, visitors to schools, including parent volunteers, should
wear visitor i.d. tags obtained in the central office.

5.  All high schools have security cameras covering most major hallways.
 The extent of monitoring is uneven.  Middle and elementary schools do

not, by and large, have security cameras.

6. All portables are supposed to have at least an intercom connection to
the main building.

Here are some information gathering/individual-school-level advocacy
suggestions:

A.  If you haven't already done so, ask your principal to provide
information to parents about "Code Red," "Code Blue," and evacuation
plans for your schools.  The most important component for parents is the
component for communicating to parents when there is an emergency
situation.  Of particular concern for schools is ensuring that parents
and students know where and how to be re-united in the case of a forced
evacuation, and when and how parents should/can pick students up in the
middle of the day in the event of an emergency.

B.  Make sure you review with your child the need to follow the Code
Red/Code Blue instructions; to avoid contact with strangers, and to
report to their teacher or other school staff member if he/she sees
someone in the building who does not have a visitor i.d., or is acting
strangely.  Also, particularly for your high school kids, develop a
mutually agreed on plan for re-uniting in the case of an emergency
evacuation.

C. Cooperate with the check-in/ visitor i.d. system at your school when
you come to volunteer or attend meetings.

D. If you have concerns that your school is not limiting access to
outsiders as much as it could, you should first speak with your
principal about your concerns.  Perhaps you would want to put the topic
on the agenda for your next pta meeting.  After these discussions, If
you feel that your school is not following feasible security procedures,
you should contact your community superintendent.

E. If you feel security procedures are not being followed at your
school, or your safety concerns are not being met, please email the
MCCPTA safety committee offline (pammoomau@comcast.net) with a
description of your concerns.  We are collecting this information for
advocacy purposes.  We can also try to help you get additional
information from MCPS about your specific issue.

The MCCPTA safety committee is continuing to investigate security
issues.  We will be discussing possible advocacy positions to bring to
the delegates' assembly.  Please continue to contact us with your
questions, suggestions, and concerns.

Pam Moomau
Mccpta safety committee chair
pammoomau@comcast.net