Ouachita Parish Works on Plan to Make Schools Safer
By: Alanna Quillen
Updated: February 5, 2013
OUACHITA PARISH -- After the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, changes are being made at ArkLaMiss schools to protect students.
Lately, as you drop your child off at various schools throughout Ouachita Parish, you might notice a new sign that asks all visitors to show an ID to even walk through the front doors.
That is part of many different things the school district is wanting to implement to make its schools safer.
"Probably gonna see a lot of the schools, if not all schools, have a buzzer where the doors are locked after 8 in the morning.They push a doorbell to come into the school," said Ouachita Parish Schools superintendent Dr. Bob Webber, who is looking at much more in school security.
In the last two weeks, new signs have been posted across the district -- enforcing visitors to show an ID before entering.
"We even talked about having a scanner that can tell you quickly just from scanning a driver's license whether or not that person has some kind of record," said Webber.
There's even the possibility of bullet proof film to place on windows. You can see a demonstration of it by clicking here.
"The biggest thing that we can do immediately is to just make sure all our doors, exterior doors, are locked," said Webber.
Webber says he also wants more practice on all drills such as lockdowns, evacuations and fire drills.
Like many school principals, Carolyn Norris, the principal at Kiroli Elementary School in West Monroe has made several changes to her building to make it safer --- adding fences, locked gates, more cameras, an enclosed campus, and a secure front entrance.
She says it depends on the design and age of the school buildings to see what kind of changes can be made to make the buildings more secure.
"We're going to have to do some renovations to get buildings and facilities where it needs to be," said Webber.
Parish officials have even lent a hand. The fire marshal gave the go-ahead on installing dead bolts on class room doors, and the sheriff's office is asking deputies to do fill out arrests reports from school parking lots, to add a heightened sense of security for parents, students and teachers.
"On the one hand, you want parents and visitors to come into your school -- it's their school," said Webber. "But on the other hand, primary concern is to made sure students are safe."
Lately, as you drop your child off at various schools throughout Ouachita Parish, you might notice a new sign that asks all visitors to show an ID to even walk through the front doors.
That is part of many different things the school district is wanting to implement to make its schools safer.
"Probably gonna see a lot of the schools, if not all schools, have a buzzer where the doors are locked after 8 in the morning.They push a doorbell to come into the school," said Ouachita Parish Schools superintendent Dr. Bob Webber, who is looking at much more in school security.
In the last two weeks, new signs have been posted across the district -- enforcing visitors to show an ID before entering.
"We even talked about having a scanner that can tell you quickly just from scanning a driver's license whether or not that person has some kind of record," said Webber.
There's even the possibility of bullet proof film to place on windows. You can see a demonstration of it by clicking here.
"The biggest thing that we can do immediately is to just make sure all our doors, exterior doors, are locked," said Webber.
Webber says he also wants more practice on all drills such as lockdowns, evacuations and fire drills.
Like many school principals, Carolyn Norris, the principal at Kiroli Elementary School in West Monroe has made several changes to her building to make it safer --- adding fences, locked gates, more cameras, an enclosed campus, and a secure front entrance.
She says it depends on the design and age of the school buildings to see what kind of changes can be made to make the buildings more secure.
"We're going to have to do some renovations to get buildings and facilities where it needs to be," said Webber.
Parish officials have even lent a hand. The fire marshal gave the go-ahead on installing dead bolts on class room doors, and the sheriff's office is asking deputies to do fill out arrests reports from school parking lots, to add a heightened sense of security for parents, students and teachers.
"On the one hand, you want parents and visitors to come into your school -- it's their school," said Webber. "But on the other hand, primary concern is to made sure students are safe."
