Hoover school, city officials host first safety meeting

On March 6, Hoover community members met at Spain Park High School to discuss the issue of school safety. The topic has been brought up in many school districts in light of recent events, including the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. 

Eight speakers were featured on the panel, in addition to Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy, and they heard from community members while answering questions.

Murphy opened the meeting by reviewing the current procedures that Hoover City Schools is implementing in its school district.

Currently, the city employs 11 full-time student resource officers (SROs), 13 reserve SROs and two full-time sergeants for the schools. In recent weeks, the city has added four more full-time Hoover Police Department positions. Drills are implemented regularly, as is an “intruder drill,” during which a plain-clothed police officer attempts to enter the school and see how far he can get before being reprimanded.

Every school in Hoover has a school safety plan, Murphy said, but there are further plans to enhance safety in the coming months.

The school system has gained two additional lockdown buttons and the district wants to create a consistent “drill tone” across all schools, so students in each school know what an alert siren may mean. Murphy said a siren system with strobes is also being discussed for noisier areas of schools.

They plan on increasing the number of security cameras in the school system by 82 by this summer — bringing the grand total up to 1,375 cameras — and have repositioned certain cameras to provide greater coverage. A redesign of school lobbies has been discussed, too.

Murphy also addressed the ease of access to the interior of schools and the complexity of fixing it. Hoover High School alone has more than 100 doors, she said, and they may be opened by teachers or students for one reason or another. Students and faculty are also flowing in and out of the buildings at any given time of day due to scheduling. 

“This is big, and I understand every door needs to be secured,” she said. “But I also want to tell you how difficult that is.”

The topic of securing doorways and entry points was something brought up by community members during the meeting. 

Some suggestions were to have all high school students wear identifying badges — similar to those worn in a corporate environment — and equipping those badges with technology to open doors. Other thoughts were to have one entry point on each campus parking lot with a security station to review cars entering and exiting school premises.

A case was also made for installing metal detectors at the schools. Some community members were opposed to the idea, stating it may make students feel they are in a less-safe environment, but some were in favor of the added safety measure.

“I know no one wants to be viewed as a school that metal detectors are in because of the perception that projects,” said a Deer Valley Elementary School student’s father. He was in favor of installing metal detectors so school officials are aware of what someone is walking into a school with, noting that it seems as if the recent shootings are “happening in places where people thought it would never happen.”

“We have it at all of our public court houses. If our children are important to us, why not have them there [in schools]?” he asked. 

Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis did note that for the majority of the incidents that he knows, the shooter did not enter through the front door, but other parents echoed the father’s sentiments for the use of metal detectors.

Finally, the local community and students felt it imperative that the schools have a way for children and students to be involved in this discussion of school safety. 

At least five students spoke during the forum, each with different ideas and comments. Freshman Kayla Warren asked if the city would consider installing a type of shield for classrooms, such as ballistic curtains. Berry Middle School sixth-grader Caroline Fricks requested that those who are dealing with mental illnesses or problems outside of their school environment that could influence them get “as much attention as they need [to help them].”

Murphy and SPHS principal Larry Giangrosso also introduced two SPHS students at the start of the forum — Anastasia Zellner and Shameem Ahkter — who are part of a student focus group that is looking at how to make their school a safer place. 

Zellner brought up the ALICE active shooter procedures, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, as a method to help students feel safer. She described it as a more “situational lockdown drill.”

Ahkter mentioned they found a problem with reporting troubled students to administrators. He suggested putting more funding into mental health programs and increasing the number of psychiatrists in the school system.

The student group was formed in an effort to attend a school walkout that is growing in popularity across the country. It is being held on March 14. 

The 17-minute walkout is largely generated by other students, Murphy said, and is a protest against gun violence as well as a way to honor the 17 students killed in Parkland. Murphy said the school district does not support the walkout, which is set to occur one month after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

“Please hear me say we prefer our students do not walk out of class,” she said. Murphy and the school district would prefer to pursue “productive alternatives” and create teachable moments. 

SPHS junior Hope Brown, who moved to the school this year, mentioned later in the meeting that while she loves the school, she doesn’t see a lot of communication between staff and students. 

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t encourage a walk-in, like [another community member] suggested,” she said, referring to an earlier comment that recommended the school host a forum for students about their safety as a “walk-in” instead of students participating in the walkout.

“I think it is important that we have a say — not just our parents, not just the administrators, but the students here, that attend here, need a voice as well,” Brown said.

If community members were to take away one thing from the safety talk, Murphy wanted it to be this: “If you see something, or you know something or you suspect something … please say something. We need to have conversations with each other,” she said. “But please, if it doesn’t look right, doesn’t feel right … please allow us an opportunity to know about that.”

The forum was held on the same day Governor Kay Ivey released a four-pronged approach to school safety across the state.

As part of the initiative, Ivey supported a bill that permits funds appropriated to the education advancement and technology fund to be used for school security and school security purposes; announced the desire to enable schools to better identify and respond to potential threats; created emergency operation plans to respond to a crisis before it happens; and established the Securing Alabama Facilities on Education Council, or SAFE. 

In a press conference, she said she is directing the SAFE council to report back to her by April 30 as to what steps can be taken immediately for schools using what personnel and resources are available to them.

A second school safety meeting will be held in the same format on Thursday, March 8, at Hoover High School at 6 p.m. The full slide show that was presented at the forums will be posted on the Hoover City Schools website for public viewing.