As of late, safety has been a hot topic at both Hempfield Area School District and around the country. The first step to fixing a problem is realizing there is one. Weapons being brought into public settings has surged in the last quarter of a century, and because of this, securing our school buildings has become a much larger priority for school officials.
Superintendent, Dr. Mark Holtzman says that communication is a key component to keeping our schools safer. He believes that, if “a school is positive, and people are excited to be here, it will keep them from wanting to make bad decisions.”
Holtzman says students need to simply be aware. One avenue to express concerns is Safe-2-Say where students and parents can report legitimate threats of harm. Because this outlet can often reach a report count into the thousands, he additionally recommends that the community directly contact the state police if there is a sense of urgency or the issue is not school related. He further emphasized that students speak with guidance counselors, teachers, or even a parent as a way to remedy a problem before it escalates.
This year, the district is taking action beyond awareness. Security Wraps have been installed at Fort Allen Elementary, allowing staff and students to see out of the windows, but preventing outsiders from looking in. Holtzman says the district is looking to wrap all of the elementary buildings in the near future.
Additionally, starting in November, OpenGate Weapon Detectors will be installed at the arrival points of the High School, Harrold School, Wendover Middle School, and West Hempfield Middle School. These detectors, along with “our vigilant staff, secure entryways, mental health support, and anonymous reporting, further create a safe and secure learning environment for our students,” says Dr. Menas Zannikos, Director of Pupil Personnel.
With these new devices, there are daily school arrival procedural changes that impact both students and visitors. In order to make the process as efficient as possible,
students should have their chromebooks and binders out of their bags before walking through. If the scanner does not detect an object, it lights up green. If the scanner detects an object, it lights up red, and individuals will be pulled aside for a secondary search. Once the process is refined, the district may utilize these systems at our elementary schools as well as for extracurricular activities including sporting events and other large gatherings.
Incorporating the detectors is, as Holtzman says, “a necessary next step,” that alleviates the fear that unsubstantiated threats place upon the school or an individual while preventing weapons from entering our buildings.
In conjuction with this new system, we rely upon our School Police Force, led for the past ten years by Chief Len Lander. Sadly for us, he will be retiring in December. His career at Hempfield began at the beginning of the 2014 school year, when he joined the district as school security. In November, of the same year, he became the first school police officer. Since then, he has grown the department from 1 to 16 officers.
In his early career, he worked for the Pennsylvania State Police Department, retiring in 2012. However, he returned to police work at Hempfield Area to protect his and all children who attend our buildings. While his own children were certainly a priority for him, he says, he stayed beyond their graduation years to protect all of us.
Chief Lander has certainly earned his retirement where he plans to “take it easy” and do, as he indicates, “anything but law enforcement.” We credit him for continuously making school safety a top priority. As October, School Safety Month, comes to a close, we thank Chief Lander and all of the school police officers for keeping us safe.
Our school is working to enhance current practices, but Holtzman admits that no system is perfect. However, he says, “this is our next layer, next step.” He believes our community will embrace this measure, and it will make our students and staff feel more comfortable in school each day.
