All of us have experienced fire evacuation drills at Graded. You might not know that there is another type of drill: the “lockdown drill,” which is relatively unfamiliar to our community.
A lockdown drill is a specific safety routine that aids in preparing students and staff to achieve maximum safety in the event of an internal or external threat. Further, I wanted to investigate the degree of preparation Graded possesses for these peculiar threats, so I spoke to Elaine Gabor, the Director of Business and Operations at Graded, and Emily Tollefson, the High School SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) Counselor. Gabor provided technological and practical insight, while Tollefson provided psychological insight.
Gabor emphasized that the school has many security measures in place. The different levels of security are called “circles of protection,” separated into two sectors with four levels: the external perimeter and the internal perimeter. “We have started from inside to outside,” said Gabor. The external perimeter includes the protection of Giovanni Gronchi and José Galante. In contrast, the first circle includes “gates, reception where the pedestrian enters [protected by] an armored glass,” cars patrolling on the street outside, plain-clothes policemen, and electrical fences. Any gates that need to be opened or closed are controlled through the OCC (Operational Control Center), which works 24/7. Each car that enters Graded is only allowed in if it is already in the system and has either an electronic tag or a physical sticker. The OCC has control of the fire and lockdown alarms, and they, along with Ms. Gabor and Mr. Boerner, also have access to the P.A system. The second external circle is the revolving doors, the badges, and along with them, the turnstiles (catracas).
Another layer of protection is the security personnel, who receive annual training from the police academy and the fire brigade. Inside the school walls are hundreds of security cameras, whether in hallways, entrances, exits, or even inside the buses, which are monitored via satellite by the OCC.
Further, Garbon states, “The other two pillars are procedures and people.” Procedures include emergency manuals that are updated annually, security procedures, and transportation (the buses). An example of a procedure that takes place is “tabletop training,” an exercise where the principals have to resolve hypothetical situations; one of these situations could be anything from what action would take place if an intruder enters through José Galante, or if there is a fire during a lab. Two other training provided to all of the staff are the Heimlich maneuver (Lei Lucas) and first aid.
The last and one of the most essential pillars – the people. The Graded security team comprises a variety of individuals, some of them being the OCC personnel, one guard overnight, and two during the day. Security guards are always on duty, including holidays and vacations, with a rotation system in place every three shifts for continuous vigilance.
Desdete, the firemen; 24 members of the fire brigade that are made up of members all over the staff (for example there is one in the cafeteria, in the office, in the B corridor, etc…); and the transportation team, all of the drivers along with each bus’ helper. The staff needs to be able to communicate throughout campus and recently (last year) the use of radios for most of the principals, security staff, and other important members of the Graded community was implemented. Along with all the precautions Graded has in place, we also have the help of the police department and the consulate (which has the power to contact the Marines). “This is preparedness, are we prepared for everything? Impossible, but we are prepared to know all kinds of emergencies that might happen…We have a protocol for all situations.”
Along with discussing all of the preparations and protocols Graded has in place for any kind of emergency, it was clear that all of these “protection circles” would be useless if the attacker is somebody from inside the Graded community. They would be able to easily get in through the layers, using their Graded identity. How do we reduce the possibility of that happening? Very rarely, do school shooters end up being random people. Usually, the attacker will be someone who had a bad experience within the school walls. As Gabor says: “the preventive measures we take is we look at students… [they are] more than just a name and a face”, the teachers and the staff notice you and care about you whether you know that or not.
Ms. Tollefson, the SEL (socio-emotional-learning) counselor, brought up a similar point, she wants the school to be a “place people feel safe, people feel comfortable [and where] they have peace and comfort,” making her office an open space where anyone can come in, creating an even greater sense of security. Even if a student isn’t hers or if she doesn’t know them, “part of the policy is if there ever was a lockdown on campus, we look out in the hallways, we look and we encourage all students in the hallways and areas to come into our classrooms.” No one is going to be left behind, regardless of who you are.
If there ever is a threat, teachers and staff’s main responsibility is the students. Another point is that several situations don’t take place on campus, they usually happen around. The areas outside Graded’s walls are also a part of our community, student’s neighborhoods, friends, doctors, and areas outside of school that are inhabited and visited by students. The support offered to the students isn’t only for situations involving the school, they are here for us “whenever something happens regardless of it being inside of Graded.”
I began writing this being sure that Graded was not prepared in case of a threat. After many enlightening conversations, it seemed clear that we were prepared; at least the staff. The problem is that the students end up being less than notified and prepared for a situation. We are included in fewer drills, and less informed about whether or not we are allowed to help others, what we can do to help the situation, and more. We have lockdown drills in place for the unfortunate chance that an event as such might take place. When was the last time you can remember having one, though? I have been at Graded for over 14 years and can only remember participating in around four. During one of those I vividly remember a teacher making us finish a test.
These drills were never taken seriously and because of that several students never truly learned what to do during a situation. It was presented to me that teachers are the ones that need to be prepared, and the ones that will lead and orient us in the case of an emergency. As much as that is true, having a student body that is prepared to deal with something will reduce the possible harm to be done.
Emergencies cause panic and if you are ready the chances of acting irrationally due to fear are reduced significantly. There have been instances where we’ve had to lockdown for serious threats to the school’s safety, and both times I was very young and remember chaos ensuing as soon as the alarms went on. The first time was due to a robbery that had taken place in an apartment outside Graded on Jose Galante, the assailant decided to break into Graded as it seemed like a good shortcut for escaping the authorities, he ended up being apprehended but not before roaming around school grounds and causing the campus to shut down entirely. Most of the students were taken into the auditorium, and no one knew what was happening. All we saw were our teachers asking each other “Has he left?”, which left us with more questions.
The overall consensus is that Graded should prioritize their drills, all of the security measures they have taken to ensure our safety have been successful but the true test is whether we would be.
