By Rachel Weinberger
Staff writer
Staff writer
“Maryland has very strict gun control laws, but so did Connecticut.” - Assistant Head of School Dr. Michael Reidy
On December 14, 2012 in Newton, CT, there was a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School that concluded in the deaths of 20 children and 6 adult staff members. This tragedy pressured Obama and Congress to address the policy of gun control.
When the news reached Bullis, Dr. Reidy reacted similarly to other educators in the area.
“The outcome was that every school across the country and world asked: ‘could something like that happen at our school?’” he said.
Bullis and many other schools around the country are taking action in order to prevent such a horrific event from repeating itself.
A group of 12 members that consisted of division principles, department chairs, and faculty met to address the issue at hand. The meeting concluded in unanimous agreement that a “professional eye was needed.”
Due to his connections, a Bullis student was able to organize a safety inspection with a professional security contractor called Academi. Academi was previously involved in overhauling other schools’ security systems as well.
A group of six from Academi, arrived at Bullis several weeks ago. “They looked like CIA operatives, I expected to see a microphone on their collars,” joked Dr. Reidy.
After four long days of questioning the staff and students and a private investigation of the current security precautions, the Academi officials released a preliminary report on their observations.
They found that many enhancements would be ideal such as:
On searching for a security officer, Dr. Reidy said “we need to get the right person. Just because they’re a police officer doesn’t mean they’ll fit into the school community.”
The formal report from the investigation should arrive in a matter of days. With this understood, modifications to the security system will be implemented in the summer, if not the springtime.
Dr. Reidy supports the ideals of an enhanced security, yet he says he wants to “keep the community atmosphere here at Bullis. People are amicable towards each other so we don’t want to create a confined place.”
Through maintaining the Bullis ideals that have become so dear to us, we can rest assured that our community and culture at Bullis will be protected under these new security precautions.
When the news reached Bullis, Dr. Reidy reacted similarly to other educators in the area.
“The outcome was that every school across the country and world asked: ‘could something like that happen at our school?’” he said.
Bullis and many other schools around the country are taking action in order to prevent such a horrific event from repeating itself.
A group of 12 members that consisted of division principles, department chairs, and faculty met to address the issue at hand. The meeting concluded in unanimous agreement that a “professional eye was needed.”
Due to his connections, a Bullis student was able to organize a safety inspection with a professional security contractor called Academi. Academi was previously involved in overhauling other schools’ security systems as well.
A group of six from Academi, arrived at Bullis several weeks ago. “They looked like CIA operatives, I expected to see a microphone on their collars,” joked Dr. Reidy.
After four long days of questioning the staff and students and a private investigation of the current security precautions, the Academi officials released a preliminary report on their observations.
They found that many enhancements would be ideal such as:
- All students needing ID cards to enter school buildings
- Doing a reevaluation having all three gates open at once
- Improving the lighting at night
- Placing more surveillance cameras around school grounds
- Enhancing communications through the buildings
- Hiring “individual employees dedicated to security” to be stationed around the campus.
On searching for a security officer, Dr. Reidy said “we need to get the right person. Just because they’re a police officer doesn’t mean they’ll fit into the school community.”
The formal report from the investigation should arrive in a matter of days. With this understood, modifications to the security system will be implemented in the summer, if not the springtime.
Dr. Reidy supports the ideals of an enhanced security, yet he says he wants to “keep the community atmosphere here at Bullis. People are amicable towards each other so we don’t want to create a confined place.”
Through maintaining the Bullis ideals that have become so dear to us, we can rest assured that our community and culture at Bullis will be protected under these new security precautions.
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