Kaneland High School added new safety and security measures for the 2022-23 school year, including emergency posters, technology additions to school buses, an electronic hall pass system and teachers stationed in hallways as one of their possible duties.
According to an email sent to Kaneland families by the Kaneland district administration, classrooms now have an emergency poster with information from the “I Love U Guys” Foundation. The poster details what students and adults should do if they are instructed to hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate or shelter. Dean of Students Joshua West explained how having the poster would help in an emergency.
“I think in the past our students didn’t really know what [a hold-in-place] was, whereas our teachers [now] would be very easily ready to say [what a] hold- in-place is, and we’re going to clear the halls and still conduct business as usual,” West said.
Another new safety measure includes technological additions to Kaneland’s school buses. According to West, there are new cameras with sound recording capabilities and WiFi being set up in some buses. WiFi will allow more students to use cell phones while riding the bus.
“Maybe some students don’t have cell phone coverage, but they have WiFi service now so they can make some sort of emergency call if they need to on a bus,” West said.
Kaneland has also implemented an electronic hall pass system. This system records how long a student is gone and where they are supposed to be going. Issuing passes online instead of on paper allows staff to keep track of students when they are in the hallways.
“I think the hall passes [are] safety related because it’s easier for us to look up and look at, ‘Oh, why is this person out of class for 15 [minutes]?’” said Deputy Christopher Ruchaj, Kaneland High School’s School Resource Officer (SRO). “With a paper pass, we would never know.”
The hall passes can be checked by teachers on hall duty, which is another new safety measure.
“You might see, different periods of the day, certain staff members [are] out in the hallways,” West said. “So part of that is checking for passes. Part of that is just kind of being conscious of students that are coming in and out of bathrooms and being in the hallways [asking], ‘Do you have a pass?’”
An important existing security measure that has been increased this year is the testing of exterior doors.
“[Testing doors is] not a new practice, but I would say Deputy Ruchaj is more aware of it and trying to be on top of it maybe a little bit more than in years past,” West said.
Ruchaj said this is to “make sure that the doors are closed because a lot of times, especially like here, [students] go in and out and they’re different types of locks, so they forget to secure them.” He described the importance of always improving safety.
“You want to keep the kids safe, and you want to have a good learning environment for the kids,” Ruchaj said.
Sophomore Abigail Lechocki also recognized the importance of having a safe learning environment.
“I feel like when you feel safe when learning you learn more, and you feel more comfortable being at school and more comfortable being yourself,” she said.
Looking to the future, there are still additional safety precautions that teachers want.
“Doors that lock from the inside would be helpful and would make me feel better,” English teacher Rachel Giles said. She also expressed how staff members can help ensure safety for students by giving them an outlet to voice concerns.
“I also think just forming relationships with kids so that if they do hear or see something that they feel comfortable coming to us [so that] we can relay it to who we need to,” she said. West shares the same thoughts.
“A small thing we do, Ruchaj and I, that probably is more impactful that could turn into a big thing is constantly relationship building with our students,” West said. “Our hopes are as we kind of relationship build with these students that they’ll come to us. You know, see something, say something.”
The new measures are steps forward to creating a safer learning environment. Lechocki couldn’t think of any additional safety measures that she wanted.
“I feel like they’re doing a really good job this year,” she said.
