District 202 Board, Parent Discuss School Security Concerns

PLAINFIELD, IL — A parent voiced concerns about school security during Monday night's District 202 Board of Education meeting at Aux Sable Middle School. The parent, who has a military background, told the board he was troubled by what he considered a lack of security measures or available surveillance footage in District 202 facilities, middle schools in particular. He also criticized how many district middle schools have very similar floor plans.

"I'm not trying to scare anyone here, but I found out that none of the middle schools have any surveillance videos in them whatsoever," the parent said. "That created a concern for me. Also pretty much all the middle schools are set up the same... This is the lunchroom, at the main door."

He asked if more visible security measures, such as hiring a security guard, would be possible to implement.

"How hard would it be to get funding for a person to help with security, to sit here at this door and mark exactly who comes in here?" he asked.

Board of Education President Kevin Kirberg did not answer the parent's question directly, though he said that district administration would speak with them further to hopefully address their concerns.

"We appreciate your comments and again we'll make sure to follow up with you with your specific questions," Kirberg told the parent.

After the meeting had adjourned, Kirberg told Patch that District 202 staff take security very seriously, and rebuffed the parent's accusation regarding a lack of surveillance.

"That isn't true," Kirberg said. "We have a variety of different [security] mechanisms in place."

Kirberg declined to go into specifics, but the district's Director of Community Relations, Thomas Hernandez, did. He spoke on a number of different security protocols district facilities use, including the use of security cameras, police liaisons in high schools, "ALICE" active shooter training, and school vestibules with doors that lock visitors inside until a school staff member can let them in.

As to the concerned parent's criticism that many school buildings — middle schools in particular — are all built with roughly the same floor plan, Hernandez said that he was correct, but that the similarity in design wasn't a fluke.

"He's not wrong," Hernandez said. "But... these buildings were built to be schools. [They're] built to house thousands of students."

Elaborating further, Hernandez said that with District 202 being so large — just shy of 26,300 students at last counting — many of its schools were designed with a specific balance in mind. On the one hand, a utilitarian need for space and its most efficient use. On the other, a desire for students across the district to feel as though they were in their own school, no matter which specific school district building they were in.

Regarding the lack of security personnel at many schools, Hernandez said guards have been a matter of board discussion, but could not be considered a fix-all solution to security concerns.

"Security guards are not the panacea that people think they are," he said.

He added that besides the financial concerns involved with security guards — salary, benefits, insurance — there was also the matter of not wanting students to feel intimidated when coming to school.

"It's not a matter of money over kids," Hernandez said. "It's a factor of money and kids."

Hernandez also said that security is a recurring matter of discussion for the board, and something the district's administration is always trying to improve.

As for the concerned parent, he summed up his message to the board with a bit of succinct advice.

"Don't be reactive, be proactive," he said.

Parents can learn more about District 202's security protocols on the district website. If you have a concern you'd like the board to address, public comment periods are part of every District 202 Board of Education meeting.

The next board meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 24 at 15732 Howard Street, Plainfield. The meeting's public session is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.