Eric Furth
Staff Writer
The new Mira Costa math and science building, completed this past summer, has caused some students and staff to be concerned about safety.
Some of the main staff complaints are relating to the design of the classrooms, such as how the centers of all classroom doors in the building are made of glass, making it easy for the entire class to be spotted by an intruder, or to shoot through with a firearm. Also, doors in the math and science building will only lock from the outside, making it impossible to secure all teachers and students in the event of a lockdown.
“When we talk about safety concerns, there are methods of avoiding intruders,” Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “We know how the rooms are constructed, and the building is only three gates away from Costa’s normal campus.. We’ve had several inspections prior to opening the building”
Another student complaint is that the classrooms were not constructed with much walking, or empty space, so hiding from a suspicious character could be challenging if the situation were to occur.
“I think the doors locking from the outside is a real safety issue that should not have been constructed in the first place,” freshman Jordan Beeli said. “It seems careless and almost forgetful that these features weren’t added in the first place.”
Eric Furth
Staff Writer
Student safety in any school is one of the top priorities of school administrators, and is valued highly at Mira Costa. According Dale, there are flaws in the architecture of the rooms and floors in terms of safety in the math and science building, but there are ways to prevent intruders without having to further construction on individual sections, floors, or classrooms.
“If an intruder were to enter the building, we would have mass evacuation throughout the building,” Dale said. “We could contain the intruder on a single floor by locking gates and doors to access points leading off of school grounds.”
One new system that has been implemented into the math and science building are drop-down iron grids that can prevent intruders from gaining access, or to assist in containing an assailant.
“It has been agreed to put blinds in the rooms of the math and science building and we are working on the doors,” Vice Principal Deborah Hofreiter said. “When we had the lockdown drill, Dale and School Resource Officer John Loy were looking into the building from outside. If the students are up against the walls with the windows, they cannot be seen from the outside. The new building is locked down in 1 minute by closing the gates. If the intruder is on the outside, the rooms are safe as soon as the gates are locked.”
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