Math and science building should implement safety measures

By Elora Brow
Staff Writer

Within the past few years, Mira Costa has been making many new improvements around campus, such as building the new math and science building. However, as the school has undergone many earthquake, fire, and lockdown drills, it has become visible that the building is not at the safest condition and should, therefore, be improved with new security measures.

The math and science building was built to be earthquake proof and to have the safest security if a lockdown were to occur. There is one main entrance and staircase with two additional staircases on the opposite sides of the building. There also are sliding doors that close the open spaces between each floor in the case of any emergency and all the entrances to the building have secure locks.

According to senior Alyssa Hollander, students are least safe in the building during a fire or lockdown because of the lack of efficient exits and the little amount of privacy in the classrooms. Students should feel safe in all parts of campus especially the newest building, but considering they do not, there may need to be some improvements in safety plans.

According to most of the students at Mira Costa, one of the main concerns is that the building does not have any blinds on all the windows and glass doors, which makes it an open sight for an intruder. This became visible to the students after a lockdown that occurred recently due to a threat. This could be very dangerous because students may not feel safe if the intruder can clearly see everything that is occurring in the classroom and this can give them an open target.

It is hard to believe that students would be completely safe in the math and science building, especially on the basement level because, all the windows are open to the public on the ground level and do not contain blinds that fully block everything. This is can be very unsafe as there is no privacy.

According to sophomore Katie Gould, the school should install blinds on all the doors and windows in the classroom because it would help make all the students feel safer in the case that an intruder came on campus. This simple improvement could increase the safety of the building because it would create more privacy and in the case that an intruder entered, the blinds could darken the room to make it look emptier.

The other major problem is the exit procedure in the case of a fire or any case where students need to exit the building quickly. The staircases are narrow and only lead to one small exit each and when over one hundred people are trying to get down each staircase all at once, it is too challenging for everyone to get out quickly. This was clearly shown during the recent evacuation due to a bomb threat when all students had to evacuate all building as quickly as possible and it took students in the math and science building much longer to exit compared to the other buildings.

According to Hollander, the third floor of the math and science building should have a fire escape that can be used in case of emergency. A fire escape would lessen the amount of students that have to go down the stairs and this would allow for all parts of the building to be exited quickly and safely.

Overall, the math and science building has its highs and lows. The whole building is earthquake proof but not the safest for a fire. The gates keep everyone inside the building protected if the intruder is outside, but if the intruder is inside, the glass doors and windows make students visible inside the classroom and can put students at risk.