Cedar Rapids district to increase safety measures at Kennedy, Washington high schools

The Cedar Rapids school district will accelerate its school safety measures, adding additional security to Kennedy and Washington high schools after winter break.

The decision comes after violence in the Washington neighborhood led to school-enforced security measures last week.

“It's really unfortunate that the incidents occurred, but they highlight that we need to move forward,” Superintendent Dave Benson said at Monday night's school board meeting.

Both high schools will mirror safety and security practices currently in place at Jefferson High School – a computerized, keyless entry system and a school resource officer assigned to the campus.

Jefferson has served as the pilot school for both programs this past year.

“The safety of our students and our staff is our top priority – always,” said Sandy Stephen, the district's executive administrator of secondary education. “Kids can't learn if they don't feel safe.”

The district's elementary and middle schools already have security measures in place, specifically locked doors. Visitors must be buzzed in to gain entrance.

The size of the district's high schools, and the fact that students are more mobile in high school than other grades, makes this system inefficient at the that level. At the same time, a simple lock-and-key system is impractical given the number of doors at a high school. Also, it is costly to change locks when keys are lost.

At Jefferson, staff are giving proximity card readers which open doors based on their level of clearance. All exterior doors operate on this system, tracking when the doors open, where they open and for how long the stay open.

“The system is set up so it allows us to operate certain doors at certain times of the day,” Stephen said.

Lost cards can easily be recoded, eliminating the need to change locks when a card is misplaced.

When students need to pass from one building to the next, the doors are unlocked and staff members supervise the passing period. Once class begins, the doors are locked and only those with cards can gain entry to the buildings.

A main entrance door, near Jefferson's main office, remains unlocked for visitors. Security cameras capture all interior and exterior activity.

All of the district's secondary schools, and some elementary schools, have security cameras in and outside of the buildings.

There are no cameras in bathrooms or locker rooms.

Stephen said it was the district's plan to implement Jefferson's safety measures at the other high schools eventually. Similar measures aren't being considered for Metro High School at this time because it is a smaller building with fewer students.

“I don't think this is a situation unique to Cedar Rapids schools,” Stephen said. “A lot of school districts are doing something like this.”

Even some businesses require employees to carry cards for identity purposes and to gain access to doors.

There's no time table for when the new entry system at Washington and Kennedy will be up and running. Instead, more doors will be locked during the day until the system is operational. Those that are unlocked will be monitored.

District administrators hope to have a school resource officer assigned to each high school next month.

Cedar Rapids Police Officer Jen Roberts has served as Jefferson's resource officer since January. Funding from the Cedar Rapids Police Department paid for Roberts presence on Jefferson's campus. The district will use money from its share of the federal Education Jobs Bill to pay for officers at Kennedy and Washington.

The computerized, keyless entry system cost about $50,000 to install and operate at Jefferson, with the money coming from the district's physical plant and equipment fund.

“The cost will vary at the other schools because each building is different,” said Laurel Day, assistant to the superintendent.