Any student of West Potomac has seen the windowless doors that have been a feature of the main entrance for the past few months. The addition of these doors to the average student’s routine environment has left many students with the same question: “What’s the point of the second set of doors?”
At first glance, it seems excessive, especially because the school has had to cut down to only one late bus day a week. The money going towards a whole set of doors, the construction costs, and three new exit signs could be used in a different way that benefits the students more directly.
However, it’s not as simple as it may seem. The funds for the door aren’t coming from the school itself; they’re coming from the county.
The issue was first brought up in 2020, when Melanie Meren, a Hunter Mill District Representative, proposed a revision to Policy 8612. Specifically, the revision entailed adding security vestibules in the front entrances of all schools to ensure the security of FCPS students and staff. Her proposal prompted discussions within the school board about security vestibules.
With few developments between 2020 and 2022, the proposal gained traction after the Robb Elementary school shooting in Texas occurred on May 24, 2022. Superintendent Scott Brabrand sent the following message out to FCPS parents and employees that same day:
“We want you to know that the safety of our schools, and the children and staff within them, is our highest priority. We continually work to make critical safety upgrades to our buildings each budget year.”
Two days later, on May 26, 2022, the school board had a meeting and made a follow-up motion to finish the construction of security vestibules in all schools, including West Potomac High School, by adding them to the upcoming 2023 budget.
During the meeting they proposed this, “The School Board directs the Superintendent to prioritize the completion of the security vestibule program utilizing multiple funding sources to include local, state, and federal funding, and other revenue sources to include grant funding; and to provide the School Board with a plan and proposed schedule to complete the initiative as soon as possible.”
In 2022, FCPS planned to spend a portion of the 24.2 million dollars they received from state grants on the construction of security vestibules. Under their Capital Improvement Program, they estimated the vestibules would be completed by the end of 2024.
According to West Potomac principal Jessica Statz, there is a reason West Potomac, among other high schools, was so late to construction following the approval of the motion. “They started with elementaries. Because elementary schools will make a little bit more sense because as a young adult, if there was danger, you kind of have that wherewithal to get away with or, figure something out more than first grader, right?” Statz explained. The county started with elementary school security vestibule construction in 2022, before moving on to middle schools then finally high schools.
Once completed, the security vestibule will work like this: students that arrive at school late, or outside visitors, will ring the front office and be allowed into the building. Following this, the process differs a bit between visitors and students. Students will be required to give a security officer their student ID, which will be run through a scanner to confirm that they attend the school, and can be allowed through the second set of doors. Students that are on time to school can enter through all doors like usual and will not have to give their IDs to a security officer.
As for visitors, they will scan an ID such as a driver’s license. This process could be key to further protecting FCPS students from outside threats.
Ms. Statz highlights one way that the scanner could benefit students, “If you’re a registered sex offender and you’re not allowed to be on school grounds, [the scanner] dings, and you wouldn’t be able to get into the building and we’d call the police”.
In case of an emergency, where an intruder intending to harm students is able to get through the front doors, they’ll be stopped by security in the security vestibule, and unable to get into the school because of the locked second set of doors. Currently, anyone entering the building can turn left or right, avoiding the front office check-in entirely. This new system will force visitors to check in.
When informed about the function of security vestibules, Alex Pastor, junior, said, “I think in some ways, it is a good idea, just because of that worst case scenario that an intruder could come into the building. It’s an extra layer of protection for the school, and I guess it will make sure that [intruders] can’t get in if they do somehow get through the normal doors. The construction is taking a while, but it’s a pretty good idea and I would definitely feel safer at school.”
