School shootings nationally have brought up polarized arguments of gun safety and the protection of students and administrators. According to EducationWeek, there have been 36 school shootings in the United States in 2023 alone. Those shootings have resulted in 20 deaths of staff and students as well as 41 severely injured.
Two miles away from Berkley High School, Oak Park High School has had two shootings in which three people in total were shot this year at sporting events. Both incidents occurred with Oak Park High students outside of stadium grounds.
At BHS, our staff and administration do everything in their power to keep students and staff safe. Watching other schools struggle with safety issues, Berkley alters the safety plans accordingly to gaps in plans and safety performance to make our school the safest place possible. Students in the Berkley community are very familiar with ALICE, an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate. Alert is in place to let others know about current threats to safety through administration or knowledge from other students. Lockdown is the alternative option if students cannot leave the room. Inform is to communicate true to current situation updates like the location of the threat and if it is safe to evacuate. Counter is a last resort to distract active threats to your safety by protecting you and others by using other objects to help assist you. Lastly, evacuate is for students who can leave their location and get to the meeting point that is discussed with students and staff prior to being in danger. All five techniques are in place so students can make safe decisions in stressful situations.
After talking with BHS principal Mr. Meloche, a strong advocate for school safety, he breaks down the plan for the school moving forward. “We are still in the process of evaluating our protocols and procedures prior to the start of the next sports season. I think it’s important to take your time and be thoughtful by talking these things out with multiple stakeholders at the table. Additionally, we have been consulting with Berkley Public Safety with regards to the best protocol moving forward.” On top of that, BHS administrators have organized their plans at sporting events at Hurley Field. Meloche adds that “any type of venue has evacuation routes in the case of emergencies. Furthermore, much like our BHS ALICE procedures, many of those same principles apply at Hurley. Each situation is unique, and it’s important for students to think about the situation and choose the best reaction that fits the scenario. That being said, I think one of the things that will come out of our current discussions are some clear policies and procedures that are communicated out to our coaches, parents, and students.”
At BHS, we have a full-time school resource officer, Sergeant David Arney. School Resource Officers are officers stationed at schools keeping the building safe throughout the day. Students may see him in the hallways but often on the sidelines of games and attending events. He strives to make Berkley a safer community, in schools especially, and says, “I will be present for many bigger sporting events such as all of the home football games and basketball games. Other than that, if there was another sporting event going on that would draw a large crowd, I would go to that too.” To further tackle big crowds at games and events, Sgt. Arney will be accompanied by other Berkley Public Safety officers as well. Arney adds, “ALICE is a great system to learn and get to know. Along with ALICE, there is also OK2SAY, where students can anonymously report anything that they are not comfortable with. OK2SAY is a “student safety program that allows anyone to confidentially report tips on potential harm or criminal activities directed at school students, school employees, and schools”. Arney then adds “Then I would just remind students that if they see or feel that something isn’t right then they should seek out an adult in the building and report it.”
Meloche and Arney both recognize that anxiety can take a toll on many students worldwide, especially pertaining to school safety. Both ensure that students can feel safe at school and make them aware that when recognizing ALICE and other safety techniques, we as a community can feel safe in our environment. Arney states, “I can say that Berkley School District and Berkley Public Safety take the safety of our students and staff very seriously. Over the last few years, the district has implemented ALICE, installed night locks within the buildings, and worked with Berkley Public Safety to start a full-time School Resource Officer position, the school district conducts regular safety meetings with staff from Berkley Public Safety, Huntington Woods Public Safety, and Oak Park Public Safety, each building has a safety committee which also meets on a regular basis. All doors and rooms are clearly numbered from the outside, promoting and following up with all OK2SAY tips and installing over 100 new cameras to all of the existing cameras.”
