another school issue - security

boyohboyohboy wrote: ok. this is bothering me..
yesterday, I had to go to the school to pickup caleb and a friend for a play date. i have never been at the school since it started because caleb rides the bus home.
anyway, during orientation we were told that the persons in the office would ask us who we were and ask for id before buzzing us into the school. it was their security...
well i went in, and i had my hands full with the baby and jake, but this woman saw me coming and opened the door, never asked me who i was...jake took off and went running right down the hallway of the school. so i had to run after him...no one followed us.
so i came back and asked if there was something to sign if i wanted to take a child out..never even said i wanted my own kid...so she points to a clip board.
i sign out caleb and this friend and realize i dont even know his last name..
so i left it blank..

i got the boys and took them home..
so after i was home. it struck me, i could have been anyone, and just went in there and took out kids..no one apparently checked the sheet to see i didnt even sign this other kid out.. what if his mom didnt know where he was going?

so this is what is bothering me..i called the principle today and told her this, and she kinda acted like i was over reacting. and she said ok...and thats it..
i dont think she is going to talk to her staff or anything..

so now what do i do? i am wondering how safe the kids are there? and i live only 45 mins from the amish school where all those little girls were just shot not to long ago..
what should i do now? nothing?

Anthony275 replied: that's weird, in my school you need one of those visitor stickers and sometimes you need to show identification, and im talking about a high school....

Boo&BugsMom replied: I think you did the right thing by calling the school. I'd be kind of irritated that the principal didn't care much about it. Did the teacher ask you anything? If I had to pick up Tanner early, I'd have to go by the classroom to get him, and if anyone else is picking him up other than me,Troy, or my mom (who is authorized), I have to leave a written note saying who it is prior to him being picked up. In fact, after school the kids line up outside and the teacher doesn't let the kid go until they see an authorized person for them.

boyohboyohboy replied:
i had sent a note in for the teacher, but she didnt even see me, i was in the lobby not near the room itself..so the kids ran out and we left.
i intend to mention it at the parent/teacher conference.

it just really has me mad. the whole entire orientation was spent talking about making the parents feel comfortable, and how safe it was. and now this..
i totally feel blown off

luvmykids replied: Our school has VERY little security...all you have to do is go in the office, sign yourself in, and get a visitor sticker. First of all, if you just walk on by the office, nobody notices. Secondly, so what if you sign in? Who says it's your real name, etc?

I will say they are a little stricter on letting the kids go, once I picked the kids up early and we got chased down outside because I hadn't signed them out. ANY kid, regardless of age, if not riding the bus, has to wait in the gym to be signed out.

Anyhow, I'd be upset too. I think our principle would take it a little more seriously though. The school has sent out tons of surveys and a HUGE majority of the parents have said they're fine with it, that we're a small country school, what could happen here? I always think of the Amish school when I hear that

Twelve Volt Man replied: Honestly, I think that a lot of the security measures that are supposedly in place are simply just to make the school "appear" secure. My wife is a teacher, and I often visit her class to spend time with the students.

Posted on the front door of the school, is a sign saying "All visitors must sign in at the front office." Obviously, the school staff knows me, so I've never been questioned. The problem I have, though, is that there is merely a sign-in sheet, on which a visitor must write his/her name. He/she can pulls a visitor sticker from a sheet, and has free roam of the school.

I would bet that if someone questioned the principal about school security, she would go into great detail about how the school has elaborate security measures in place. My point is that I think that schools (and many businesses) have measures in place so they can point to them when asked, or when something goes wrong. Seldom, however, are these measures followed. It boils down to a sense of complacency, or the "it can't happen here" mentality.

holley79 replied: I would contact the school board and if it wasn't fixed that way I would contact someone with in the media.

kimberley replied: i think i would contact the school board or bring it up at the next parent/board meeting. that is a little too lax. my kids school doesn't always check the sign out sheet but the secretary knows everyone and who belongs to them. if she hasn't met them before, she's like a pitbull lol.

Calimama replied: That's so scary!! I would be upset. My sister has gone through a lot of custody issues with her ex (whose dangerous) it's so scary to think he would be able to just walk in and take my nephew.

jcc64 replied: Coreys' elementary school is pretty strict, and we're in a fairly rural area. At dismissal time, all the exterior doors are locked until an aide comes to herd all the parents into the cafeteria, where we all wait for our kids to be brought down to us. Then, and only then, we bring the kid to a designated table, where we sign them out and at least one school person has to approve the "pick-up". Any kid other than your own has to have a note with permission from their parents to leave with you. They're hard core, and tbh, I totally appreciate it.
My ds' summer day camp , on the other hand, pretended to have a sign out protocol, but they still managed to lose my son for about a half hour this past summer. (my dh had unexpectedly picked him up, but no one actually witnessed either one of them leaving).
You're right to raise the issue. Too bad if they don't like it.

A&A'smommy replied: oh wow that would make me NUTS!!!! You totally did the right thing by calling them!!! I'm sorry that the principle kinda blew you off.. could you go see the Superintendent about it?

Calimama replied:
How scary!

MommyToAshley replied: That's absolutely nuts! I would be irritated with that principal and definitely NOT drop the issue.

Ashley's school is pretty strict and secure. All doors are kept locked and you have to buzz into the building. They always direct you to the office first, no matter what. ID's are checked and then you can sign out a child. If you are volunteering in a classroom, they still direct you to the office first where they check your ID, then they follow up to make sure you've been fingerprinted and a background check done.

BAC'sMom replied: Wow! At my children's school you need to show identification to get a visitor's pass, if you don’t have your identification (Driver’s License) then you have to surrender your car keys.

boyohboyohboy replied:
thats a wonderful idea.
what i decided to so is, go in this week again, without the other two kids, and see what happens. see if i get carded, if not then i am calling the superintendant. i just couldnt sleep last night. i keep thinking if i dont bring this up then who will, and of all the things they can be lax on, this isnt one i am willing to compromise on. not in this day and age.
i mean even if it isnt the gun toting lunitic that come into the school it might be the estranged husband wanting to get his kid back and the other kids that get caught in the cross fire.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: I don't think you are overreacting at all!! Maddie's school is like a prison. There are gates everywhere that remain locked at all times. No one gets by the office without signing in and no one roams the area. But, it's not a typical "school" building. They are on 100+ acres and the lower school is made up of portable buildings. It's kind of hard to explain, but the buildings face each other, making one long strip and there is a deck between them with a metal awning type thing overhead. In between each building are tall gates or fences, constructed from metal, so there is no way to get in there without signing in at the office first.

If I were you, I'd keep pressing the issue. It's really disturbing that you not only signed out your own son, but someone else's as well with no ID check. Especially since they told you they would have tighter security.

DansMom replied: Things are much more chaotic and unaccountable at Daniel's school than I expected too. In our situation it's at drop-off. Every child must be accounted for soon after the bell rings. Parents are part of the problem in our case, not communicating changes in the routine or absences. The Principal is trying to get on top of it, but it sure is scary to think about.