SALT LAKE COUNTY — The countdown to the first day of school continues, and many districts are finalizing projects designed to guarantee a safer, more secure school year.
“Twenty years ago, you wouldn’t have suspected that somebody who entered a school had any other business than to come and take care of their student,” said Ben Horsley with the Granite School District.
The district spent the summer installing new security doorbells in all their junior high schools. Before, at least one door would stay open during school hours. Now, they’ll all be secured.
“Now nobody can come in after the school day starts without coming in through the doorbell system,” explained Horsley.
The district is spending tens of millions of dollars on safety for all its schools. The video doorbells are a cheaper way to monitor older buildings, like their junior highs. The installation is a far easier step than moving the front office.
“To relocate the whole front office, we’re talking several million dollars worth of changes or enhancements to a building,” he said.
Visitors will push the button and the screen will pop up on the front desk of a receptionist. They’ll ask the person to explain their visit and show identification.
“Something like this can actually provide a significant enhancement to allowing something from coming on to the campus before it’s a problem,” said Horsley.
Other schools across the valley, like the Jordan School District, also spent the past few months enhancing security and reviewing plans.
Some installments they don’t even want you to know about, only to ensure student safety.
“Frankly, there’s a lot of crazy people out there coming up with new and enhanced ways to endanger our students, and we need to be ever vigilant,” said Horsley.
