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Saugus Union School District Debates Campus Safety After Parent Poll

Last Monday the Saugus Union School District (SUSD) sent out a poll that asked parents to select their preference between keeping current campus access procedures or leaving the offices unlocked amid receiving complaints that locked doors create an “unwelcome atmosphere.”  

In recent weeks the SUSD has reportedly heard from a number of district parents citing that the locked administration office doors on school grounds create an unwelcome atmosphere for the parents. 

“As superintendent, I am fortunate enough to engage with those that reach out via posts, emails or calls. Unfortunately, the issue of locking the front office doors is a topic where I have heard from fewer than 100 people pro and con,” said Superintendent Colleen Hawkins. 

On the evening of Monday, Aug. 8, parents were sent the poll from the district for data gathering purposes. 

“Please understand that this is not a ‘vote’ to tell leadership what to do…this is being done because a small group of people has expressed a split view on what the district should do to further demonstrate its commitment to safety,” said the district in the email.

Campus access policies differ between districts but have generally become more strict following the 2019 Saugus High School shooting and COVID-19 pandemic.  

Currently for non-students to enter SUSD campus offices, they are required to buzz into the office, as office doors, as well as campus gates, are locked from the outside once school begins. 

“We believe our schools are supposed to be welcoming public buildings that include parents and the community, hence doors were always unlocked in the front office pre-pandemic,” said Hawkins. “Following the tragedies in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX, however, we received notices of concern from parents for office doors continuing to remain unlocked.”

The district noted that as of now, the campus is continuing to lock office doors as students come back to school.  

The poll sent out posed the question of keeping administrative buildings like the front office at schools unlocked. Campus gates and access points were not included in the debate and are set to remain locked throughout the school day. 

The specific poll options were as follows:

Option One: Lock the front office door during the day (include a buzzer and camera system for entry) and restrict campus entry to students and staff at the start/end of the school day.  

Option Two: Unlock front office doors during the day (security locks remain in place if a lockdown emergency is needed) and allow members of the community (parents, grandparents, siblings, caretakers) on campus. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 16 the board presented the poll results at their regular board meeting. Out of the total parent population of the Saugus Union School District, 29.71 percent of parents responded to the poll. 

28.41 percent of parents voted to keep the office doors locked during the school day, with the current camera and buzz-in system while 1.31 percent of parents voted to unlock the doors. 

The estimated total cost of implementing the buzz-in system on every SUSD campus is between $60,000 and $80,00, according to the district presentation.

 


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Saugus Union School District Debates Campus Safety After Parent Poll

5 comments

  1. The circus SUSD. Installs locking doors and upgraded advanced synchronous school wide lockdown and then send out a poll asking if doors should be unlocked. Anyone find this asinine? Colleen you already decided you wanted doors locked, right? Hence, the installation and emails we received stating doors will be locked at point of entry. So what changed? Your declining enrollment possibly, it’s just a hunch.

  2. Arm & Train volunteer teachers & other adult staff!

  3. Easier and safer to lock doors than to bring weapons on campus that can be taken from the “trained teachers.”

  4. You sound a Tad naive/frightened & helpless! How can the gun be taken away if the potential mass murderer has a bullet between the Demonic eyes?! Doing Something is better than doing nothing or very little!

  5. I’m saying the provided weapon could end up in the hands of the attacker, if he or she threatens harm to a student if the “trained” teacher doesn’t hand it over.
    The fear you picked up on is the fear of unintentionally providing someone with a weapon that then gets used to hurt more people,
    Wish I had the answers. Locking doors should definitely be done, at the very least,in my opinion.

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About Linsey Towles

Linsey Towles is currently a sophomore and journalism major at College of the Canyons and graduated from Saugus High School in 2021. She began as an intern at KHTS in Fall 2020 and was hired in June as staff writer for the news team where she covers breaking and feature news.