Thanks to the passage of a bond issue last spring, five Papillion-LaVista elementary schools have a new layer of security, providing peace of mind for students, staff and parents.
A second set of front door locks have now been installed at Bell, Hickory Hill, Patriot, Portal and Walnut Creek schools. "When anyone comes to visit our school they have to buzz into the front door and now they will have to be buzzed in again through the second door," says Portal principal Becky Meyers. "It adds a second layer of protection for our students and our staff."
Meyers says previously a visitor had to buzz in to be let through the first door and the second one was unlocked. With the new system the office secretary will approve entry through the outside door. One inside the vestibule that first door shuts and locks behind them. Visitors will then wait to be buzzed into the school through the second set of locked doors.
"And if we would happen to have someone come to our school that we didn't want to be here it would trap them between the doors and then we could follow our safety plan."
The new safety locks are especially pleasing to Chris Kaiser. He teaches and Portal Elementary and has a daughter who goes to school there. "We work hard as teachers and as a building to make sure that we have a safety plan and we follow the safety plan. This adds one extra layer of security."