We’ll be back.

Schools around Oxford, Franklin and Androscoggin counties should consider this a promise, not a threat.

In other words, we will return to local schools to check security because we believe it an imperative part of today’s educational system. The era of unlocked doors and friendly smiles ended with rifle cracks from Colorado in 1999, yet too many schools seem to have yet heard, or heeded, the reports.

A Sun Journal investigation, carried out during a single day last month, targeted security at 37 regional schools. Fourteen reporters tested doors, walked through hallways, visited classroms and wandered in, and out, of offices in blatant attempts, not to elude, but to be caught. If stopped, we would then ask for a copy of the school’s crisis plan.

One-quarter of schools we visited in our security audit failed to even acknowledge a stranger in their midst. A male reporter, dressed in long black jacket, fell into step with fifth-graders and marched toward their classroom.

Crisis plans, as all Maine school districts are mandated to have, are as much part of the problem as they are part of solution. Any plan – whether a massive military invasion or a five-item supermarket list – will succeed or fail based solely on its implementation. For Maine schools, the crisis plans literally provide a false sense of security, as if a sheaf of papers will rise up to combat a lethal threat.

That some schools, after allowing our reporters to wander their halls and mingle with students and faculty, declined to release their crisis plans is fine. Our actions proved many plans are probably worthless.

Educators know that some lessons are hard-learned. It takes rote and repetition before the knowledge becomes ingrained. Some students grasp difficult concepts easily. Others face easy concepts with difficulty. Only through patience and tenacity will all pupils thrive and earn high marks.

Consider this school safety audit a midterm report card for local schools. Instead of issuing passing or failing grades, we’ll use the encouraging language of dreaded “progress reports.”

School security “needs improvement.” Educators and school staffers need to “apply themselves” when considering the safety of the building or schoolyard. Unlocked doors and unmonitored hallways and entrances does not “meet expectations.” Overall, we deem security “underachieving.”

Schools should expect a second safety audit. They won’t know when, but they will know where, as the same schools visited in our initial testing will be visited again. Failing schools need to show improvement, while passing schools need to maintain their laudable attention to security.

This first audit has raised some serious warnings about school security. That’s why we promise to be back.