Changes made by school systems with the weakest school security, according to an Oct. 24 Sun Journal survey:

SAD 39 (Buckfield Junior/Senior High School)

Ongoing meetings with regional emergency officials to review security plan

Addressed security issues with staff, including the need to be alert to strangers

Increased precautions for visitors in an effort to tighten awareness of who is in the building

SAD 17 (Oxford Hills Middle and High schools)

Looking at options for improved security, including a buzzer and intercom system for each school, the elimination of portable classrooms and additional security personnel

Talking about setting up a security intervention team composed of parents, teachers, community members and possibly students

Training staff to confront strangers who enter the buildings

Working on community acceptance of increased safety measures

Installing classroom window shades at the high school

Auburn (Edward Little High, Fairview Elementary and Auburn Middle schools)

Revisited security policy with staff, with particular attention to dealing with strangers

Working with Auburn police and fire on an emergency management system

Adding surveillance system at the high school (previously planned)

SAD 9 (Mallett and Mt. Blue High schools)

Staff reminded to stop strangers

Adding surveillance and a keyless entry system (previously planned)

Asking teachers to lock classroom doors during class (previously planned)

Union 44 (Oak Hill High and Sabattus Primary schools)

Plan to be less candid with the media

Made school security changes, but declined to give details

Union 29 (Poland Regional High and Bruce M. Whittier Middle schools)

Talked with faculty, administrators and students about security

Talked with students and teachers about dealing with strangers in the school

Talked with teachers about keeping classroom doors locked

School resource officer changed his schedule to add perimeter checks to ensure outside doors are locked

Looking into ways to make front entrance more visible to school officials

Sent delegation to state workshop on school security

SAD 15 (Gray-New Gloucester High School)

Each SAD 15 school is looking at its security situation and options for improving it

Staff told to wear ID badges

Reminded staff to stop strangers in the building

Added “Please report to the office” signs

Changing entries at Russell, Memorial and Gray-New Gloucester High schools (previously planned)

Union 30 (Lisbon High School)

Re-emphasizing security policies (particularly regarding strangers)

Locking all of the high school’s outside doors except the main entrance and one handicapped entrance

Checking doors throughout the day

Lewiston (high and middle schools)

Superintendent met with each principal to discuss security procedures

Staff reminded to stop strangers

Vendors and parents reminded to check in at the office

Looking at redesigning entrances so schools can better control points of entry

Exploring options for security improvement, including a buzzer system

All side and rear doors locked at high school and Martel School

SAD 44 (Telstar Middle/High School)

Officials more closely monitoring high school doors

Adult ed door locked at high school

Held a district-wide meeting to remind staff to challenge strangers in the building

Superintendent met with administrators and police to review security plan

Working to make classrooms and building more easily identifiable from the outside in case of an emergency that requires police intervention

Discussing security options, including a buzzer entry system

Reminded students not to open doors to strangers

Moved the high school secretary closer to the entrance and added a glass partition for better view (previously planned)

SAD 36 (Livermore Falls High School)

Staff required to wear ID badges

Maintenance crews told not to leave school doors open

Reminded staff how to deal with strangers in the building

Expect to revisit security policy and develop an all-encompassing incident plan

SAD 52 (Leavitt Area High School)

Designing a crisis plan summary to hand out to the public

Discussing single-point entry and how to create better visibility at the high school

Talked with administrators and reviewed with staff what should be done when a stranger is seen in the school

Created a new protocol to train staff about strangers every year

Ensuring classroom doors locked from the inside

Principals reviewing building security needs for upcoming budget

SAD 21 (Peru Elementary School)

Updating security plan

Installing interior locks and peepholes in portable classroom doors

Planning to require staff to wear ID badges at all times

Emphasized to staff the importance of approaching strangers and directing them to the office

Put up new “Please report to the office” signs on all buildings

Making sure all classrooms can be locked from the inside and considering shades or posters to conceal some classroom visibility from the hall

Schools step up security
Officials address security lapses revealed by a Sun Journal survey in October

Six weeks after a Sun Journal investigation found alarming holes in tri-county school security – including propped-open back doors and lax staff who let strangers wander the halls – some of the weakest schools are making big changes.

Staff ID badges at Livermore Falls High School. Locked and monitored doors at Poland Regional High School. A plan to redesign Lewiston school entrances to better control comings and goings.

Plus, nearly everywhere, training, training, training.

“We’re as strong as our weakest link,” said Lewiston School Superintendent Leon Levesque. “We’ve told staff, when they compromise their own safety, they compromise everybody’s safety.”

On a late October morning, 14 Sun Journal reporters fanned out to check security at 37 schools across Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties. One-quarter of the schools did well, with locked doors, monitored entries and vigilant staff. But many others failed to follow their own basic safety rules.

In more than half the schools, reporters were able to wander inside and out for 10 minutes or more. In nearly a quarter of them, reporters were never challenged at all.

The results were published on Sunday, Nov. 5.

Some readers immediately lambasted the Sun Journal for exposing security weaknesses that could be exploited. Others thanked the paper for its investigation and urged school officials to make changes.

Within days, superintendents and school boards began meeting to discuss their security situations. Some are still talking.

“Our concern is, what is the balance? How far do we go?” said SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman, who oversees 12 Oxford Hills schools. “Those are going to be ongoing discussions.”

One SAD 17 school, Madison Avenue Elementary in Oxford, did extremely well in the security survey. Two others, Oxford Hills middle and high schools, were among the poorest performers.

SAD 17 officials are discussing several ways to improve security, including the elimination of portable classrooms and the creation of a team that focuses on security issues. They’re also teaching staff what to do if they encounter a stranger in their building.

Of the 13 systems with poor-performing schools, all have had official discussions about their security situations.

Union 44, which includes Sabattus, Litchfield and Wales, is one of them. But school officials remain angry with the investigation and have decided to “not hide things but be less candid,” said Superintendent Susan Hodgdon.

Because of that, she refused to say what kinds of changes have been made.

Two Union 44 schools, Oak Hill High and Sabattus Primary, were among the weakest schools in the security survey. At Sabattus Primary, a reporter wandered through an active gym class without being stopped.

Other school officials outlined their changes, which range from locking doors to revamping entrances. All but Union 44 have said they’ve mandated security training or reminded staff to stop strangers wandering without visitors’ passes. Eight are considering additional security measures.

Poland Regional High School and the attached Bruce M. Whittier Middle School have done all of that. They also have sent some representatives to a state workshop on school safety.

In October, a male reporter walked though an open back door at the high school, wandered through the kitchen, roamed the halls and nearly stumbled into the girls’ locker room. He drifted through the two schools for 20 minutes before anyone stopped him. After the survey results were published, Principal Bill Doughty immediately began meeting with students, faculty and administrators to discuss security issues at the school.

Students and teachers have since been told how to deal with strangers, Doughty said. The school resource officer changed his schedule to add perimeter checks and to ensure that back doors are locked. The school is looking for ways to make the front entrance more visible from the office so officials can easily see who’s coming and going.

Doughty was initially angry about the security investigation.

Now, he said, “I know that our security is better. I’m glad of that.”