Building administrators bare a large amount of responsibility to keep the school campus safe and secure during the school day. This has never been more true than today, when school shootings are on the rise, mental health concerns and rampant amount student populations, family dynamics become more complex, and building sites require more maintenance as they age.
I was able to shadow one of our site administrators earlier this week as we ran a fire drill on our campus. It was enlightening to witness this drill through the eyes of an administrator instead of a teacher. Students and teachers need to know where to go, everyone needs to take attendance, and office staff and administrators must have access to a binder of protocols and a walkie-talkie to communicate when we are out of the building. Teachers must remember to bring a folder with green and red papers, and an updated roster. Students must all be accounted for, and if not, they must be reported to the site administrator or counselor so that all students and adults are found before we re-enter the building. This is easier said than done, and in a middle school, where some students might have gone to the nurse between periods, or be in the bathroom, it is harder for teachers to know if the student should be with them or not if they haven't seen them yet that school day.
Teachers and students in our building tend to not take these drills too seriously. They meander out of the building, forget their folder, don't take attendance, or don't partake in the drill at all (some teachers on their plan are known to staying in the building to make copies or just go about their plan periods as if nothing is going on). In these cases, it is the responsibility of the school administer to teach all staff and students the appropriate protocols, and emphasize the importance of taking the drill seriously. However, the administrator must be tactful, as teachers already do feel pressure and stress around security and safety drills due to school shootings and other violent acts that are happening now more than ever on school campuses. These drills are stressful, and staff can become defensive or hysterical if they aren't taught methodically and with care, what to do in case of an emergency.
This is merely one example of many that the school administrator is in charge of facilitating, training, and educating on site. Unfortunately, the reality of keeping a campus safe and secure is a growing challenge for any building staff member. The rules around propping doors and windows, wearing safety security badges, engaging/not engaging with frustrated family members, and many more ensure that all staff and students can achieve the number one goal every day: to feel safe enough to learn.
Safety is an important part of education. I have done alot of my internship this year with it as well as in years past due to my background as and EMT and Firefighter. This year I was fortunate to create a new plan for all emergency scenarios such as natural disasters, school lockdowns, reunifications etc...There is alot more to this for administrators. You have to work with building maintenance, tour the school to find specific areas and which and when certain classes will be evacuated. You are right about students who tend to not take drills seriously. We started running drills without anyone knowing (teachers included). We were able to find the gaps this way as everyone except administration were under the impression as they were the real deal. We even ran a tornado drill on a day where the weather was bad. Kids were great!
ReplyDeleteLiz,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your post with us. You've reminded us of the many safety challenges today's site administrator faces: "This has never been more true than today, when school shootings are on the rise, mental health concerns and rampant amount student populations, family dynamics become more complex, and building sites require more maintenance as they age.".
This first safety priority competes with the top priority of student learning. Thus the Principal's challenge; namely, to focus on top quality instructional programs and high levels of student achievement, while ensuring a safe campus for everyone.
Dr. Brown
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity you had in shadowing an administrator during a drill. I am hoping to do that at my school soon as well. I think it helps all future leaders to be put in the mindset of the administrator and out of the teacher mindset. As I know administrators need to always remember what it is like to be a teacher, we also need to know what it is like to be in charge of hundreds of students AND multiple teachers. In any drill, stress levels rise and it is an administrators job to help all teachers and students to be successful in the building.
Best,
Brooke
It is overwhelming to think of all of the things we needs to protect our students against. The reality is we will never be able to mitigate every hazard our students will face, but we can be diligent in assessing our buildings for threats. I really like the idea of a daily/weekly checklist to make sure we are covering all of the known hazards and consistently evaluating our security against them .
ReplyDelete