WHS attempts to improve security
BY CAITLIN GIDDENS Contributing writer

To further enhance the security of Whitehouse High School, a meeting was held last week to discuss what actions the administrators would take in hostage or other dangerous situations.

"Among the schools that experience these kinds of circumstances, there's a 50/50 toss up that they'll take the right action," Homeland Security Consultant Richard D. Jurkowski said. "There were six fatal shootings in a seven-day period last month."

After 9/11, Jurkowiski dedicated his life to improving "behind the scenes" safety in schools. Principal Anthony Black and Supt. Dennis Miller asked Jurkowski to hold a "tabletop" course to deliberate about the actions the school would take in an emergency situation.

"We of course never would be fully prepared for that day because we don't know what to expect," Principal Black said. "But we want to be as ready as we can be."

The meeting focused on situations outside of the box. Because teachers consider themselves to be prepared for hazards such as flooding, tornados and toxic chemical spills, the meeting instead concentrated on situations with intruders, bomb threats and abduction. The intention of the meeting was to answer the possible question, "What do we do now?"

"It's impor tant that the school has written down plans for as many situations as possible," Jurkowski said. "That way they're never flipping through a handbook and wondering what to do."

To ring in the reality of the situation, Jurkowski proposed a hypothetical hostage situation in one of the classrooms and asked various students, teachers and administrators at the meeting what course of action they would take. The chief of police and lieutenant of police department were present to observe and discuss their role in such a situation.

"As soon as we get there, we are in charge of the problem," Police Chief Rick Waller said. "But the administrators are still responsible for the students."

After Jurkowski finished the meeting, he said the school should make a few minor adjustments to improve security. But overall he was impressed with the outcome of the meeting.

"Whitehouse High School is one of the most secured schools in East Texas," he said. "Everyone here is dedicated to keeping kids safe."