<\/p>\n
Closing Durango High School\u2019s campus, a debate that springs up about once a decade, has been rekindled \u2013 returning this year after a rash of shootings at schools across the country, including in Aztec.<\/p>\n
A group of parents have formed Parents for Safer Schools<\/a> to examine increased security and safety precautions in Durango\u2019s schools. The group also contemplates starting a GoFundMe account to raise money to help pay for enhanced security measures and security officers at Durango\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n \u201cA closed campus keeps strangers out of the building. It increases attendance at school,\u201d said Laura Bohachevsky, a group member. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate we have to discuss this. It\u2019s so hard.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the parents are concerned, as they should be because I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n Savanna McIntyre, 17, a senior at DHS whose mother is Lisa McIntyre, said an opportunity to escape school grounds, even briefly, is cherished by students.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be here eight hours a day. It would make us more down at school,\u201d she said of a closed campus.<\/p>\n Bohachevsky and another parent in the group, Tim Maher, said they understand the majority of students will oppose losing their 50 minutes of freedom during the day, but in the end, they said decisions about school safety and security should be made by adults \u2013 parents of students weighing in with 9-R administration and the school board.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course the kids are going to be against it. It\u2019s like asking, \u2018Do you want ice cream every day?\u2019\u201d Maher said.<\/p>\n Bohachevsky said neuroscience research shows teenagers are not yet ready to make fully informed judgments on assessing risks.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a reason teenagers get in trouble,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Closing the DHS campus will be one of several ideas and changes discussed next week at a forum about security and safety procedures at the high school. Several similar forums are planned.<\/p>\n The urgency to update 9-R security procedures is felt not only among parents but also the administration. Last week, Isaiah Systems<\/a>, a firm that assesses security and safety risks of buildings and security protocols and procedures, conducted vulnerability audits at all 12 of the school district\u2019s campuses.<\/p>\n In addition, the district is considering putting in place a system from RAPTOR Technologies<\/a> that would allow schools to perform a criminal background check of people entering a school by scanning their driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n A Washington Post analysis<\/a> found 187,000 students have been exposed to gun violence since the Columbine High School shootings in April 1999. In that time, 193 school shootings have occurred, according to the Post.<\/p>\n \u201cI go to bed every night thinking: What in the heck is going on out there,\u201d Bohachevsky said.<\/p>\n Josh Johnson, 17, a DHS junior whose mother is Carol Johnson, doesn\u2019t think a closed campus will enhance safety at school.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel it would be safer,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the kids would be congregated at school.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, he added, it helps students to learn to handle a bit of freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting ready for college, and they are not going to keep you locked up in one place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Opposition to a closed campus won\u2019t come only from DHS students \u2013 some parents don\u2019t want it either.<\/p>\n Jessica Wheeler, parent of a DHS student, said closing the campus will present logistical challenges because the school\u2019s cafeteria is not big enough to accommodate all the students in the 50-minute period alloted for lunch.<\/p>\n Fixing that problem would take time and money, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI always ask the question: If you have $100 to spend, is (that) where you would spend it?\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cI can think of dozens of other places I would spend the time and resources that it would take to create a closed campus \u2013 starting with higher teacher pay and more counselors.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding resources for mental health programs and security guards, two measures also advocated by Parents for Safer Schools, might do more for security than closing the campus.<\/p>\n \u201cIf an attack came at DHS similar to other schools, a closed campus would not have prevented it from happening,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cHowever, security guards and administrators who actually know every single kid might have been able to recognize the attackers.\u201d<\/p>\n DHS Principal Jon Hoerl and 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger also remain unpersuaded that closing the campus will enhance security.<\/p>\n An open campus, Hoerl said, provides an avenue to teach life skills such as time management and making mature, balanced and responsible decisions \u2013 all skills required to deal with the increased freedom that comes with adulthood.<\/p>\n \u201cOur challenge,\u201d he said, \u201cis how to deal with kids not using this privilege and freedom in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n Many students use the current 50-minute lunch period, Hoerl said, to visit teachers to work on academics, something that would be lost by closing the campus because lunch would have to be rescheduled to come in waves of two or three 30-minute to 35-minute periods.<\/p>\n The open campus, Hoerl said, \u201conly helps students to be more responsible in school, in the workplace and in college.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, the lunch period helps build relationships between teachers and students and among students themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what makes us safe: strong relationships,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can ask a kid how\u2019s your day going, and kids will tell you what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Another stumbling block to a closed campus, Hoerl said, is the school cafeteria, which is not equipped to serve the entire school at once.<\/p>\n Some parents have suggested having food trucks on campus, but Hoerl said the district could lose federal money for the school\u2019s cafeteria because federal regulations penalize schools that offer meals that don\u2019t meet government nutritional standards.<\/p>\n Also, a closed campus would make it more difficult to administer such things as internships, concurrent enrollment at nearby colleges, volunteer community service work and departures for medical appointments.<\/p>\n Hoerl said helping students with social and emotional needs is important to ensure security and safety at school \u2013 and building relationships is key.<\/p>\n Working to end bullying is also important.<\/p>\n The ethos at DHS, he said, is: When you\u2019re an observer of bullying and you don\u2019t intervene, then you are a participant in bullying.<\/p>\n Hoerl and Snowberger said they work to encourage confidence in the Safe to Tell program, which provides students, parents, teachers and community members access to a safe and anonymous way to report any safety concerns. The reports initiate early investigation and intervention of those concerns, which Hoerl said the district takes seriously despite some complaints to the contrary.<\/p>\n In the end, Snowberger said it\u2019s important to hold a community discussion about all the alternatives to enhance school security and safety and to choose actions that align with the community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe serve all, so we have to facilitate a conversation that comes up with the right security measures and systems for our district and our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Beyond a closed campus, those involved in the discussion are examining ways to add more school resource officers \u2013 police officers who are assigned schools \u2013 and to find a way to permanently fund those positions in the budgets with the Durango Police Department and the La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n Maher, whose child attends DHS, said he supports installing metal detectors in schools but admits that proposal has less support even among his group, Parents for Safer Schools.<\/p>\n Off campus, a stumbling block has been fervent opposition from nearby businesses that benefit from students\u2019 lunch-hour purchases.<\/p>\n Chris Block, owner of Three Peaks Deli and Grill<\/a>, 2411 Main Ave., and Gabby Salzillo with Gianni\u2019s Oven & Grill<\/a>, said they prefer an open campus, but they would not object to closing it if it would increase school security.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re definitely a part of our lunch, but we aren\u2019t going to fail if we don\u2019t have the kids,\u201d Block said.<\/p>\n Similarly, Salzillo said: \u201cSome kids, we have every single day. I know them by name. It\u2019s bringing in some business for sure, but it won\u2019t make or break us.\u201d<\/p>\n Tyler Snodgrass, 15, a DHS sophomore, whose parents are Dennis and Margo Snodgrass, says he goes off campus several times a week for lunch and enjoys the \u201cperk\u201d that he wasn\u2019t allowed in middle school.<\/p>\n But he admits some students \u201cgo down to the river and don\u2019t do great things.\u201d<\/p>\n His suggestion: Instead of completely closing campus, make off-campus lunch visits a privilege tied to good grades.<\/p>\n