The Student News Site of Paschal High School

Are you safe?

September 18, 2018

What does Paschal do to keep us safe, and how is our school prepared to handle an active shooter situation?

 

According to the head of security at Paschal, Assistant Principal Jennifer Fuller, the most important part of keeping this school safe falls on students to report any suspicious activity.

“At any time we want to encourage students to report anything that feels off immediately, this needs to happen with the first adult they come in contact with. In cases of real emergencies, time is of the essence,” AP Fuller said.

Something that each student needs to know is that the security team at Paschal works hard around the clock to ensure the safety of Paschal students. Officers Hastings and Solis-Lopez are constantly giving their time and attention to protecting the campus, and many times students are completely unaware of times when the Paschal security team took action to shelter the school in the face of a potential threat.

Less than a month ago there was a suspicious package reported at the Professional Development Center of FWISD on McCart, two blocks away from Paschal. The school was locked down from the outside, students were brought into the school from outside, and within minutes the problem was resolved.

“Everybody was safe, and didn’t know that they were safe,” Officer Hastings said.

“In preparation of a shooting happening, we are engaged in training. I have conducted a survey of teachers, principals, and other school staff, of ‘what would you do in this situation?’. It’s five scenarios, and each one could be a very realistic scenario. I can tell you that your teachers, and your principals, have your best interest at heart, and they will all do everything they can to protect you.”

“Going forward, we are trying to increase the odds of more people surviving. Call 911, and keep moving. Tell the operator what is happening, and only stay on the phone as long as it is safe for you to be on the phone. From the time you call 911, to the time (Officer Solis-Lopez and I) get that information, it might be as much as a minute,” Officer Hastings continued.

A key piece of information that may be surprising to students, is that in the case of an emergency, if a student sees something that they feel looks suspicious and that could be a threat to the school, the student should call 911 and then find an administrator afterwards. This is because the emergency operator will dispatch officers and notify Officers Hastings and Solis-Lopez, and the situation can be communicated and addressed very quickly. The response time at Paschal is short, and in the event that there was a serious threat, the school will be protected as quickly as possible.

If a student is in a classroom and sees something suspicious, that student should notify the teacher, the teacher should call 911, lock the door, and press the intercom button to notify the office.

“Use common sense. If you are in a place, and you see something happening, get to an exit. Get out of there and call 911, this will get you more time and now you can answer more questions about the situation, so use common sense,” Officer Solis-Lopes said.

There are clearly outlined steps that the staff at Paschal are taught to handle the case of an emergency, and all faculty is trained in how to react. The complete emergency protocol for FWISD is linked on FWISD.org. It is called “Know the Plan”, and is 88 pages long.

After talking to the people in charge of keeping the school safe, it is clear that they each care about the students and prioritize the safety and wellbeing of the school in a way that should make students feel more secure as they go to class everyday.

“I have worked at pretty much every school in the district in my nine years of being in the school unit, and Paschal teachers and staff are truly the best in the district. Dr. Mossige is the best principal in the district, and she has the best assistant principal team in the district. The students at Paschal are better and smarter across the board than any other high schools in Fort Worth. Take pride in attending Paschal, because you are at the best school in the city,” Officer Hastings said. быстрые займы онлайн быстрый займ в люберцахзайм для студентовзайм на карту без поручителей быстрый займ на вебманизайм денег за 5 минутзайм эксперсс

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