Kyle Beck ’19
EE Staff Writer
March 14th: A day that changed Trumbull High School forever. Not since the 1960’s have Trumbull students gathered together to engage in a peaceful demonstration to join the national conversation regarding hot topic issues. A sincere tribute to memorialize the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and a way to join with the community to say enough is enough, the walkout was a signal that students at Trumbull High care deeply about their safety and are willing to voice their concerns until this is addressed. And address it they did, with the formation of a student safety committee.
This committee serves the purpose of creating a dialogue concerning school safety between the school’s administrators and students of various grades and backgrounds. The body works to promote dialogue between adults and students alike regarding emergency procedures.
An example of an issue the committee has worked to address is evacuation procedures. Back in early February, a smell caused the evacuation and early dismissal of the student body. The student safety committee has realized that it is imperative that procedures for particular circumstances like this be reconsidered and reevaluated in order to maintain student safety. There is always more that can be done to improve safety in the school community, and upon recognizing this, work has begun by both the student safety committee in addition to the Trumbull High Safety and Security Team to revisit general protocol of unforeseeable future situations involving evacuating the school in order to improve efficiency and fluidity in how these scenarios are handled. We may be one of the larger high schools in the area, but students and faculty have agreed this is no justification for the absence of innovation or even perhaps alteration of evacuation procedures.
Another area of interest for the student safety committee has been the student parking lot. Although many see only the school building as area of concern for security teams, places like the parking lot on the campus require the same level of concern as far as student safety. As a result, it was deemed necessary for the group to consider how as a school we can make this location safer, enabling students effective arrival and departure from the learning environment. High school students may be relatively new drivers, but this group understands there is a necessity for students, staff, and administrators to feel safe in all areas of the Trumbull High School environment, including outside of the building. The committee has acknowledged the safety concerns voiced by individuals around the building, and in an effort to address these, has begun consideration of how best to join the necessity for both easy automobile access to the school with the crucial nature of protecting the well-being of those who commute.
The committee is also working towards creating video tutorials to share with the Trumbull High School community to prepare everyone for various circumstances, such as each of the drills and other safety protocols. The more people know about their options and the proper way to handle unique situations in school, the easier it is for the administration at Trumbull High to protect the lives of its students and faculty.
Ergo, efforts following the March 14th walkout are being heard, addressed, and perhaps may lead to reforms in the safety procedures for emergency situations in our high school. The Trumbull High School Safety and Security Team as well as the student safety committee are working to ensure that no student or faculty member feels unsafe in our school in regards to emergency situations, and that the hard work of students nationwide to speak out for their right to feel safe in school does not go unheard. First and foremost, the priority of students should be to learn, while the job of the school is to prepare them for their academic future, by keeping them safe and by providing an enriching environment in which to learn. With the creation of this body, the efforts of the student safety committee in collaboration with our administration certify that Trumbull High continues to be a vibrant community in which to excel academically.