Pullman schools will feature added security in fall

Elementary school students in Pullman will be returning to safer, more secure schools in the fall, district officials say.

Jefferson, Franklin and Sunnyside elementary schools in the city have been outfitted with electronic locks, an audio system to address visitors and new surveillance cameras.

Once classes begin for the day, all exterior doors would be locked save for a main entrance that will lead visitors to a foyer and a second set of locked doors. Before the visitor can proceed, they would first have to speak to a receptionist who would allow them entry.

Joe Thornton, director of operations for Pullman Public Schools, said improvements at the three schools cost a little under $40,000 from the districts maintenance and operations fund.

“The reality is, probably 95 percent of the people coming to the door our office staff are going to know,” Thornton said. “But if we don’t know who they are, there can be some communication and then we know who’s coming in the building. When it’s somebody we don’t know, we can meet them there at the door … we can escort them into the office.”

Thornton said these improvements are part of a national push to make American schools more resistant to unwelcome visitors and violence. He said Sunnyside, Jefferson and Franklin were designed in an age when gun violence in schools was less commonplace but as new schools with stronger security measures are built in the district, it only makes sense to make sure older facilities keep pace.

Thornton said some of the schools were also retrofitted with additional surveillance cameras monitoring rear entrances and some hallways. He said the cameras are likely to be a “reactive” measure rather than “proactive.”

“We certainly don’t have staff that can be sitting there monitoring those cameras during the school day,” he said. “It’s more to have documentation to go back to maybe see what might have happened and studies indicate when they’re when people know there are cameras in public places, their behavior changes.”

Sunnyside Elementary Principal Pam Brantner said the new security measures are a welcome change. She said schools are tasked with maintaining a balance between creating an open and welcoming learning environment and creating a safe space for the community’s children. While the improvements are a necessary additional layer of protection, the intention is not to deter visitors.

“I think it’s a positive change and my hope is that parents don’t see it as we don’t want people to come to our schools, because we sure do,” Branter said. “We want parents that volunteer all the time and we want to see their smiling faces come through the door — we’re just making sure that we’re keeping their little, tiny kids’ smiling faces safe.”

Scott Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.