Plymouth High School Principal Jim Condon sent an email to parents Wednesday evening to inform them of two events that recently occurred at PHS.
On Monday, two teenagers, from LaPorte, entered PHS prior to the beginning of first period. The staff noticed that they were not students at PHS and approached them. The two teenagers fled the building immediately and the school administrators and resource officer pursued them and apprehended them.
Condon said, “Their names were obtained and we called their home school to report their truancies.”
The second issue was the result of a practice emergency lockdown drill, last week, at Plymouth High School.
Condon said, “We do that periodically throughout the school year. After the drill was completed, we asked our teachers to reflect and share their concerns so that our ability to lockdown the school promptly and keep everyone safe, was improved.”
There were two common concerns shared by staff members. When substitute teachers work at PHS, they are not given a classroom door key. If we were to experience an actual lockdown, the neighboring classroom teacher would be expected to lock their door plus the door of the substitute. Condon said, “This is not efficient and that takes too long.”
There are also several adjoining classrooms and the doors leading into those adjoining rooms do not always require the same key. Condon said, “Thus, in the event of an actual lockdown situation, I would be able to lock my door but maybe not the door of the adjoining classroom and an intruder could then have access to my classroom and my students.”
As an immediate resolution to these two concerns, an administrative decision was initiated Wednesday at PHS requiring all teachers to lock their classroom door throughout the school day.
Teachers will continue to be out in the hallway and supervising foot traffic during passing periods but when the bell rings, the teachers will pull their locked door closed behind them and instruction will ensue.
