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by Sarah York
afety and security has been
on the forefront of everyone’s
minds lately. With over 6,200
students that attend Nixa daily,
that issue has been a major part of
Nixa’s daily planning.
When discussing safety, there are
more ways every year that schools
need to be protecting their students.
From weather to active shooters,
safety is a top priority. Scott McDonald,
Nixa’s Board of Education President,
stated, “In addition to traditional
fi re and tornado drills, Nixa Public
Schools has implemented intruder
drills and active shooter drills for
both students and faculty.” The district
recognizes potential threats and
takes preventative actions toward
keeping students and staff safe.
Nixa Public Schools has been
prepared for weather related issues
by providing FEMA safe rooms
on many of the campuses. The
public ones are located at Nixa
High School, Nixa Junior High,
Inman Intermediate, and Mathews
Elementary and are open once
a tornado watch and/or tornado
warning is issued. The FEMA team
is on call daily and is ready to act
and react when severe weather
hits. Precautions for these events
are reviewed and updated quarterly
and the FEMA team carries out
the plan. For full information on the
safe rooms and their locations, go to
www.nixapublicschools.net/tornado.
In regard to security for the district,
McDonald stated that the board
prioritizes investing in school police
offi cers, over 200 security cameras,
and “providing secure entrances
and security systems on all school
buildings.” A security measure that
has been in place for several years
now is “creating secure bulletproof
vestibules at the entrances of our
schools” which would help prevent
a potential intruder from getting into
the schools.
However, parents, students, and
staff have a major part to play in
school safety and keeping our
buildings secure. Parents should
never have students meet them at
a side door to pick up anything. All
things should be dropped off at the
front offi ce to the schools. Students
should never open doors for other
students during the school day.
Everyone needs to enter the front of
the building. The current threats to
our schools include custody issues
with angry parents as well as threats
from our own students. Having
everyone enter the front of the
building helps control access during
the day.
When McDonald was asked why
upkeeping safety is an important
investment for the board, he stated,
“The most important thing we do as
a district is to maintain a safe and
secure learning environment for all
students and staff. So as a board,
it’s our main priority to make sure
they are safe.”
Security
12 THE NEST NIXA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAGAZINE SPRING 2018
12 THE NEST NIXA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018
/tornado