Safety

There have only been a few times in my career where I’ve been legitimately scared or nervous about what could happen. These moments usually occur when, say, a bullet shell, or a clip from a .9MM are found in a school in my district, or when we have a lockdown because there is an intruder in the building.

On any given day, I don’t think about guns in school or kids going rogue and targeting me specifically, or even one another.

We did have an instance earlier this year where a student brought a blunt tool to school and hit another student across the back of the head. These two ninth graders were fighting over a 7th grade girl. But the offender was promptly arrested and shipped off to a behavior school. And, of course, there are fights.

But these are not events that have ever directly threatened me or a majority of students in the school.

But today I got to thinking.

This morning, I arrived to work a bit later than normal. I usually get to school before 7 a.m., but today I remained in my car talking to my mom about my sister-in-law, who’d just gone into labor.

I walked up to my room at 7:25 a.m., and saw a parent waiting to speak with me. Her daughter was also present. Please note: she did not have a visitor pass, and she had not contacted me about meeting.

I walked into my room, took off my jacket, and booted up my computer. The parent approached me. She introduced herself and then asked what her daughter could do to bring up her grade.

I told her I would need a minute to log in to my computer and log into the gradebook software, and then we could speak more comprehensively in a few minutes.

When my computer loaded, I called her over and told her that her daughter had an 18% in my class, and to bring up her grade, she needed to turn assignments in.

The meeting was positive, and I felt safe.

However.

The fact that this meeting was, in essence, an “ambush” unsettled me the more I thought about it. Here was a woman, in the school building when few other people were present. She was waiting for me outside my classroom door, and she had not signed in at the front office because no one was there yet.

Few people knew she was in the building.

I know that a school is a public building, and I know ours must be opened at 6 a.m. for students who want to run or lift weights. But I couldn’t help but think about the security concern this presents if there are few, if any, adults in the building during this time.

And beyond that, what would make someone think it’s okay to just walk into a school any time of day and expect a meeting with a teacher who’s unprepared and unaware of said meeting?

I know these parents are not common, as most parents would give me the courtesy of a preliminary email or phone call.

But what happens when the exception to the rule sidesteps common decency and security concerns?

Probably nothing, most of the time.

But I can’t help but think about the exception.