GISD approves $30,000 security for elementary schools

The Graham ISD school board approved an estimated $30,000 expenditure last Wednesday which will improved security at all of the elementary schools in the district. The expenditure is for Pioneer, Woodland and Crestview Elementary schools and focuses on getting those visiting the school to be forced to check in at the office before being able to get into the schools. “When you go in the front doors of Pioneer, Crestview and Woodland, if you chose, you could probably get by the office without checking into the office, if you didn’t chose to follow the rules,” GISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse said. “We are going to implement a system that is a physical system, being doors and walls and type things and also some cameras that it won’t be a choice if you go up to the school.” One problem that happens across all communities, not just Graham, is when a disgruntled family member, possibly in a domestic dispute, comes and tries to obtain a child from one of the campuses, Cruse said. “Sometimes someone comes up and wants to get a child and maybe they are having a domestic dispute or maybe they are having a custody issue and somebody wants to get the child and maybe they don’t have rights to the child and right now there would be a way honestly that is someone were angry or upset, they could walk right in, walk right past and the office people may not see them,” Cruse said. Pioneer Elementary is the newest of the three elementary schools with an open foyer area that leads into the main campus. To stop someone from entering the building and walking past the office the district is putting a wall in the foyer area which will create a lobby that parents and allow to enter the campus after signing in, Cruse said. “When you walk in the front doors there we are going to put up wall right at the end of the big foyer area and there will be a teller window right there into the office, so if you are coming in and you are just needing to sign in or sign your kid out it will be like a bank teller window,” he said. The cost for the wall and added security measures at Pioneer will be almost half the cost of the project at $14,337. The procedures for Crestview and Woodland will be different due to the layout for those school being different than Pioneer, Cruse said. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.