Patrick Henry High School continues putting a big emphasis on campus security. This includes fencing outside to keep vehicles from going wherever they want on campus and guests signing in when entering the school. (Courtesy photos)

Various things have changed over time at Patrick Henry High School and in the country for that matter.

When it comes to the country, safety-related incidents on numerous school campuses have had a bigger spotlight cast on them in recent decades. As a result, many schools have had to make adjustments on how they go about protecting students, teachers, other staff, visitors and so on.

On a typical day, some 2,600 students are on the PHHS campus (opened in 1968), with around 200 staff and teachers in place.

According to Principal Michelle Irwin, the school employs three campus supervision aides (not officers), using site funds to employ these positions. The majority of the facility security items are paid for by the SDUSD general budget or by Prop Z – a taxpayer proposition to support the upkeep of all the school’s facilities. Finally, the school’s police department assigns an officer to the Henry cluster schools.

Mission Times Courier recently caught up with Irwin to talk about all that goes into keeping the campus as safe as possible.

MTC: When it comes to securing the PHHS campus, what have been some of the priorities in last couple of years?

Michelle Irwin: We have added more security fencing and gates to secure our campus. You will notice we have A-frame gates at the entrance/exit. We added a gate and fencing between the 800 building and our East perimeter to stop people from driving onto campus and entering the main campus from the east. We have added small deterrents on Wandermere (Drive) to stop people from driving onto campus and ruining our grass and landscape and racing in our parking lots. We have worked with our district staff to add additional fencing to secure our campus by the fields/stadium/gym areas. We hope to have that fencing installed by early 2023. We have also upgraded all our security cameras on campus. Some have been damaged by vandals and others just needed upgrades. Our cameras are very clear and can take video footage from multiple angles. Not only can PHHS admin view the cameras but our school police department can view them as well.

MTC: How often during the school year do students/teachers/staff train for live shooter drills, fires and other potential safety issues on campus?

Michelle Irwin: We train our staff/students on fire/earthquake and other drills about three to four times per year. We practice knowing the sound of the bells, exiting the classroom or area and evacuating to the correct area. We time the drills to ensure we efficiently exit the buildings safely.

We train our staff and only our staff on active shooter training about three times per year. We train the staff not the students for many reasons:

We do not want to stress our students on an active shooter drill;

Too often in school shootings the perpetrator is a student or former student – we do not want to train a potential perpetrator what our actions are in event of such an incident. We have told students to follow the directions of the adult/teacher they are with.

MTC: If you’re the parent of a PHHS student, how good should you feel about the security precautions school officials have taken?

Michelle Irwin: I would feel confident that PHHS/SDUSD are securing our school and keeping our students and staff safe. While it is always concerning to think about mass shootings and the uptick in mass shootings, we all need to be mindful, observant and support each other by saying something if something seems off or concerning. It takes a village.

MTC: How much focus do you put on see something/say something both when students/teachers/staff are on campus and also anything they might see or hear on social media off campus?

Michelle Irwin: We always encourage our students, parents and community members to notify us if they see/read/notice anything that is concerning. As a school community, we are all responsible for keeping all students and staff safe. We are very thankful for those who have seen threats towards staff/students on social media such as NextDoor, Instagram, Snapchat. We always notify our school police department and together we investigate all threats against our school, students or staff. For example, we recently were notified by several community members that someone on NextDoor posted they would shoot any PHHS student or staff member who wears a mask with water to protest mask wearing. We were very concerned and notified school police. Thankfully, the NextDoor administration took down this threat against our students and staff. Regardless, we have requested additional police assistance as we begin school.

MTC: Do you look at what other high schools locally or nationally do with security measures in considering what might work well for PHHS?

Michelle Irwin: Yes. I always take notice of what was in place at a school, synagogue or church and think about what we need to do to make PHHS safer. For example, one area we are going to implement this upcoming year is to ensure all our students wear their ids while on campus. As a staff and/or district staff, we have name badges that we wear daily so we can identify any adult. (We have visitor badges for any visitor/parent who visit campus.) However, we have not instituted such safety measures with our students. Since we have over 2,600 students, we believe having our students wear their ids will help us ensure that everyone on campus is supposed to be there.

MTC: As tragic as these school shootings are nationwide, do they help to educate you and everyone else at PHHS when it comes to hopefully preventing such an event on campus?

Michelle Irwin: Yes. It is so tragic to hear about school shootings or mass shootings at places of worship or at movie theaters. Unfortunately, we have become used to analyzing what we need to do and bringing new information to our staff and students on the ‘what if… I firmly believe PHHS is safe for many reasons:

Students, staff and parents who notify us of what is being shared in social media or things that are overheard in carpools or at various school events

Dedicated staff who know that safety is our number one priority – every day.

— Reach editor Dave Thomas at: Dave@sdnews.com.

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© 2022 Mission Times Courier. All rights reserved. San Diego Community Newspaper Group (SDCNG).

© 2022 Mission Times Courier. All rights reserved. San Diego Community Newspaper Group (SDCNG).

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