On August 2, 2024 the WCHS newsletter introduced a major change to the school environment. After skipping through the “Upcoming Dates” and “School Improvement Planning” sections, readers were surprised to discover one of the most drastic changes for this school year: school IDs must now be worn all day by students and staff.
“The student ID program is being expanded because we have found success with many of the schools that are currently utilizing student ID to identify students that actually belong in those particular schools and to make sure that we don’t have individuals in the building who, whether intentionally or not, didn’t go through the proper security protocols,” MCPS Chief of Security Marcus Jones said. “It’s a way that staff can make sure that the people who belong in the schools are in the school.”
The student ID program, which requires students to wear their official school IDs around their necks all day using a provided lanyard, was piloted at five MCPS high schools last year. Given the program’s success, MCPS has expanded this requirement to all high schools.
“This year all [high] schools, by November 1, are supposed to have our ID system in place,” WCHS Principal John Taylor said. “We felt like, as a school, it’s easier to do that kind of thing from the get-go so we just started right away. But other schools were a little more hesitant to jump into it.”
The rule is that if a student forgets to wear their ID to school, they are required to wear a temporary yellow sticker, or pay a five dollar fee to get a new lanyard or ID in the instance that they lose them. While this ID policy has been a significant adjustment for some, it has become a habit in the daily lives of most students.
“It was definitely a learning curve to have to remember my ID everyday after three years of never using it,” WCHS senior Ila Benitah said. “After a while I got used to it and barely remembered that I had it on during the day. I don’t think it’s really that weird because it is pretty common for jobs to require IDs as well.”
Required school IDs are not the only update that has been made to enhance security in MCPS.
Every year, MCPS schools must update their school emergency plans in collaboration with the Office of System Wide Safety and Emergency Management. This year, there has been a broader effort by the county to ensure that all schools are as clear and precise in their drills as they are in their plans.
“They’ve changed some of our drills, clarified what exactly we’re doing and the language on how we should be running our different drills and what we should be prepared for. That’s why we had a full safety day early,” Taylor said. “We will do another safety day at the start of the next semester where we will go through all the drills again, just to make sure everybody knows what to do. I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of that stuff and I’ve done it on my own here at WCHS. So we don’t see quite as much of a difference, but some schools just weren’t doing a lot of these drills to the same level.”
Although some of these safety and security changes have been in the works for several years, others have come as a response to dangerous events both in the state and country. MCPS is continuously researching and piloting new measures to ensure the safety of all students and staff members, especially as the climate in schools becomes increasingly tense.
“I think we’re seeing that it’s a little bit of a changing world and the reality is kids can’t focus on learning if they don’t feel safe,” Taylor said. “That’s just the straight part of it. So we need to make sure students are feeling safe in their buildings.”
One change that is being considered by MCPS is the installation of weapon detectors. As opposed to metal detectors, these security systems incorporate technology that allows them to identify both metal and non-metallic threats. The MCPS security office is conducting an analysis on the cost, necessity and potential implementation of these detectors in schools.
“We have discovered that there has been an increase in the amount of weapons being brought to our schools and we’ve had, not only complaints, but also evidence to suggest that more weapons are being brought to our schools,” Jones said. “This is becoming, not so much a norm, but more of a concern amongst school systems across the country. Regionally, there are other school systems that have weapon detectors already implemented. We are researching it at this moment but have not made a final determination on weapon detectors.”
School safety procedures are constantly evolving, requiring adaptation and flexibility from students, teachers and staff members. However, it is imperative that MCPS continues collaborating, researching and analyzing to ensure security for all.
“I really do appreciate that our students, whether it’s the PMD policy, the IDs or other security measures, want to try and help out to ensure a safe school where they can feel comfortable, whether it’s physically, mentally or socially safe,” Taylor said. “I know that if we’re all working together, we’re going to be able to make sure that we have a safe and enjoyable school environment.”
