Of the hierarchy of high school necessities, safety is placed at the top tier. To that end, Vernon Hills High School has installed newly renovated door locks, bullet resistant windows, and barriers guarding entrances in regards to school shootings unfortunately becoming a trend in suburban communities.

District 128 has been aware of this trend for awhile. “This all started about three years ago in planning,” said Assistant Principal Greg Stilling.  “As these instances of school violence have been becoming more prevalent, the school board has been considering how they can make the building more safe, both for Libertyville and Vernon Hills.”

Libertyville also added these modifications to the school environment.  Both district schools share cemented bollards that line along entryways.  “The cement garbage cans and benches also serve as bollards, which are obstructions in place to stop any kind of vehicle from getting into the building,” said Mr. Stilling.

The windows are now bullet resistant.  Mr. Stilling describes this installment as a film placed over the already existing windows.  These additions are intended to prevent the windows from shattering open.

Every door in the building can now be electronically locked with a simple click on a computer, Mr. Stilling explains. “This system enables security, Dr. Guillaume, or I to hit a button and within thirty seconds all the doors would lock.  This fits the intent for if the school wants to go into a lock down in the case of any threats like a shooting.”

In relation to school shootings, such tragedies are becoming so common that the media at times fails to report all occurrences.  “This furthermore substantiates the violence our school may come in contact with,” noted weight training teacher Mr. Schroetter.

To this extent, Mr. Schroetter stresses the importance of the school’s safety within discussion concerning the lockdown procedure.  “All teachers feel a sense of responsibility of keeping their students safe because that’s who we are and what we’re about,” said Mr.Schroetter.  “Now when we work on the lockdown, this reinforcement in security allows for healthy conversation on school safety and why we practice the lockdown.”

During the summer, drills are held within the high school in which local police come as mock assailants in the building.  The police force is trained to react according to protocol when going through the building, while also assessing the casualties that may take place.

When hearing that a school has reinforcement, this may seem a bit extreme.  Yet, “If the front doors were going to be the first point of attack, the security at the front desk would not have been able to notify the main office if these bullet resistant windows were not in place,” said Mr. Schroetter.

Due to such tragedies, schools are continuing to improve the safety of their facilities.  The VHHS school board also received help from outside grants.  $50,000 of the cost for the bullet resistant window film was paid for by state aid, according to Mr. Stilling.
“We didn’t do all this because we’re expecting something to happen,” Mr. Stilling adds.  “We’re not on anybody’s watch list, but we want to make sure our students and staff are safe.  We can’t just be blind to it.  It would be like not having fire alarms in your house.”