Soon all Billings high school students and staff will be expected to carry identification on campus as part of a district effort to make buildings safer.
A new security system costing about $181,000 will keep entries to each of the three School District 2 high schools, plus the Career Center, locked during school hours while preserving access for students and staff with magnetic ID cards.
Senior High recently implemented the district-led switch, which administrators said also amounts to a culture change for the school. Other schools will soon follow suit.
“It was a complete shift in the operation of the building,” said Principal Dennis Holmes.
The schools have had video surveillance of the grounds and hallways for years, but the campuses have otherwise been “open,” with building entry basically unrestricted.
And for good reason, said Jeff Uhren, assistant principal. High school students have complicated schedules and take part in activities outside the building. Some take college courses or spend half the day at the Career Center, while others might work with children at one of the city’s elementary schools.
The district’s solution attempts to balance their needs while eliminating unfettered access for unauthorized individuals who could endanger students or disrupt the school, administrators said.
Those can include drug dealers, feuding parents and nonstudents who want to settle a score, said Mitch Hillier, school resource officer at Senior. Transients, too, have been found inside Senior, officials there said.
“I’m not saying it’s going to stop everybody from coming in,” said Scott Reiter, director of facilities, “but it has helped tremendously.”
Senior High has dozens of doors, but the new security system limits keycard access to five entry points during school hours. Visitors may enter through two entrances, at the front or by the parking lot, using a “buzz in” system similar to those installed a year ago in SD2 elementary and middle schools.
Senior High parents were notified of the change by mail in October, and students received their cards in December.
Students will keep their ID cards until they graduate and were issued lanyards to carry them. Replacing a lost card will cost $5, Holmes said.
Students at Senior are currently required to keep their cards on them and visible during the school day so staff can quickly see that they are enrolled. The rule rankles some students, administrators acknowledged.
However, senior Kortney McNeil and sophomore Lindsey Wittak said they don’t mind.
“It will just become a part of your everyday thing,” McNeil said.
Wittak said that the card, which is also used for school activities, lunch services and to check out library books, feels like a source of power.
“The only thing is, it clashes with some outfits of mine,” she added.
West High will transition to “full lockdown” on Jan. 20, Principal Dave Cobb said. Skyview will follow in early February, its principal, Deb Black, said.
“We want to continue to be welcoming to parents and the community,” said Uhren, the assistant principal at Senior. “Our biggest and No. 1 concern is to keep our students and staff safe.”
