SMCISD Superintendent Talks on School Security

By, Terra Rivers

Recent ‘clown’ threats have had school districts and authorities scrambling these last few weeks to ensure the safety of their students.

While social media is used as a communication tool, school districts in various states have received what police describe as “terroristic threats” to schools around the country. These threats come from social media accounts of clowns.

Though San Marcos CISD has received no such threats against their schools. Individuals may be wondering what the security measures the district has in place to protect its students.

SMCISD Superintendent Michael Cardona said all of the school districts campuses have security cameras; a majority of the campus buildings also have swipe cards. Once school is in session, individuals without cards can only reach the main offices.

During passing periods and before school begins, doors are unlocked to allow students entry. However, due to the amount of entry points, SMCISD high school students are funneled through select entrances to campus while the others remain locked.

Each campus has several police officers monitoring security, and if the district feels there is a threat to the school’s security, officials will add extra patrols to ensure the students’ safety, said Cardona.

“We have a really good relationship with the police department,” Cardona said.

According to the superintendent, SMCISD has different forms of lockdowns because their campuses sit near I-35.

“It depends on the type of issue,” Cardona said. “We feel like, with the Texas State incident, that really wasn’t near our campuses, but some of our principals might just go into a soft lockdown and bring everybody inside. If there was fear of an imminent threat, they would go into a hard lock down.”

In a hard lockdown situation, teachers would direct the students to the back of the classroom, away from the door, and turn off the lights. Teachers are instructed to place a card in the window to assure officers or administration that the classroom is fine.

“If there’s no card, somebody is going to go in and check on those kids and those teachers,” Cardona said.

Cardona also said that the district always has a plan for notifying parents and keeping everybody informed; principals have the ability to contact parents via phone call through Facebook whenever the school is taking precautions.

As of Oct. 7, SMCISD had experienced no threats against any of their schools. However, in light of the recent clown incidents and threats, Cardona said that some changes had been made to prevent an issue. Homecoming week’s dress up day was canceled and changed to something else, he said.

“If you’re out there and think that you want to participate in this because it’s funny, think again,” Austin ISD Police Chief Eric Mendez said. “Because if it was your child attending a school, and your child felt threatened because of these posts, how would you feel?”