Reading High Ratcheting Up Safety Efforts
By David Mekeel, Reading Eagle, Pa.
Aug. 25–Strolling down the hallways of an empty Reading High School, it’s easy to feel alone.
You’re not.
Duck into a stairwell or turn a corner — the result is the same.
Someone is watching, and that someone is probably Luis Serrano.
Serrano spends most days scanning eight TV screens spread out on a wall in the school’s security office. Each screen displays more than a dozen scenes captured by security cameras.
"These cameras are excellent; you can’t get away with anything," he said. "We’ve got almost every inch covered."
Safety at Reading High School will be bolstered this year with additional security cameras and five more security guards. Classes resume Tuesday at the 4,500-student school.
Dr. Thomas D. Chapman Jr., superintendent, said the district has worked diligently to improve safety at the high school. He said many security projects were in the works before safety concerns were raised toward the end of the 2006-07 school year.
"Safety is always a priority because students can’t learn if they don’t feel safe," Chapman said.
Three high school employees who gathered in a classroom Thursday said the district is taking steps to improve security, but questioned why it has taken so long.
"I’m not scared for myself, I’m scared for some of these kids," teacher Marilyn E. Seiders said.
"There are people afraid to come in here," added Jennifer L. Oakes, a guidance counselor.
"Teachers are getting pushed, they’re getting threatened," teacher Russell J. Diesinger said. "You don’t know how much more volatile it’s going to get."
The three employees said they are glad for the security improvements, but added only time will tell how effective they are.
Raymond J. Albert, the district’s security adviser, pointed out one of those improvements as he walked down a hallway this week.
"When I started here in April of last year, we had 48 cameras," Albert said. "Now we have a total of 150. Almost every spot in this building is covered with cameras."
The only places the cameras don’t show are the inside of classrooms, locker rooms and restrooms. Before the district started adding cameras, only selected areas were covered.
The new cameras have cost the district a total of $320,000, business manager Dennis Kelly said.
Additionally, a security guard will now monitor the cameras constantly during the school day.
The cameras were previously not monitored all the time, a point that was criticized in a report by Dr. James A. Monk, a Brewster, N.Y., security and safety expert. The report was commissioned by the Pennsylvania State Education Association on behalf of the local teachers union.
Albert said full-time surveillance is possible because the security staff has added five guards at the high school. The district has budgeted $30,000 for each new guard, Kelly said.
"We have enough guards now to have three on each floor," he said, adding that the fourth floor likely will need only two guards because it consists of only one hallway.
The school will have a total of 16 full-time guards and four part-time guards, as well as three night guards. Each will be decked out in brand new threads.
Monk, who visited the school in spring, reported that security guards did not wear uniforms, something that administrators have denied. According to Albert, the security staff had two new members who had not yet received uniforms when Monk visited. This year their uniforms will definitely be noticeable.
They will wear bright red polo shirts and black slacks.
"Now you’ll look down the hall and see three red shirts," Albert said.
Guards will be spread out on each floor so that they can respond to incidents quickly. Serrano said his vigil in front of the video screens will help.
"If I see something on here, I can radio the closest guard and he can be there in under a minute," Serrano said.
The key, he said, is knowing exactly where each guard is and what area of the school each camera is focused on.
Albert said all of the guards have been trained to use the surveillance equipment.
Guards also are being trained in "verbal judo," a way to disengage students without escalating a situation. They will receive passive restraint training through the Berks County Intermediate Unit, as well as CPR and first aid courses.
Safety concerns at Reading High School reached a boiling point in the 2006-07 school year. Attention-drawing incidents, such as firecrackers set off inside the building in March, and less noticeable cases of teachers being pushed or threatened sparked angry complaints from teachers.
Monk’s report, which the school board reviewed in June, claimed the administration didn’t have control of the high school and that serious safety issues existed.
School administrators disagree.
But earlier this month, the district teachers union filed an unfair labor practice with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, claiming the school board has refused to negotiate over the alleged unsafe conditions.
At that time, board President Keith R. Stamm said he was disappointed with the charge because he felt the district was working at improving security.
However, some teachers don’t feel the district is working fast enough.
"There are issues here that need to be dealt with — with urgency," Diesinger said. "And I don’t feel they (the administration and school board) are acting urgently. This is something we all need to be working on together."
Contact reporter David Mekeel at 610-371-5014 or dmekeel@readingeagle.com.
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