In the wake of the horrible tragedy in Connecticut there's been a lot of talk about making schools safer. I think some good suggestions that aren't crazy expensive include having every classroom door have a lock on it, having shades on all windows and the classroom door window, and having emergency pull stations in every classroom that automatically calls the police & sets of an alarm to alert everyone in the building.
There have also been some absurd suggestions, like having every kindergarten teacher come to class with a loaded gun every day.
The real question is do we spend the money to fully secure the building against a crazed armed gunman. My answer is no. It is simply not practical. A crazed gunman can simply shoot a guard and shoot glass to get in. To really secure a building you would need multiple highly trained armed guards.
Even with emotions running high we must think rationally. Can we really protect ourselves 100% against every potential danger? Sometimes it's just up to the man upstairs.
There's been some criticism about schools charging a "security fee" along with other junk fees. Personally I think it's good that this cost is broken out separately from tuition and other expenses. I think parents are more willing to pay extra if they know the money is being used to keep their kids safe. If it's just built into regular tuition parents might assume the money is going towards superfluous administration, assistant teachers or extra-curricular programs.
