A major safety change is coming to Mustang Public Schools (MPS) this year. The district says all of its classroom doors will stay locked and closed at all times.
Fox 25 has been learning more about their decision, as MPS' director of school safety and security Jennifer Newell says this won't be the only solution to school safety.
"For us, it's a multi-faceted approach," Newell said. "Not one thing is going to fix the issue."
But a starting point is mental health and the 'School Safe ID' program.
"Making sure we know who is around our building, and who is in our buildings," Newell said. "That way, we have a check-in and check-out system."
Staff also goes through training "about safety and security, and about how to mitigate if there were an active assailant in the school," Newell said.
This year, the doors will always be locked just in case.
"I felt like that was one of the things we could do across the board that could potentially mitigate an incident at one of our schools," Newell said.
Before the Uvalde shooting, all Mustang doors were locked. But, they could've been propped open.
"Because we know how long it takes to be able to step outside, and use those fine motor skills under stressful times is very, very difficult," Newell said.
What hasn't changed, though, is the district's relationship with first responders.
"They spend a lot of time in our schools, so we're taking feedback from them," Newell said. "We're making sure that we're following their recommendations. We're making sure that they're familiar with what our policies and procedures are."
Newell says all of these factors help make a quality learning experience.
"We can't educate students if they don't feel safe. Our educators can't be effective if they don't feel safe," Newell said. "We want to make sure we're doing absolutely everything we can for the safety and security of our staff and students across the board."
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