On Feb. 11 students were put into a shelter in place for 15 minutes while a fight had occurred in the Commons, according to biology teacher David Bitler. This decision means that students had to stay in a classroom and could continue with their learning but were not allowed to leave the room.
The decision that was set in place could have been dealt with differently like closing off doors and hallways. Instead, the administration put everyone in a shelter in place due to the intense situation of the fight, and people getting too involved. “In other emergencies, sometimes they like to try to close the doors in the building, but like to the commons the doors open towards the commons so it is not very helpful to try and block them off,” Bitler said.
The fight took place in the Commons, one of the more popular areas where students sit and eat lunch and an area that cannot be blocked off. Kids watching the fight kept taking videos even when security tried to get them away from the fight. “Given the situation, it was probably the best response but every situation is different. Since the Commons is an open space and kids are trying to intervene or video and not listen to teachers’ responses… if it’s a small scuffle and they can close doors or deal with it immediately it would be handled differently,” Bitler said.
The situation we were put in was with everyone’s best interest in mind. “I think if people were out in the halls it could have made the situation much worse. So putting students in the closest room was probably the best option and important for everyone involved. I was unaware of the situation and did not know it was that big but I think for everyone’s best interest it was the right call,” sophomore Noa Lucas said.
This situation happened during advisory: students’ passing period to take a test, hang out with friends, do homework or just relax before the next period. The shelter-in place felt like a sudden call as some people did not know what was going on. As a student, it was scary because we were not told what was happening or the reason for the shelter-in-place. “I remember when they announced a shelter-in-place and I was sitting in the halls with my friends. We were very confused and did not know what classroom to go into or what was happening. We went into a random classroom and we were not given any information until later about what had happened so we were nervous,” sophomore Hailey Goldberg said.
The administrators are doing the best they can to keep students safe and make the best decision for everyone. This particular fight had a lot of aspects to consider, including the location, as many people were walking by and students taking videos, which can make it difficult to break up a fight. “The people leading the response are doing the best they can to make the right decision. Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s not the greatest call, but I think in this instance it was the right call and the leadership will do their best to do the right thing as we move forward,” Bitler said.
Administrator Stephanie Labbe declined an interview request.
