District 99 Updates Parents On School Safety Measures

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — Downers Grove District 99 officials reached out to parents to address safety concerns in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Administrators sent an email to parents and posted on the district website detailing the measure its schools are taking to help keep student's safe.

The letter noted that the school's entrances are manned by "trained security officers" who were recently brought on to screen each person who tries to enter the school. Each visitor's information is also run through a database that alerts security if they are a sex offender.

The school says all other doors are locked after the start of the school day.

District 99 said they also implement a Safety Task Force made up of staff, police, and fire department employees. The task force meets on a regular basis to review current safety practices and to brainstorm other potential security measures, district officials said in the email.

In addition to the task force, both Downers Grove North and South High Schools have a dedicated police officer who works inside the school. Emergency services also has direct access to video surveillance cameras within the high schools and can respond quickly in case of emergency, the district said.

Officials at District 99 said they plan to continue upgrading the security at both high schools. One future change includes adding another set of doors with a vestibule where visitors will wait while their IDs are verified by security.

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