by Eli Dyer

Entering the 2018-19 school year, there have been several changes within the building. One such change is the increased concern for safety. After the events of last year, schools across the country have added safety precautions, and HC is no exception.

“We had a gate installed right before school started around our multiplex,” HC administrator Chad Carpenter said. “It added a layer of security where anyone from the outside doesn’t have immediate access.”

Safety has been one of Carpenter’s main priorities in ensuring the building stays secure and the students feel safe. To make sure students are in class and not wandering the halls, students are now required to carry a certain hall pass when in the hallway. This allows the administrators to distinguish between those who are meant to be in the halls and those who are not. If they are able to do that, security and the administrators will be able to more easily identify threats.

“[The hallpasses and lanyards are] a visible thing that we can see automatically with students that are in the hallway,” Carpenter said, “so if we see someone without a lanyard, we will automatically go up and address the situation.”

In addition to the physical hall passes, HC is also implementing a virtual hall pass system, called EOS or EPass.

“It’s a pilot that not every teacher is running,” Carpenter said, “but eventually every teacher will be operating on the EOS system.”

The system is designed to keep track of students in the hallway, therefore reducing the amount of skipping that takes place.

“A student has to electronically check out of a room, and they have a certain amount of time to go to wherever that location may be,” Carpenter said. “When they arrive [at that location], they check in… [and] when they come back into the room they’ll check back in.”

These new hall pass systems, the new gate, and the many other changes in the building are designed to increase the safety of HC’s students and teachers. And according to HC teacher Jana Walters, they are working.

“The signs that they just put up that say ‘not an entrance’ on the outside are great additions [to this school year],” Walters said.