I don’t often write about school, neither mine nor The Boy’s because it puts me in a precarious position.  And I just don’t want to go there.  Yet.

But there is one thing that I think I can safely generalize about public school systems today, and that is the preponderance of “band-aids”: quick-fix measures to address very real, very big problems.  These “measures” are often implemented in a hurried fashion, without much forethought, and end up being a patch-as-you-go solution which doesn’t really work for anyone, but is there so that we can say we have it.

For instance, after Newtown, The Boy’s school realized that in the morning and afternoons, they were allowing parents (and virtually anyone) unfettered access to the school due to drop-off and pick-up for Kids Club (but also clubs and other sponsored events after hours).  The day following Newtown, the door was locked in the morning.  No letter home, no signs on the door.  Nothing.  Because we are almost always first to school, we had to pound on the door to get the custodian to come and open it up for us.  Later that same week was The Boy’s school band concert, held during the school day, and every single parent attending the concert had to be buzzed in, and had to report to the office, sign in, and get a visitors badge.  That’s about 100 people!

some old fire alarm bells (by hpeguk via flickr)

After break, they had installed a new bell to push, which rings in the gym so that a kids club worker can answer the door. Can you imagine how often those people are running back and forth (as opposed to, you know, supervising children)?  And what if the person is ringing to be let in for some club other than kids club?  Do they let them in if they don’t recognize them?  And what if there is an event going on in the gym, like a parent meeting, concert, or girls scout ceremony, and that bell rings?  Not to mention that the bell is loud, and rings like an old fashioned fire alarm…  Yup.  A fire alarm sound for all of those kids on the spectrum.  Going off about every 4 minutes.  How nice.

And the response to people who ask these questions is, “We’re working on it.”

I get it.  You want to make your school safe, and you want to make it safe now (although, why this wasn’t considered after Columbine, I don’t know).  Except that a little notification, and some planning and forethought (and maybe a little money spent) upfront would go a lot further than a piecemeal, thoughtless plan like this, that is still being “worked on”.

This is where schools look unprofessional, because it really is.  And this is only an example of the many “band-aids” I witness myself and hear about from others like this, almost on a daily basis. I know educators are short on time and money, but those are really just excuses.  There is no sense in not doing something right the first time, from the get-go, with a carefully thought out plan.  And there really is no excuse.