WASHINGTON — Peggy Sorensen, a teacher in four different Montgomery County schools, always took active shooter training sessions seriously. “But it’s really in the past six months or so, that I’ve really felt that — wow, I really need to protect myself somehow.”
Sorensen said she carries a doorstop in the “Mary Poppins bag” she totes from classroom to classroom as assigned. “You can jam it under the door so that the door can’t be pushed in and opened easily if you can’t lock it for some reason.”
Some schools issue her a key to the classroom she’s assigned at the start of the day, but not all of them. And that concerns her — she says that part of the instructions substitutes are given for active shooter scenarios includes moving students to the adjacent classroom, where they can be locked in with another class. “That just leaves you exposed,” she says — it’s a challenge to get a class full of students to move quickly as a unit under the pressure of an emergency.
Montgomery County Schools spokesman Derek Turner said the safety procedures are being updated. The school system is working to get “magnetic locks” that slide into place and allow teachers to lock the doors from the inside without having keys. “When there is an emergency you can pull the magnet down and it automatically locks the door, so there’s no fumbling for keys or having another staff member responsible for locking your door during the day.”
Turner said the magnetic locks aren’t a permanent fix: “After we have the magnetic locks installed, we’re going to think about a comprehensive plan around door access. We want to make sure that keys are available, but we also want to make sure that keys aren’t lost and end up in the hands of someone who might want to do harm to the school system.”
The Maryland General Assembly recently passed sweeping legislation on school safety, including a requirement making schools subject to reviews of their safety plans.
Since the shooting in Parkland, Florida, Sorensen said, her students have taken the active shooter drills much more seriously. “The students were unbelievable. Quiet, respectful — they did exactly what they were supposed to do when they were supposed to do it. You could have heard a pin drop.”
Does she see that as a positive?
“It’s very depressing. I can’t imagine having to do this and grow up like this — to not think that you’re safe in school.”
