In wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the safety of our school has been on everyone’s minds. Is our school safe? How can we make our school safer? What will we do if something happens at Page? After every unexpected incident, these questions come to our mind. Superintendent Contreras called in 

all GCS principals to discuss the topic. After the incident she said, “…it is in the best interest of our students – and ourselves (teachers) – to keep classroom and school routines as normal as possible.” As well as saying that, “It’s our responsibility as district administrators and in partnership with law enforcement to do everything we can to protect children and keep our schools safe.” I had the pleasure to talk to Officer Aaron Griffiths, the SRO at Page and ask him some questions:

1. Do you have a plan ready if something happens? Yes.
2. Why don’t we have active shooter drills?  We have two a year.  GCS allots that time and if it were up to me we would have more.
3. What is your view on teachers being able to have guns? They should go through their concealed class and a class through the county, right?  I do not think that teachers should have guns. This makes it easier for students to get guns.
4. How do you feel about the actions of the officer in Parkland?  I feel the officer should have gone in as soon as he heard the first shots.
5. Do you think the age for owning guns being moved to 21 is a good thing? Yes, I feel 21 is a good age to purchase guns.
6. How do you react when you hear of a gun threat towards page?  I investigate it until I find out whether there is a gun or not on campus.
7. How do you prevent something like Parkland from happening?  I try to be proactive with the students by getting information from them.  I monitor social media sights. I patrol the hallways to make sure they are safe.
8. What procedures should students take if they suspect something from a classmate? Is there a policy? And how do students know about it?  They need to report it to me or another adult immediately.  Preferably reporting it to me so I can begin an investigation as soon as possible. I will talk to students and staff to try and find out who the suspects are. Then i will talk to the suspected students and search them
9. How safe do you feel Page is in its current state? And what could we improve upon to make the school safer?  I feel Page is a safe school.  Lock all the doors, and immediately tell someone if they see something that doesn’t look right.

Officer Griffiths has been at Page for nine years and is one of the best at his job. Everyone at Page knows who he is and enjoy being around him. He knows what he is doing, so if you see anything suspicious, let him know immediately. If everyone does their job, and follows the laws, we will have the safest school possible.