School is usually seen as a safe place. A place where friendships blossom and grow, and a place where young people choose how they want to spend the rest of their lives.

After tragedies like Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Marjory Stoneman shootings, it becomes harder to see schools as a safe place. As more of these devastating attacks occur, more schools are taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of their students and faculty.

At Imagine Prep, Assistant Principal Daniel Hattley is in charge of an Emergency Response Team (ERT) that serves as Incident Commanders. This team works to evacuate the building and get the people inside to a safe environment in case of a fire or shutting down the school in case of a lockdown. The team consists of assistant principals Hattley and Amanda Mecca, principal Chris McComb and John Heimann.

Hattley and McComb are in charge of walking the building to make sure everything is clear, Mecca watches over students in the front of the building and Heimann observes the backfield.

Before teaching, Heimann worked for the Phoenix Police Department. When he began teaching at the Prep, Heimann did not like that it was not required to cover the windows that are on every door. He would prefer it if the doors didn’t have windows at all.

After the tragedies at Marjory Stoneman, Heimann was shocked to hear about the red flags that the shooter had shown on his social media profiles and that the FBI did nothing about it.

“My brothers in blue let us down,” Heimann said.

Safety is Hattley’s number one priority, and he is willing to take whatever measures are necessary to help students and families feel comfortable at the Prep, including purchasing an upgrade in security. The airphone security system that Hattley currently has his eye on, is a door station that has embedded card readers, a punch code and a built-in video camera.

Along with a plan for a fancy security system, the Prep also has a very strict procedure for both fire evacuation and lockdown situations.

In case of a fire evacuation, students and teachers are to calmly exit their classrooms (preferably single file) and walk outside. They should go through the exit that is closest to the location they are in. When students are a good distance from the school, they need to stand single file and face away from the building. While students are doing this, the ERT checks the school to make sure no students or staff are stuck in classrooms, bathrooms or hallways.

Imagine Prep does one fire drill every month. Hattley informs teachers and staff that it will be happening, but does not tell them what class period it will occur in. This is because in real life, there is no warning and the fire drills need to be an accurate representation of how people would react if a real fire were to happen. The record for having everyone accounted for, and the building is completely searched is five minutes and forty-three seconds.

In a lockdown situation, Hattley will alert faculty over the radio and remind app. Teachers then need to shut off the lights and close the blinds. They will also poke their heads out the door to make sure that no one is wandering the hallways and lock the doors. Students in the classrooms need to get up against a wall that can’t be seen from the door (some classrooms have concrete walls). The ERT sweep the school checking and locking bathrooms and exits.

As educators, Hattley and his colleagues want to do everything they can to ensure the safety of everyone at Imagine Prep.

One of Hattley’s  biggest concerns when it comes to school safety, is people not taking it seriously.

“Until people start taking these things seriously it will keep happening,” Hattley said.