WINDHAM – When Mark Walker returned to Windham High School after an orthodontist appointment Monday, rather than heading straight to the main office for a hall pass, he was welcomed by a locked front door.

Reacting to the Newtown school shooting tragedy, school officials have locked all of the doors in each school in the Windham-Raymond district.

In what has become commonplace since security has tightened, Walker, a student, was one of many who were confronted with a locked door on Monday morning. Students, parents, delivery drivers and teachers all have to wait until a specially designated “greeter” opens the door.

Since school resumed after Christmas vacation, Matthew Shardlow, a long-term substitute for the district who’s in the process of completing his certification classes to teach social studies, has been posted at the main entrance to the school, with another greeter, Susie Gagnon, posted at the canopy entrance near the auditorium and gymnasium. Without the greeters, main office staff would have to answer the door each time someone wanted to enter.

Both greeters work 7:30-2 p.m. and make sure no one gains admittance without a valid reason. Neither have a weapon, but they are armed with a two-way radio that allows them to communicate in real-time with the school’s police officer, Jeff Smith, as well as the main office should an incident arise.

The greeters also help the main office by taking on duties such as handing out tardy slips and hall passes so students can get to their classes should they come in late. They also monitor the entrance for those who may need directions around the school.

Along with the high school greeters, Windham Middle School and nearby Field-Allen School each have designated greeters, as does Windham Primary School. Manchester Elementary School in North Windham has locked its doors, as well, but main office staff members answer the door.

The added security measures are necessary, Superintendent Sandy Prince and high school Principal Chris Howell said, due to a new reality post-Newtown.

“Having a building locked and being able to screen and control who walks in and out is important, because we have 1,200 people who come here every day,” Howell said. “And if there’s anything suspicious we can have our doors locked and have external authorities take care of the issue, and we can worry about keeping our kids safe.”

Prince said the added safety measures are “all about safety and security for our students. We have upgraded our facilities all along with cameras and it’s been on our list to look at these doors to set up a system so we can lock them, but the incident at Sandy Hook really pushed the timetable to get going right away.”

The greeters, who are on duty from 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and are paid at the long-term sub rate of about $70 per day, are temporary. They work between the rush periods at the beginning and end of the school day. Each say their job is important.

“I’m looking to make sure the doors are secure and that people that are coming in, I need to know who they are and why they’re here, and just to let the students in, because obviously it’s locked for safety,” said Gagnon, who is the wife of Chief Deputy Naldo Gagnon of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department. “I’m here to make sure the school is as safe as it can be.”

Shardlow said he has gained relevant skills from his job as SkyBox supervisor at the Portland Sea Dogs.

“I’m trained to look over a crowd of 5,000-7,000 people and basically identify the people who are behaving strangely or are problematic because it’s a family atmosphere. So I’m kind of doing the same thing here. I’m basically scanning people as they get out of their cars and walking up to the entrance to see if anyone’s acting strange,” Shardlow said.

On the front line should an incident occur, Shardlow said Windham is a safe area.

“Granted, I’m sure if you asked the people in Newtown a year ago they’d say the same thing, but I don’t consider Windham a high-risk area,” he said. “While I think the lesson to be learned from Newtown is that it can happen anywhere, I don’t think Windham is any more predisposed to violence than any other place. So I don’t sit here in fear every day.”

He said his main job is “answering people’s questions. Parents and faculty alike see me sitting here and ask what I’m doing. So a lot of it is putting people’s minds at rest, explaining my purpose, so that seems to put people at ease.”

Only temporary

This summer, Prince said, buzzer systems will be installed to allow office staff at each building to communicate with those wishing to gain entrance to the schools and “buzz” the door open. Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond and Raymond Elementary School, which received federal money several years ago to improve security, already employ the buzzer system.

The upgrades at Windham schools are being paid for by a $230,000 federal grant that Windham received two years ago. The grant paid for a school security consultant to assess the district’s buildings for safety. As a result of his recommendations, a reconstruction of the high school’s main office planned for this summer will shift the entrance doors into the main office so staff can have better visibility of those wishing to enter the school.

Until those improvements are made, the greeters will check each person into the school during the day. Those wishing to gain entrance after 2 p.m. for afternoon and evening activities won’t be monitored.

So far, school officials say they have received positive feedback regarding the new greeters.

“Some kids recognize it as a sign of the times. Other kids have been thankful we’ve done it,” Howell said. “I’ve had some comments from parents thanking us that doors are locked and access is limited. So, I think if anything the community has welcomed it.”

Danielle Williams, a psychology practicum student at University of Southern Maine, and fellow student Michael Scheib were at the high school Monday. They were greeted by Gagnon at the canopy entrance.

“It’s very helpful,” Williams said. “We’re only here once a week and this is only our third time here, so we get a little turned around sometimes. It’s helpful to have someone to go to.”

Marinus Madsen, a high school senior, said he likes the added security.

“It’s different. More security would be better. School is supposed to be a safe place so I think it’s time that the teachers actually put that into action. So I’m kind of glad we have more security to keep an eye on any suspicious activity,” he said.

Madsen said his friends have mixed reviews of the new greeters.

“Some people think it’s a waste of time, what’s going to stop somebody from getting in, especially if they’re really desperate to get in,” he said. “And what’s going to stop them from shooting the locks and just walking in. So that’s what some people think.”

Parent Ryan Demmons, who was dropping off something for his daughter, appreciated having someone at the door.

“I love it. Now we don’t have to worry about what happened down in Connecticut,” he said. “Plain and simple.”.

Superintendent Prince said reaction from parents has been similar.

“I think they’re very relieved and positive, very happy with what we’ve put in place,” he said.

Backup

Smith, the Windham police officer assigned to the high school, has been providing security at the school since 2005. Smith welcomes the greeters, who act as additional eyes and ears for him.

“We’ve been talking about this since before we got the [federal] grant, to make our schools basically like Raymond schools,” Smith said. “You can’t go far in those buildings without some form of human interaction, so that’s what we all want to do. It wasn’t in the funds before, but we have the grant now.”

Smith said a weakness, even with the greeters in place, is that there is no system to track the whereabouts of juniors and seniors who have earned the privilege through good grades to leave the building if they don’t have a class.

“We have open-campus, seniors have privileges and can come and go as they please. The long-term plan is to have them sign in and out, so we know where they are,” Smith said. “Now it’s hard to know where the upperclassmen are in the case of a lockdown, and if they took attendance, you don’t really know where they are, so they’ll be coming up with a system for that.”

Smith said the district is looking into issuing an ID card with a bar code for each student that would allow for an efficient way to track students.

Smith said the locking of doors and presence of greeters has had a general impact by increasing students’ and teachers’ consciousness of security.

“Overall, the school community has realized that security is important because I’m finding fewer doors propped open and people don’t leave doors unlocked if they’re going out to the cars to get something for example,” he said. “So security is a lot better than it was.”

Windham High School greeter Matthew Shardlow talks to student Mark Walker after Walker returned to school from a visit to the orthodontist Monday. Shardlow is one of five greeters that have been hired by the school district in early January. Staff photo by John Balentine