As the school year progresses, the Solon Board of Education is planning to implement several new changes to better the safety of the school. After prominent school shootings in recent years such as the one in Uvalde, Texas, Fred Bolden, the superintendent of Solon City Schools, proposed at a recent Board meeting that ballistic-resistant glass and prop-open door sensors be installed at all the Solon Schools buildings.
“The school shootings that have been coming out gives an unfortunate reality in our country right now that [has] required us to take the most stringent actions to help protect safety,” Bolden said. “We’re doing a replacement project for windows…We’re going replace them with intruder resistant glass. Then, using accommodation grant money passed by voters, specifically earmarked for safety and security to then retrofit all of our entrances, and then our ground windows with intruder resistant glass and our ballistic resistant glass.”
Solon High School senior Emmy Yelenosky said she approves of the new glass being installed throughout the school districts.
“I think that it’s super smart, and on “Dateline” episodes, the premise is who would ever think this would happen to a small town, and I just think that as safe as Solon is, it could unfortunately be us next if there’s a threat and, God forbid, something happens,” said Yelenosky. “So, I think just pre-planning for an event that’s as horrible as a shooting is just really smart on the part of the Solon team.”
Additionally, Solon has been part of a program called “Start with Hello Week” that has been ongoing through school years. Started by the Sandy Hook Promise, “Start with Hello Week” works to educate students regarding warning signs of social isolation and encourage individual belongingness in schools. Bolden believes that this initiative could reduce school violence.
“’Start With Hello Week’ is a nationwide effort that’s designed for kids to reach out to kids that they may not normally reach out to and say hi and establish friendships, because as we know, when kids feel isolated or ostracized, those things can sometimes lead to resentment and negativity and could ultimately lead to violence,” Bolden said.
Director of Security at Solon Security Schools, Jason Bender, stated that there have been no serious threats to the security of Solon High School since the previous academic year.
“Nothing was found to be true or a substantial threat,” Bender said. “Two issues were found to be hoaxes which the majority of them turn out to be.”
Throughout her almost four years at Solon High School, Yelenosky had experienced a school lockdown which resulted in a bullet being found somewhere in the school. However, she said that she has faith in the Solon security system.
“I’m very aware of my surroundings, and I always see police officers around the school, and even after those lockdowns and real fires, there were always people there to protect me like the police officers that I would see around the school,” said Yelenosky.
So, is there anything else about the security of Solon High School that might need to be changed? If there is, Bender said, the Solon Schools security team will get on it right away.
“[The Solon High School security team] are constantly determining if we have the best equipment or best procedures,” said Bender. “We continue to work very closely with the Solon City Police Department. They’re a huge part of our emergency response plan, and we’re glad to have that partnership.”
