As school shootings appear more often in the news, our own school’s safety comes into question. While it is impossible to be 100 percent safe, there are actions that both the administration and students can take to make our school more secure.

If you see an adult walking around in the school who you don’t recognize and isn’t wearing a staff I.D. or visitor badge, let a faculty member know. It may seem silly, but it’s one of the easiest things you can do to make our school safer.

Another action that can be taken to make our school safer is to discuss intruder plans more often. Most classes have gone over where the fire exits are, and most teachers make sure to let you know of the expectations of their class. However, some students are still confused about what to do during an intruder situation. Some teachers say hide, some say fight the intruder and some don’t discuss it at all. Making the policy clearer would be helpful to students and staff, and that’s up to administration to clarify. In addition, students can do their part by taking intruder drills seriously.

A recommendation to improve the school’s safety is to upgrade the old locks in the building. Locks on certain classroom doors must be opened before they can be locked, which is not an ideal situation when it comes to intruders. We hope the district will find the funds necessary to fix them.

What you shouldn’t do is make threats, not even as a joke. Whether it’s a Facebook status, a hit list, or writing on a bathroom stall, threats aren’t going to seem funny to the person they are aimed at or heard by. Don’t take a threat as a joke either, and don’t encourage others to make them. Joke or not, making threats has serious consequences.

While the school is already pretty safe, these are definitely steps that can be taken to make its security even better. The JagWire staff believes that, with some effort, we can improve the state of our school safety.