In this day and age, safety in schools is one of the most important things administration can take into consideration before beginning the school year.

Biddeford High School completed renovations at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, leading to an increasingly safe environment for students.  BHS Resource Officer Paul Rondeau considers the school to be safer than the previous school.

“The school [pre-renovation] didn’t have anything to do with an electronic locking system,” said Rondeau. “We have equipment in place, a plan in place, and the school doors are locked at all times with the exception of the main entrance.”

BHS Principal Jeremie Sirois has the ability to view and track which doors are opened and unlocked as well as his office staff.

“Mrs. Berry has software and you [referring to Officer Rondeau] have software that is able to say when a door is unlocked for a certain amount of time or propped open,” said Sirois. “There are cameras on every door as well.”

BHS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Dennis Walton considers the renovated school to be a fortress compared to the old school.

“When you walked into the school [pre renovation] you weren’t walking into the main office, you were walking right into the hallway. The main office was way down the hall to the left,” said Walton. “People could walk down the hallways and never be seen. Now it’s hard to get into the building.”

The renovated school gave administrators more control over how secure the school was overall. The new features were automatically locking doors, cameras, and a school resource officer from the Biddeford Police Department.

Along with Walton, Rondeau, and Sirois, social studies teacher and interim assistant principal Michael Redmond also praised the changes to the new school.

“The school really has improved,” said Redmond. “Back before Columbine, the school had very little security, but we have changed, definitely for the better.”

Redmond stated that back in the beginning of his teaching days, there were very few drills, let alone security. He also says that it has improved, especially with the addition of a resource officer.

“I’ve been teaching for 25 years at the high school level and back when I started, a lot of schools debated if it was worth having a resource officer like Officer Rondeau, but now it is commonplace,” Redmond said.

Along with the addition of Officer Rondeau, Redmond explains that a long time ago, another big change came to the school. This change was a new type of security that would help protect students; an alarm system.

“A while back there was somebody who broke into the school and did some vandalism, so the school invested in alarms, and that was one step in the right direction,” Rondeau said.

Redmond said that since Columbine, he also takes his own precautions in order to keep his students and himself safe.

“My thing has always been student safety,” said Redmond. “My class door is always locked, and yeah, it can be an inconvenience, but it’s one less thing to do in case there was ever a crisis.”

Redmond stated that while such a situation would be very difficult to see coming, everyone must always be prepared, even when all seems right.

“Whether it’s teaching, coaching, anything, it’s all about preparation,” said Redmond. “This is how it goes and it’s our job to make sure we are prepared and it goes smoothly”

Unlike teachers, the students would not know about the safety issues of the old high school, but junior Amber Magnant feels safe in the new school.

“I feel safe because I trust our school, our teachers, and the students,” said Magnant. “The recent school attacks make me nervous, but I still feel safe in school because we are prepared for anything.”

During the school day, students are prepared for the chance of an attack like Sandy Hook, but after the school day ends and the sports schedule begins the case for protecting student athletes becomes complicated.

“A lot of the talk about extracurricular activities lately is how vulnerable they are,” said Walton. “In the evening we have a basketball game tonight I will be the only administrator there, there is no police officer or resource officer there at a basketball game. When you go to a basketball game it’s the opposite of a school day we try to make it as accessible as possible.”

Despite every threat that appears, students and staff at Biddeford High School can feel safe as the entire staff makes sure that everyone is educated in what to do in case of an emergency.

“The message I give my students is, take these things seriously,” said Redmond. “You never know when something may happen knowing what to do could end up saving your life.”