Liberty North High Schools Safety

   Sandy Hook. Santa Fe High School. Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Most everyone knows what these schools are known for. Liberty North High School has not become a victim of a school shooting.

   “We have a professional security staff and work in concert with administrators, teachers and support staff to ensure the safety of all who attend, work or visit LNHS. Additionally, we have a state of the art secured entry system to check the identity and the purpose for each visitor. We also utilize the Hall Pass system which checks each visitor against 750+ databases across the US for potential sexual offenders,” District security officer Gary Majors said.

   But a secured entrance and hall passes aren’t the only safety precautions Liberty North takes.

   “We utilize state of the art digital cameras and radios to assist those charged with safety in the building and we encourage the use of Sprigeo to report suspicious activities. We also train staff on several security issues each year and work closely with the Liberty Police and Fire Departments as well as the Kansas City Fusion Center,” Majors said.

   Even with all the safety precautions and safety measures, Liberty North could still be safer.

   “There is always room for improvement. I think further educating students and staff on situational awareness and providing them a bigger opportunity to assist in their own security through seeking input and responding to their concerns would be areas to expand at Liberty North High School,” Majors said.

   With all of the new technology, schools could take much more advanced measures.

   “I know some schools have gone to virtual IDs that you have to wear all the time. They have GPS tracking in them so teachers wouldn’t have to take attendance plus we could locate a student right away if we needed to,” Liberty North Head Security Monitor Kent Morgan said.

   According to Majors, the biggest safety issues at Liberty North are traffic and vaping.

   “There are so many vehicles trying to leave the school at the same time and the way A Highway is configured only makes this more challenging. I would encourage everyone to slow down, understand that leaving school may take a few minutes and be aware of those around them,” Majors said. 

   Traffic is not the only big safety concern. Majors is concerned about vaping as well.

   “It has now been shown to be a health hazard and has actually killed dozens of people. When students buy their vaping products online or at an unreputable store, they have no idea the chemicals that they are inhaling into their bodies,” Majors said. 

   Concerning the safety issue on traffic Liberty North has taken steps to make it safer.

   “With student input, we designed and built the bus rider loop and have added additional parking. We solicited the city to change the red light pattern on A-Highway so the green light stays on longer during the times that students are leaving at dismissal. We continue to look at ways to make the traffic flow better,” Majors said.  

   Even though vaping is relatively new, Liberty North has recognized the fact that it is an issue and is trying to help.

   “With respect to vaping, we are looking at ways to assist students who want to quit. We understand addiction can be a difficult thing to overcome are looking at additional cessation tools to assist,” Majors said.