On last week’s “Up Close Show,” Gary Daigneault spoke with MUSD principals Justin Monical of Yucca Valley High School and Mike Ruggiero of 29 Palm High School, regarding September’s flare-up of on-campus violence. On the subject of campus safety, Monical responded to a caller’s concern regarding MUSD’s Closed Door Policy.
“The Morongo Unified School District issued that order just a couple weeks ago to improve safety and security on our school campuses, so school doors are to remain closed and locked while students are on campus.”
The Closed Door Policy is MUSD daily protocol, a pre-emptive effort to keep students safe, focused, and to prevent campus boundaries from becoming porous to outside danger. In the event of breached security or dangerous student conduct, schools could respond with sheltering in place, which is the use of a structure and its indoor atmosphere to temporarily separate students from outdoor hazards. If the threat is higher, such as an armed intruder on school grounds, campus would shift to lockdown, which requires locking doors, windows, and barricading entry to campus facility, classroom, or office suite.
