The Yellow Board

Doors

Posted by HBD on 11/8/2022, 3:08 pm

What is everyone dealing with in terms of door security? How do you manage keeping doors locked with moving equipment and rehearsals outside ?

Re: Doors

Posted by Ugh on 11/15/2022, 1:12 pm, in reply to "Doors "

We have a lot of admin on our campus and among them, they have three different opinions of what doors can be open and when they can be open. We are an entirely different building and all of fine arts is scattered among three different buildings. I lock doors as much as possible, and honestly i kept them locked most of the time before all this stupidity. But I am also not going to stop teaching everytime someone is banging on the door (the entrance is pretty far from the main playing area).
Aaaaaand of course now the admin complaints are about tardies on campus. Who knew?

Re: Doors

Posted by Locked on 11/9/2022, 11:40 am, in reply to "Doors "

We have multiple directors, so that makes it easier. One of us is first out to get things started, one is last out to lock up behind. Once everyone is out of the building we lock the doors. If a kid shows up late to rehearsal, they get to march without their instrument until we have a minute to let them in. It's a 5-minute walk back to the band hall, so going inside even for just a minute means missing 15 minutes of rehearsal.

Our campus is spread out over multiple buildings. We used to leave the doors open for kids to move across, but now we have to open the doors every passing period and let them in.

Re: Doors

Posted by Swamplander on 11/8/2022, 7:07 pm, in reply to "Doors "

I have a key for exterior doors and gates. They re-keyed the middle school and it took about two months to convince them that I needed a key to get in the building ( it’s 500ft from band hall to band hall, or a quarter mile up to the front and back down the main hall). Only took my assistant being out one time and me being late for class for them to get the picture.

Doors are closed and kids have to beat the daylights out of it to get our attention to get back in. Has cut down on unnecessary potty trips, though.

Re: Doors

Posted by 3A on 11/8/2022, 5:11 pm, in reply to "Doors "

Dotting the 'i's' and crossing the 't's' here. During the daytime it's all locked. Our guard instructor or my assistant follows us out and locks is what we did to make it work. After school we were able to leave a gate open and a side door so we didn't have to run back and forth to stadium with one director...

This is something that is both a pain, and somewhat understandable. Wish there was an easier way to manage this. It's a lot easier for a classroom teacher than us or the coaches. The statement in the faculty meeting yesterday was made about classes going outside and a not mean comment was made by the principal about 'band kids have to go everywhere 6th period...'

We're expecting our TEA 'break-in' sometime this month, no way in the world am I propping a door open with that coming. Thank God we just started sit-down band today!

Re: Doors

Posted by Curious on 11/8/2022, 4:05 pm, in reply to "Doors "

I just prop the doors open when I need them open. There is a gate between our band hall and our practice lot. I leave that gate cracked open while we are outside so students can go inside for lessons when necessary. I have had a few run-ins with some administrators, but when push comes to shove, I have a job to do and I'll do what it takes to get the job done. I have an elementary principal who would close the gate when she got to school each morning. I just started sending kids through the elementary building when they needed to get to the band hall. I'm not doing it to be mean. Like I said...I have a job to do.

Re: Doors

Posted by Hugo on 11/8/2022, 6:46 pm, in reply to "Re: Doors "

True. But your admin. Has a job to do as well-keep the school safe. Careful that “doing your job” puts you on the naughty list or perhaps gives someone a reason to find a new band director.

Re: Doors

Posted by Dosed on 11/8/2022, 4:12 pm, in reply to "Re: Doors "

Does school safety fall under the umbrella of that job? We have a similar situation but have worked with school officials and law enforcement to meet their needs for the job they are trying to do.

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