By: Norma Loya
On a snowy Nov. 2 at EHS, the voice of Rick Kauffman rang through the intercoms telling teachers to lock their classroom doors. The semi-annual lockdown and school search stormed in on Wednesday as three dogs sniffed around hunting for any possible substances. Every school year the raids occur “at the minimum of two times,” according to assistant principle Kauffman. “They are not announced, the staff doesn’t know about them, the students don’t know about them.”
Fortunately, nothing was found in any of the lockers for this year’s first search. Whenever the barking beasts arrive to investigate EHS, there are three dogs and three handlers. “We initially had two [dogs], but that took longer,” Kauffman said. The dogs are separated into three zones—building 28, the ’63 hallway and locker rooms.
If anything is ever found, “they are dealt with according to school rules, policies and the state laws,” Kauffman added. Typically, those caught will be put onto level one on the level system. This level system—which is found in the Student Handbook—states that level one is a “violation of a major offense.” In this case, the major offense would be a violation of the drug policy. Consequently the violator will be handed a one-day suspension.
Kauffman believes, “One of my primaries is school safety.” Students can expect another school lockdown sometime next semester.