As Trinity students entered campus on the first day of school this year, they noticed a new structure by the entrance to the school. Dubbed the “Welcome Kiosk,” the guardpost is a new addition to Trinity’s security measures. The new Welcome Kiosk is a crucial feature of upcoming security changes to Trinity Prep.
Associate Head of School Dennis Herron explained that these changes were a result of recent audits of the school by the Florida Council of Independent Schools. According to Herron, the number one suggested change that the school received was to have more control at the entrance to campus. Herron said he believes that the new Welcome Kiosk will help deter possible threats from entering Trinity’s campus.
“When [someone] is looking for a target of opportunity, they are looking for the easiest target,” Herron said. “If there’s nobody at the gate, it’s easy to just drive on and break into a car. But if you have somebody at the gate, they’ll just drive down to the next place because they don’t want to get caught.”
Herron also hinted that there is more to come in reforming Trinity’s security procedures. For example, the school will be taking a look at their security camera system, as well as the security staff and the hours that they are on campus, among other changes.
“There are less than obvious characteristics that you can change on a campus that may not be visible to people but can help with security,” Herron said.
Another potential change that the administration is looking at is senior sign-ins and sign-outs. Herron explained that the last time Trinity had a FCIS accreditation visit, they recommended that the school should not give seniors as much freedom to come and go as they currently have, in light of recent events nationwide. The school has begun to roll out changes to senior privileges, using the kiosk.
Senior Ashley Mason, who enjoys using her new senior privileges said that the school has attempted to roll out some changes, but they haven’t been very efficient.
“On the first day it got really backed up, but since then, [the security staff] haven’t been checking as much,” Mason said.
Although the school has not yet decided what changes they are going to make to senior privileges, Herron guaranteed that they will be on the list of security changes that Trinity will be making in the coming months.
