George Washington Middle School PTA

The past year has been especially challenging with the tragedies in Uvalde and now St. Louis, and the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and teachers, as well as the security of the buildings, should be one of the highest priorities for ACPS. This year alone, across the country, there have been at least 67 shootings on school grounds. Along those lines, there is an important security issue that we wanted to bring to your attention.

The current ACPS CIP does not include funding to construct a security vestibule at George Washington Middle School. From our understanding, GWMS is also the only school in ACPS without this security enhancement. Once visitors are buzzed into the building, they have free access to the entire building. While there are security cameras, the main entrance is lacking a second set of security doors to help staff confirm that visitors who come to the exterior door are people that should be allowed inside the building.
We spoke with Mr. Finnigan, Director of Education Facilities, at our September PTA Membership meeting about the funding for this project. We understand from Mr. Finnigan that a construction request for vestibule project has been requested in the budget, but there is no approval of the funding and, thus, no projected timing for the project. We are imploring the School Board to prioritize the funding and timing of this project, as GWMS has the second largest enrollment in all of ACPS with 1500 students and 180 staff members that require protection.

As you know, our staff, students, and teachers are rightly frightened. Mass tragedy events at schools are far too common and they call for the safest school buildings possible. This security enhancement is necessary to bring the GWMS building up to par with the rest of the ACPS school buildings. We urge you to not only fund, but also accelerate the timeline for this project so the building is as safe as possible.