Some private schools in the county already have several security measures in place, but that isn't keeping them from talking about what more could be done in the wake of the Newtown school shooting.
"We're talking about it," Mary Louque, the director of admissions and assistant to the president at Gerstell Academy, said. "I think everyone has."
Gerstell Academy is a co-educational college preparatory school for pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students in Finksburg.
Gerstell Academy has had several meetings regarding security and already has several measures in place. Before visitors can drive into the school's parking lot, they must be screened at a guard house.
At the guard house, visitors explain their purpose for being at the school and an image of their face is pulled into the school's internal monitoring system. The system automatically takes a picture of the visitor's vehicle tags.
Most of the visitors are people who well-known to school staff. New visitors have to produce photo identification, Louque said.
"Sometimes we turn people away if we're not familiar with them or if they have no stated purpose," she said. "We would rather have an annoyed person than risk a potential problem."
If allowed into the parking lot, when visitors get to the doors of either the middle and upper school or the lower school, they are again recorded on camera and need to be buzzed in. Then, they sign in and receive a badge.
"It's kind of another opportunity for us to screen them and physically see who they are," Louque said.
Visitors must be escorted by a member of the school staff at all times when on school premises.
Those visiting St. John School, a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade Catholic school in Westminster, must be buzzed into the building through a camera entry management system, according to Principal Harriann Walker.
After being allowed in, all visitors have to sign in at the school's office, including parents. People are not allowed into the rest of the building unless they are a visitor or a guest of the school. People are also issued color-coded visitor badges.
"We have everything in place that we need to have," Walker said.
The school follows security guidelines set by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and any mandated by the county and state. They also have a crisis plan, as does every school in the state, Walker said.
She said she believed that many of the specific details of her school's security must remain confidential.
The school experiences a lot of cooperation with nearby public schools and local law enforcement while safety procedures are being performed, she said.
"We're all working together to keep all of our children as safe as possible," Walker said.
Carroll Christian Schools administrator Gary Beard said they are currently putting into place additional security measures.
The school provides a Christian education to pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students in Westminster. It is affiliated with the Church of the Open Door.
The school has had a buzzer entry system from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. in place for more than a year, but they are looking into extending its hours from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. All the doors are locked when the system is being operated.
Starting on Monday, they are also implementing faculty and staff member identification badges. Visitors must sign in and out when arriving at the school.
"We're taking additional steps that we did not have previously because of the Connecticut shooting," Beard said.
Louque said all of the measures have been in place since at Gerstell Academy since 2002. The school also has a crisis management team and crisis protocols in place at the different school levels that are practiced frequently. Security has to be the basis of everything.
"Security is, always has been and shall remain one of our top priorities," Louque said. "Without security, without the feeling that the kids are safe, nothing else matters."
