District begins considering MLHS security improvements

MOSES LAKE — A preliminary sketch of security improvements at Moses Lake High School would limit student access to two main doors and include a fence around the southern portion of the campus.

At a regular meeting of the Moses Lake School Board on Thursday, Superintendent Josh Meek unveiled some ideas that would limit access and improve security at MLHS.

The very preliminary proposal would limit student access to one set of doors into the commons area from the parking lot and another set of doors near bus loading and unloading area on Sharon Avenue, Meek said.

“There’s single entry points for student, they have to come through here,” Meek said, pointing to the yellow boxes on the diagram displayed overhead. “There’d be a significant door replacement.”

The teal-colored boxes would be doors faculty and staff could enter and exit, or move equipment.

“Would students have access with faculty?” asked Board President Eric Stones.

“We’ve haven’t gotten that far,” Meek said.

The sketch would also enclose the southern portion of campus with a fence with keycard doors and motorized gates, which would allow students to have regular access to the portable classrooms as well as easy movement between the gym and the pool.

It would also require students moving their outdoor lunches from the area next to the parking lot to the interior courtyard.

“It’s a little bit of a wasted space right now, and so we could reprise it to be a kind of picnic area, if you will, the outdoor lunch plaza,” Meek said.

Meek emphasized that this is only a very preliminary sketch of possible ways to improve security at MLHS, and that a number of those whose input is most needed — such as the athletics department — have not yet been consulted.

The plan also doesn’t take into consideration any possible nearby land acquisitions to improve access to the parking lot, Meek added, which the board also talked about in a closed session on Thursday.

The district began an urgent evaluation of possible security improvements to MLHS after the shooting at Marjorie Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, in mid-February.