Last year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, almost 150 students were killed or wounded by a shooter on school grounds in the United States. The year before that, over 270. Already this year there have been 82 incidents in schools, and 53 victims (wounded or killed). School shootings are a major issue in the United States: and around the country efforts are being put in place to counter, prevent, or mitigate the harm from such instances. And this is not just happening in big cities. According to a 2020 study done by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), “Suburban and rural, wealthier, and low-minority schools had more school-targeted shootings; such shootings were the most fatal…” This could happen at our schools, and while the Boothbay Region High School (BRHS) has been improving in its security and preparedness, there are still gaps which need to be filled.

My name is Moriah Smith, and as my English project “Champions of Change,” I am in support of supplying escape ladders in our high school’s second floor and some first floor rooms in case students need to escape from windows in the event of a shooting or fire. While researching this project, I was pleased to discover that efforts to address this security risk are already under way through Principal Tricia Campbell’s leadership.

Currently, the only viable escape from the second and some of the first floor rooms are the classroom doors, which–if there was a fire or shooter in the hall–could become unsafe. Out of my survey of the student body, which had 86 responses (about half of all high school students), only one person believed that the second floor was the safest to be on, with the majority of the responses citing that the basement and first floors were safest because they had multiple exits and were close to the ground. One student said that “If it came to getting out through a window, that wouldn’t be dangerous to do from the basement.” The same cannot be said for the second and some of the first floors. This highlights the need for more options for escape on the second floor, and an emergency escape ladder that can be quickly attached to a window and deployed could fulfill that requirement.

According to Principal Campbell, there are about 20 “specific spaces that sit higher than 10 feet and would require a ladder, including the Library, the entire 200-level top floor, and rooms 108, 110, 112, and 116.” With ladder costs at about $90 per unit, the total is around $2,000. While this is not a small number, the overall benefits to the safety of the high school more than justifies the spending, and the Principal states she has grant funds available to use. Each ladder can hold multiple students at one time, and is designed for quick and easy deployment.

As an email from the Maine School Management Association (MSMA) to the CSD Director of Maintenance and Facilities David Benner states, the MSMA has no code issues with installing such ladders, as long as they are not the primary exit and are used only in an emergency. Moreover, the MSMA states that other schools have already implemented such ladders.

I acknowledge, however, as Principal Campbell stated, there is “a possibility the ladders might be structurally incompatible with the school architecture. According to Mr. Benner's consultation with the MSMA, these portable ladders are generally designed for residential homes.” In addition, the ladders could cause danger through a bottleneck forming in the event of an emergency, or by being unable to be used by students with disabilities. Director Benner has been talking to and will be meeting with the fire marshal, who will make the ultimate decision on if the escape ladders meet safety requirements; however, I believe that anything is better than nothing, and if there is a chance to provide another alternate escape route for students on the second and first floors in an emergency, the school should take it. If a situation occurs in which the ladders would be used, the only other options would be to face whatever is causing the situation, or jump out the window, either of which has the danger to cause more, or at least equal, harm as a bottleneck or fall off of a ladder.

Hopefully such an emergency will never happen, but I know even the presence of the escape ladders in the school will quiet at least some of the worry I–and, according to my survey, about two-thirds of the student body–have over this issue. As Chief Doug Snyder of the Boothbay Harbor Police Department states: “This could be another tool in the school's safety toolbox. It is just another option for all our students and teachers."

It is better for the school to be as prepared as possible for an emergency, with hopes that such an emergency never occurs, than to be unprepared and risk endangering our students more than necessary. There is no reason–if the fire marshal approves it–for the school to not implement the escape ladders by this September, and every reason for them to install them. I am happy that Principal Campbell and school administrators see this need for the escape ladders and are actively working to improve our school, and I hope that BRHS will install the ladders as soon as possible to increase the safety of our students.