As Assistant Principal Eric Ramos enters the school building each day, he watches thousands of students walk past ID scanners, security guards, and cameras at each entrance in the Informational Learning Center (ILC). He takes pride in the fact that the operations he and his administration put in place have created a safer environment.
These signs of security all throughout the school are meant to protect students, staff, and the school’s reputation. But behind every camera and scanner is a question: how much is enough? At Stevenson High School, safety is not just a protocol; Ramos believes it’s a complex daily operation. Behind the scanners, cameras, and security desks at school, Ramos manages and enforces many of the systems that keep 4,573 students safe each day.
According to ABC News, there were several gunfire situations in k-12 schools across the nation as of Aug. 1, resulting in 17 deaths and 57 injuries. Ramos explains that with each national emergency, the school reviews their security protocols and adjusts accordingly. To Ramos, school safety has become a priority for faculty and staff, who continue enforcing ID and entry checks as part of standard daily procedure, regardless of how repetitive or inconvenient they might feel to students.
“When things are ticking up in the world, we’ll notice that our kids get a little dysregulated,” Ramos said. “If there’s a school shooting, for instance, we get more vigilant, and students grow more concerned.”
In light of recent safety incidents across schools, Stevenson security personnel have made changes to their routine. According to school resource officer Michael Lill, Stevenson is thoughtful about updating safety policies to make them more effective, emphasizing how it’s a team effort that includes many of Stevenson’s staff and local institutions. While global emergencies often go unnoticed at Stevenson, Lill stresses the importance of staying prepared for threats.
“We live in a world where if you say something that’s scary or somebody might think is a threat, then we have to take action,” Lill said. “And that’s a big part of our job here at school that a lot of students and families probably aren’t aware of.”
Lill says danger is always possible, and school violence has become more common in recent news. With the higher representation of gun violence in mainstream media, Lill believes it is important to execute safety plans properly.
In a study done by Cornell University, specific individual motivations have shown correlations with future causalities. The influence of social contagion or “copycat effects” mediated by media or social media: patterns in school shootings appear to correlate with online chatter and prior events, where one incident may increase the probability of another in the following day. At Stevenson, Lill and the security team address these influences by adjusting how the school communicates safety information to students.
Students are first introduced to their school safety protocols in their advisory. Each year, during situational awareness day, students are taught these protocols and how they can respond to school emergencies in their specific location throughout the day.
“It’s a good idea to make sure that everyone’s on the same page and doing what they’re supposed to be doing while at school,” Lily Driscoll ’29 said.
Student Council President Stuart Brodkin ’26 finds it difficult for everyone to be on the same page without a stronger focus on how students can understand security. As the leader of a club that coordinates school events in collaboration with the administration, Brodkin believes the importance of safety isn’t emphasized enough throughout all four years at Stevenson, attributing this to a lack of care some students may show.
“Things like ID checks at dances or guest forms might seem strict, but they’re meant to protect everyone involved,” Brodkin said.
Brodkin explains that part of the challenge is the age and perspective of high school students, which can make enforcing these protocols more complicated. He finds that students don’t see the value in practices meant to keep them safe, such as scanning IDs.
“High school students will be high school students,” Brodkin added. “It is difficult to expect that our students who are as young as 14 years of age are going to feel inclined to participate in these protocols and obey those rules. I think it would be nice if we had more student representation and revisit these policies.”
According to IWK Child Safety Link, teens often believe they are “invincible” and are prone to disregard rules and take more risks when it comes to their safety. Brodkin finds that students tend to oppose rules because telling them what not to do “gives them ideas.” Driscoll agrees with Brodkin, noting that many people shirk their responsibilities and feel annoyed when given a small task to complete such as scanning an ID when entering the ILC.
Despite these challenges, students like Driscoll appreciate the safety protocols put in place to protect the student body. Lill notes that the ID policy is not designed to be controlling; rather, it fulfills a standard created by the state that requires high school administrations to know where students are throughout the day. Lill feels that Stevenson’s policy is one of the least restrictive when compared to other schools in the area.
Certain schools, such as Barrington High School, have their own policies in place and do not give students the option to leave the building at any point during the day. Barrington High School alumnus Armaan Ali believes this rule takes away opportunities for student responsibility and enjoyment.
“Being kept on campus felt like a controlling experience because I think going outside for lunch would be more fun, not dangerous or risky,” Ali said.
Ramos believes Stevenson’s multi-layered approach, including significant investments in security personnel and devices and system integration is what sets Stevenson apart from other schools. The school also adapts event-specific policies, changing operations to fit the needs of the occasion.
Ramos explained that school events such as weekly football games or the annual Homecoming dance call for different protocols to be implemented in order to accommodate the larger number of guests. While some events, like dances, involve a lock-in protocol where no attendees are allowed to leave until a designated time, other events, such as Streetfest, allow students to come and go freely.
Brodkin hopes these plans will be reviewed, as many students show distaste when it comes to lock-in events. As these policies continue to change, Driscoll said how she appreciates how security guards are readily available both during school hours and events, allowing staff to monitor students’ movements efficiently and respond quickly if something goes wrong.
“You’ll be walking down the hall and there will be a security guard or staff member there,” Driscoll said. “There’s always help if you need it.”
Beyond maintaining order, the security team’s presence ensures that trained personnel are always nearby and ready to act if needed. School resource officers like Lill said they benefit from a higher level of funding than many schools, allowing for more comprehensive on-campus monitoring and emergency response coverage. Lill explained that these resources influence the level of security at Stevenson on a daily basis.
“We have 45 security officers and five open doors all day long,” Lill said. “At my high school, every door was locked, and there were only like two or three. So resources and socioeconomic status definitely play a role, I think.”
According to Lill, the school’s financial position affects how safety is handled, and he mentions how that is what makes Stevenson stand out. Influenced by recent events regarding school violence, a large number of security guards are not the only kind of protective measure the school has implemented.
“One really nice protective factor we have is when you enter our campus your license plate is scanned,” Ramos said. “It’s put against a database, so if you have any warrants or other records that would make you a threat to campus, our system would flag your vehicle and alert the local police.”
He stated that the school has safety checks in place, like the scanner, and some of them may not be the most visible or known. Stevenson is one of a few educational institutions that take advantage of this identifying technology. The University of Illinois police at Urbana-Champaign said that their school operates several of its own license plate readers, in collaboration with local law enforcement, helping the university maintain safety on its campus.
With these tools shaping how safety is managed, the school has been able to modernize its approach to protecting students.The effects of Stevenson’s provided funding and how it has helped create a developed security system are noticed by Driscoll.
“I feel very comfortable here,” Driscoll said. “There’s security everywhere. There are cameras, doors that lock, and so much more. So I always feel safe.”
Driscoll explains that some students express confidence in Stevenson’s closely managed safety protocols and policies, a result of all the work the administration does. The school aims to keep fear of safety out of students’ minds, a goal Ramos said is supported through ongoing staff training and routine system checks.
“A lot of security measures go on behind the scenes, hopefully students don’t feel that happening,” Ramos said. “That’s an intentional thing that we look out for.”
Some school resource officers noted how many safety measures and protocols by the school have gone unseen, and staff understand visual elements grab the majority of students’ attention. Stevenson school resource officer Scott Holst talks about how well-rounded many aspects of safety are.
“When you put it all together as a package, that’s where your security comes in,” Holst said. “Some measures may seem minor, but they’re very important.”
Holst’s emphasis on the importance of student safety is reflected in the various safety policies implemented at Stevenson. As seen on the District 125 website, Stevenson has been given many awards such as the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Award, which the school has been awarded five times. Ramos highlights how Stevenson continues to maintain a reputation for strong safety measures and organization among schools in the area.
“We’re nationally recognized for a lot of good reasons, and we work really hard to keep that intact,” Ramos said. “I think we have by far the best safety measures of any high school in the area, I can’t imagine one better in the state.”