Closing Doors

SANDRA: you’re looking at this the wrong way.

I’m not. there are procedures in place.

I know there are / pro—

And teachers have to follow the procedures.

Every other drill, I did exactly / what—

We’re talking about yesterday.

The other drills were announced in advance.

Sandy—

I know, but Solomon was in the bathroom when it started.

It doesn’t matter where he was.

It matters. Just because a kid has to go to the / bathroom—

The door has to stay closed until the drill is over.

Every other time, I kept the kids in the classroom because I knew it was coming. You used to do the same thing. You kept the kids in the classroom so / when—

We have to have surprise drills, too. They’re more realistic.

Realistic.

The rest of your class thought you were opening the door to let the shooter in.

I figured it had to be a drill, and Solomon was / standing in—

Officer Harmon could have walked right / in and—

He didn’t walk in. I let Solomon back in and I closed the door.

Once you lock the door, it stays that way until Richard gives the all-clear. That’s the protocol. What you need to do is write a letter of apology so Richard can let the parents know—

You didn’t see his face. He was knocking on the door, trying to turn the handle. I took the paper off the glass and there he was, looking up at me. Crying. He knew it was up to me to let him in or leave him out there. What’s the protocol for that? Cover the glass again and go shelter in place with the rest of the class?

This is why you put the paper on the glass.

So the shooter can’t see in, I / under—

So you can’t see out. We put the rules in place—

Because the research says we same more money that way.

No.

No?

We put rules in place so you don’t have to decide, if a student is in the hall, whether you open the door or not, because that choice has been made for you.

By you?

Not by me.

By Richard?

The principal, the school committee, the superintendent, working / with—

Then why am I talking to you this morning, not him?

You’re not talking to Richard because he’s spending his morning on the phone with a lot of angry parents. Parents whose children told them you opened the door for the shooter.

Then he can explain to / them—

It was all over the parent facebook group last night. He had thirteen emails and I don’t know how many voice messages by the time he got to school, so believe me: You don’t want to be talking to Richard this morning. You’re talking to me because I told him I would handle this as a matter between friends.

I see. (Pause) Thank you for doing that.

Of course. I know yesterday must have been hard.

It was.

I’m glad to be able to help you through this. It’s a simple ask. You get Richard your apology, he’ll send an email out to the / community—

That’s not a simple ask. I’m sorry for letting—

He needs to assure the parents that—

I’m not going to lie.

Don’t think of it as a lie.

How should I think of it?

These parents send their kids to us five days a week; they need to know we’re doing everything we can to keep them safe.

I do.

No, you took a risk / that—

Val, every Tuesday morning , when Marilou is doing music with the kids, I sit out at the desk, by the front door. “Front desk duty.”

I know.

To keep the kids “safe.” That’s what we say, right? We’re doing all we can to keep them safe. You used to be more upset about that than I was. You had the union file a complaint.

I see the purpose of it now.