If students have not noticed, there is a new emergency exit on the southwest doors, which leads to the parking lot. Most upperclassmen have had to redirect their route out to their cars or else they will set off an alarm. Keith Burbeck, sophomore at Natrona County High school, says, “I think that they should have chosen a different door because we all use that door to get to the parking lot.” Like many other student drivers, he is confused and frustrated with the location of the emergency exit. However, there are reasons why staff members specifically chose that door. 

Mr. Mathew Crabb, the new assistant principal, explains that “with how often that door is used and limited ability to have supervision over there and the traffic into the building from that point of entry, is why we chose that door first with the opportunity to possibly do the same thing with other doors.” It is really a matter of keeping people out. Students have been leaving rocks in the door, so that they can easily come back into the school, but that can cause security issues with unauthorized people coming into the building. That side of the building is tougher to monitor because it doesn’t have a good line of sight from where teachers or staff would be watching. 

Though vandalism and defiant behavior could have led to this event, Crabb states the “primary reason for the exit is to keep the right people in, and the right people out. The decision is mostly influenced as a safety measure.” 

It has been a habit for students to use that exit to get to their vehicles, but “people need to realize that the alarm will sound. We have students leaving when they are truant, and they usually bail out of the southwest side,” Crabb warns. Administration has a way to turn off the alarm with special key cards if they need to do so. The habit of using that exit will most likely increase the amount of alarms, until people understand that that is an emergency exit. 

Students aren’t happy because they want to get to the parking lot faster, but as Burbeck says, “I’ll just have to remember that it’s only for emergencies, even though I dislike that.” 

Caption- Keith Burbeck stands next to the southwest emergency exit. He, like other students, have had to reroute their way outside to the parking lot, taking an unwanted detour, but it is primarily in place for safety concerns.