CATOOSA, Okla. — Two elementary schools in Catoosa added security systems to their front doors, so staff members can see visitors before buzzing them inside the building.
Denise Carlton has worked at the front office at Cherokee Elementary for 15 years.
"The building is older and the way it was set up, it was hard for me to see parents coming in, so I didn’t always know who was coming in," Carlton said.
As the gatekeeper of the school, she feels like the safety of the kids is in her hands.
"I would take it so personal if something were to happen to these children," Carlton said.
She says she now feels peace of mind with the school's new buzzer system.
"I’m able to verify who they are and buzz them in, so I know I can keep the children as secure and as safe as I can," Carlton said.
Cherokee Elementary first installed cameras inside the school in 2006 and updated them in 2011. Campus police felt the school needed to add a layer of access control.
"It allows us to see and talk to whoever wants to enter the building, if we need to see an ID they can hold up an ID we can take a picture of that," Campus Police Chief Samuel Brown said.
With 2,400 students in the district, school officials want to make sure the kids, staff, and visitors all feel safe, so they can focus on education.
"I don’t want anybody to feel insecure in these buildings, so do our teachers feel better? Yes they do," Brown said.
Helen Paul Learning Center, another elementary school in Catoosa, also recently installed this new buzzer system.
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