Lane’s Local School Council (LSC) met on Dec. 20 for their monthly meeting. The board discussed a variety of issues, focusing primarily on some safety concerns that arose the week prior. In addition, the LSC updated the public on the infrastructure changes Lane would face over the next month.

Public Participation  

A father of a 7th grade student said that he and his wife opted to keep their student at home following the email sent out about the security threat on Dec. 18. He asked Mr. Tennison, Lane’s principal, about the process and protocol of that situation.

Tennison thanked him for his inquiry and transitioned into his report.

Principal Report

Tennison began by giving a brief synopsis of the threat written on a girls’ bathroom stall. He then relayed the school’s protocol to any security threat.

“Whenever a threat occurs, we go into immediate communication with CPS safety and security, which shares an office with the 911 center,” Tennison said. “That’s how they can coordinate with CPD.”

Tennison reminded his listeners that Lane’s situation was not unique, especially within the preceding months.

“As everybody knows, there’s been a rash of these threats that have occurred, not only in the city but there’s also been threats at suburban schools,” Tennison said. “So this is not an isolated event.”

Nevertheless, he was adamant that Lane handled the situation with utmost caution. Despite limited access to security equipment, any person who entered the building was scanned, as was their belongings.

“On Wednesday, we had three entrances, and that’s because that’s all we had equipment for,” Tennison said. “The machines were a metal detector, an X-ray machine and we had hand-held wands.”

Long lines extended down Addison and Western on Wednesday as students waited to get into school. Mr. Tennision made an effort to talk to students who were standing in line.

“I really do believe that we just needed to keep things as normal as possible under the circumstances,” Tennison said.

On Wednesday, Lane’s attendance rate was only at 90.20 percent. However, Tennison noted that when threats have been made at other schools, such as Lincoln Park and Whitney Young, their attendance was only at 20 and 40 percent, respectively.

On Thursday, Lane opened an additional door, as they received another scanning machine from CPS. Thus, lines moved much faster.

Students who missed classes on Wednesday and Thursday were given excused absences and were allowed to make up tests.

Friends of Lane

Thanks to Friends of Lane, several changes will be made to Lane’s infrastructure this school year, both necessary for the safety of students and for aesthetic purposes.

The Friends of Lane representative present said that in the past school year alone, 318 families had donated a total of $200,000.

Thanks to such contributions, several boys bathrooms near door J will be converted to girls bathrooms so that there will be an equal number of boys and girls bathrooms throughout the school.

News/Updates

• One of the boys locker rooms will become the LTAC locker for boys and girls.
• Three boys bathrooms will become girls bathrooms
• New sound system for weight room and for all gymnasiums will be implemented
• Art gallery is being repainted.
• Adding new smaller scoreboards for wrestling and volleyball

The next LSC meeting will occur on Jan. 20, 2019.