What’s With The ‘Prison’ Style Fencing At Amarillo High Schools?

Over the last year or so, there have been some changes taking place at Amarillo area high schools.

Some are in favor, some are not.

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One of the things passed by voters in a previous election was installing fences at AISD high schools. The idea behind the fences was that it would potentially detract intruders from getting inside the campus.

Back in late March, Amarillo ISD director of safety and emergency preparedness Paul Bourquin told NewsChannel 10, “The purpose of those is to secure our students from outside people. We want to make the campus secure where persons just cant walk through the campus, people that shouldn’t be there”

Sounds like a good idea on the surface right? Well the fences have been brought to the forefront on Reddit as these fences have gone up.

A Reddit user brought up the fence idea and how it makes them uncomfortable. They mention how they're locking fences that resemble prison style fences. With Caprock specifically, their thought is that if there is some sort of active situation at the school, the kids won't be able to escape from safety. It's a valid concern, but their concern was quickly answered.

A user that not only went to school at Caprock but has taught there mentioned how there are plenty of ways to get out of the school in that sort of situation. They also talk about how easy it was to get into the campus as it's a 'college style' campus, and those types of campuses are usually very wide open.

Another user would follow up mentioning how the fences were built because of all the campuses were a bit too open and easy to get into.

The fences that have gone up at the high schools are intended to keep intruders OUT, not for fencing the kids in. I haven't personally seen the fencing yet, so I can't give an opinion one way or another, but it does seem there is a debate on how effective they are. I would agree that if it does fence the kids in a bit, then it could be dangerous. However, I can't imagine they didn't give outs for the kids if that situation were to ever arise.