A floor mat pulled between the doors or a trash can left so the door won’t shut may not seem like a big deal as a student runs out to their car to grab something they forgot. But by doing this, students inadvertently could be contributing to safety concerns on campus.

“Every year it’s been an issue and it seems like it’s getting a bit worse as students continue to think that they can leave,” assistant principal Cindi Osborne said. “We don’t want people who are not a part of the Liberty family being able to get in.”

Bookroom attendant Ken Budz is responsible for locking the buildings’ doors each morning; he questions why a student would prop open a door.

“When you leave a door open, anybody could walk through that door,” Budz said. “What happens if that person who walks through the door has a gun, and shoots everyone in the hallway, and you’re the one who left the door open?”

The possibility of an active shooter on campus is made more likely with doors being propped open.

“If somebody comes onto the campus who doesn’t have any business being here, they could slip inside easily,” School Resource Officer Jon Skaehill said. “If we ever had the unfortunate event of having an active shooter on campus, he or she would just have free range.”

Junior Paige Guierra admits to having propped doors open by the athletic hall because of its conveniency.

“I’ve propped doors open if I forget something in my car,” Guierra said. “But I make sure I watch [the door] the whole time, since I’ve never actually left; it’s just to go to my car.”

After being asked about an active shooter entering the school, Guierra said that she hadn’t thought of the likelihood of that happening before and felt remorseful for having propped doors open before.

“That would be really horrible,” Guierra said. “I’m not going to do it anymore.”

An active shooter isn’t the only danger that could come from propping doors open. Students belongings are at risk as well.

“It’s happened at every high school and some middle schools that I’ve seen,” Skaehill said. “Kids from other schools who will skip school and come over here and try the doors to get in and steal stuff since they kind of blend in.”

Although the safety of students and staff is one of the school’s top concerns, attendance is another issue with doors being propped open as students are able to skip class or lunch and reenter the building later in the day.

“The reason they do that is so that they can get back in undetected,” Budz said. “Many times, the teacher doesn’t know they’re out there. They’re not supposed to be out there; they’re supposed to be in class.”

Despite the actions of some students, staff members are working to the best of their ability to ensure the safety of everyone in the school.

“I’m here to try to keep all the students, all the teachers, and all the staff as safe as I can,” Budz said. “I’m the last one to lock those doors in the morning, and it’s up to me to make sure that those doors are locked and secure.”