Security increases after assault

On Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, an 18-year-old woman was sexually assaulted across the street from Parkway North High School. The teenager was reported to be walking home from a friend’s house at 9:30 p.m. in the neighborhood on the corner of Fee Fee Road and Bennington Road.

 “As administrators, we have been keeping a close look on visitors coming into the building as well as around the building,” said freshman principal Greg Wagener.

The most important thing the school staff is encouraging students to do is to keep the lines of communication open with both staff as well as their parents.

“There is never a time where students can over-communicate,” said Wagener. “There are times when students have said ‘it’s probably nothing’ and it turns into something.”

Along with the staff, many students’ parents as well as adults in surrounding areas have also been concerned with such an incident happening so close to a high school.

“[Since I live in the neighborhood where this happened,] I have become much more aware of my surroundings. I plan to install security motion lights now. I also plan to raise my family awareness and try to encourage my son to communicate with me more if he sees something suspicious while walking home,” said Deanne Ward, mother of senior Courtland Ward.

Since the suspect still has not been caught, the school has taken a few extra steps to ensure safety of their students as well as surrounding neighborhoods.

“We’ve added more cars [to patrol] more frequently around the school and neighborhoods. Parents are emphasizing to their children to [stay aware] and walk in groups. Students should never be walking alone,” school resource officer Ezra White said.

Students in Parkway North have had presentations emphasizing awareness of surroundings as well as personal safety. The school hopes to learn from the situation and become a safer place.

by Katryn Dobkin