This year, the near-daily sounding of the fire alarms has become a prevalent issue for both students and staff. When the alarms are activated, classes are immediately disrupted, alerting the entire campus to a potential fire and causing major distraction.
Special education teachers have made adjustments to help their students prepare for and cope with the pulsing lights and sounds emitted by the alarms. As some students are sensitive to certain environmental factors, the constant blaring has forced teachers to be especially attuned to potential physical reactions.
“Officially, we cover the lights because they will cause seizures,” special education teacher Isabell Delarosa said. “[It’s] happened in the past, where kids were having seizures because of the flashing lights. So we have to be mindful of that.”
Because the alarms sound so often, it has not only become an issue for student focus, but also for safety. In the event of an actual emergency, students are now more likely to disregard the threat as they are becoming more accustomed to the alarms.
“That is a concern of mine, that if there is an actual alarm and people do need to evacuate, that we won’t take it seriously,” CHS police officer Tyler Mazzocco said.
Often, the alarm will sound for minutes at a time before it is actually declared a false alarm; at that point, the office can notify the whole school. While staff members are doing their best to keep up with the frequent alarms, they often have to walk long distances to verify them
“There’s a protocol in the front office and everybody handles it, so there’s a time delay when it goes off,” Mazzocco said. “People have to go to that area to check and make sure before they can report back to the office and say ‘hey, everything’s fine.’”
The longer the alarms sound, the harder it is for students to concentrate and ignore the distraction. In some classrooms, the alarms are especially loud and can even cause physical damage to the ears of staff and students.
“The noise itself is a lot, just the decibels like I don’t even know what their regular decibel level should be,” Delarosa said. “It’s really loud [and] gets your attention. So the longer you’re exposed to it, the more damage it does.”
Some students cover the alarms with pillows or put on headphones to block out the piercing sound and flashing lights. As there isn’t much staff or students can do to ignore the alarms while they’re sounding, some teachers offer a period of time after it goes off for students to step back and refocus.
“Acknowledging that it is a frustration that we all have is helpful, and we just do the best that we can,” biology teacher Gretchen Miller said.
While the alarms have caused frequent distraction for students, they are necessary to warning staff and students of fire threats and prioritizing safety. There is currently no active solution in place for the alarms, but some students are hoping for reform due to concerns about their safety.
“I feel like…it’s dangerous because they go off and no one does anything,” senior Samantha Slavitt said. “And if there is actually a fire, [then] we’re in danger.”
