The foyer at the front of the school has served as an historic point of entry for students of many generations. Every day students have walked in through the foyer, bearing witness to the history at East. However, that may come to an end at the start of the 2025/26 school year.
Following the shootings that took place in early 2023, it became clear that new safety measures were necessary. Within a little over a month, the students of East High school saw their classmate, as well as Deans involved in two horrible acts of gun violence. Nevertheless, the DPS board is willing to sell us short of actual safety measures. They plan to install a vestibule in the front hall of East High School, hoping that by pouring nearly $800,000 into a project, the students will experience an illusion of safety.
The board is currently planning to install a vestibule, another layer of doors, in the foyer behind the incredible historic front entrance. A security desk would be added in the middle with the hopes of creating a protective barrier against threats that may try to enter the school. However, the vestibule has raised many concerns about the legitimacy of its ability to enhance student safety and the consequences the building may suffer as a result of the project.
“The proposed vestibule of plex-glass will forever change the look and feel of East while also impacting the historic architecture that is found at no other school in the city or state.” Said the East High School Alumni/History Committee in an email written to school board directors Olson and Youngquist. “As East Alumni, we are concerned for the safety of students, teachers and staff but we do not believe this plexiglass vestibule makes East any safer based on what we now know.”
One of the main concerns raised by the vestibule has been how the buffer zone would actually keep students safe. One of the main flaws in the design is the complete lack of regard for other entrances into the building. Between 600-700 students enter from the doors on Detroit street, which are not included in the new safety plans. (East High School Alumni/History Committee)
The vestibule would also provide no real means of preventing threats from entering the building from the main entrance. The added layer of doors would only give administration mere seconds to identify threats by looks only. This provides no new way of preventing weapons from entering the school as they could easily slip right under the plexi glass, tucked away in someone's backpack.
There are 12 unmonitored doors that could be opened, and 160 windows 5 feet from the ground that could easily be used to enter the building. A vestibule would have no effect on any of these other entrances that a possible threat could be able to use to enter the building. The vestibule would simply be an $800,000 project that poses as protection when in reality it would only be a waste of taxpayers money.
Along with its inability to increase student safety, the vestibule would ruin the look and feel of East High School. The building is set to celebrate its 100th birthday in the fall of 2025, yet the celebrations would not be the same without the historic foyer. The front hall is where students consistently come together to socialize, hold small events, and enjoy themselves. The installation of a vestibule would ruin the look and feel of a place students hold so close to themselves.
While the plan to throw away $800,000 is well underway with architectural plans being formed, the East community has had no say in what happens to the storied building. The only meeting was held at Swansea Elementary School and did not include any East community or staff members. The district has made no communication to the public about the plans, and East administration has not been able to voice their opinions or concerns to the board. Our building's future is no longer in student and parent control with the school board working behind the communities back to ruin the foyer.
So what is the actual point of the vestibule if it can’t prevent threats from entering the building? As the Director of Student Activities, Tee MacDonald, explained “Someone described it to me best as this isn’t the solution, it's an illusion, an illusion of safety that is not going to prevent weapons from coming in the school, it's simply a way for the district to cover themselves.”
The school board is searching for a means to cover themselves would come as no surprise. As recently as December, U.S. District Judge John Kane advanced the Kurt Dennis lawsuit against the district “after he was fired following a March 2023 interview with 9News in which he raised concerns about DPS’s approach to school safety.” (The Colorado Sun)
The vestibule would simply hinder the East community, more than it would help. It would tear years of history from within these storied walls, while providing no real protection to the students inside. It is also unclear why this is an appropriate response, considering the vestibule would not have prevented either of the shootings that occurred in the spring of 2023.
(All information is from Tee MacDonald, East High Student Council, The East High School Alumni/History Committee, and The Colorado Sun)
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