By Noora Hosseinzadeh and Olivia Stubbs

Staff Writer and Design Editor

On December 10, 2024, R.J. Reynolds High School students, staff, and families feared the worst when they heard that a student had been shot on campus. The looming threat of school gun violence had once again reared its ugly head.

    The Winston-Salem community reeled at the news of this incident. Many expressed worries about school safety and frustrations with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS) and RJR.

    “I’m disappointed that we can’t go to school, that a child can’t go to school without being shot,” Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. said in an article for WXII. “We’re better than that as a community. We’re way better than that.”

    While incidents like these are not unique to RJR, the school is uniquely vulnerable because of its open campus layout and many access points. According to WS/FCS Superintendent Tricia McManus, this makes security a “huge challenge.”

    To understand RJR’s security woes, it’s essential to recognize the school’s history. When Katharine Reynolds—the wife of tobacco baron Richard Joshua Reynolds—first envisioned the high school, she saw its campus as essential to furthering her educational mission. She planned multiple large buildings and vast common areas, hoping to foster collective learning among students. A similar sentiment was behind the decision for RJR to neighbor Hanes Park. 

    The untimely death of Katharine Reynolds prevented the construction of the school’s final building, leaving the campus even more accessible than originally planned. While her vision of an open campus may have been unique and practical more than a century ago, its modern implications are quite different. 

    “When the school was designed, it was decided that we were going to put a school and a public park together,” McManus said. “That sounded like a beautiful thing when it was established. It becomes more difficult as we move on and deal with modern access to weapons.”

    Since RJR was founded more than 100 years ago, school violence has become increasingly prevalent around the country, especially in WS/FCS schools. To combat this, the district implemented metal detectors at the entrances of middle and high schools. 

    However, unlike other WS/FCS schools, RJR has five buildings that conduct classes with 38 accessible sets of exterior doors. The gym is a trek under Northwest Boulevard, the arts have dedicated facilities, and RJR’s campus opens directly to Hanes Park.

    Because metal detectors are so expensive, RJR only has enough to use at two locations, leaving our campus vulnerable to security threats. The screening process is laborious, disrupting the flow of students during busy arrival times. According to policy, screenings must occur six times per quarter, but they have been even less frequent. The few times metal detectors are used, many students circumvent them through secondary entrances.

    “The metal detectors aren’t strictly enforced,” an RJR senior, who chooses to stay anonymous, said. “My only class is in the Auditorium, so I walk from the parking lot to class without going through them.”

    While the current metal detector policy may work for most other WS/FCS schools, it does not work for RJR. Our distinctive campus necessitates an individualized security plan, some elements of which are already in development.

    “We want to think of more ways to limit access to campus because we do have so many access points,” RJR Principal Calvin Freeman said in a YouTube interview with RJR Alumni President Harry Corpening.

    One way the school could minimize access points is by designating auxiliary entrances as fire exits. While these doors are already locked to those outside, this would prevent students from propping them open and potentially allowing a dangerous individual to enter. Using clear signage and alarm systems on these doors, RJR could redirect students to the main entrance, where metal detectors would screen them. With this solution, these doors will still be available in emergencies; however, they will not operate as main entrances. 

    Another line of security is the metal detectors themselves. WS/FCS leaders have started to address this issue by looking into a new system known as OpenGate. Some perks of this system include a lighter build for easier transportation and more advanced detection. 

    “The OpenGate system is used at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum for all of their events, and that is how we heard of it,” McManus said. “We couldn’t initially afford to launch the system in all of our schools, so we’ve been moving it from school to school to practice using it in different settings.”

    Even though this technology is promising, it is still insufficient to address RJR’s security dilemma. The OpenGate systems are too expensive to rely on to cover all of the school’s entrances. Instead, this new technology should be utilized in conjunction with other security measures. 

    “A campus is not 100% safe just because it has weapon detection,” McManus said. “It is a series of many strategies and many interventions and resources.” 

    For this reason, RJR and WS/FCS must take a multifaceted approach to securing RJR’s open campus. With the modern rise in technology, ensuring school safety doesn’t have to stop at just metal detectors. WS/FCS has implemented the Say Something app to allow students to share concerns with trusted individuals on campus.

    “People can report the things they hear about, such as weapons and bullying, and every single thing that goes through the app gets investigated,” Mcmanus said. “Honestly, probably 90% of the prevented violence on campus has been reported through Say Something.”

    To maximize the efficacy of Say Something, the school and district should do more to advertise it as a resource. For example, new Say Something posters around the school, morning announcements, and classroom reminders could all increase the probability that it is used to report possible violence.  

    For RJR to be the place where everyone wants to be, collaboration is imperative. Ensuring safety at RJR requires a comprehensive approach to the school’s unique layout and challenges. From apps to locking doors, the efficacy of RJR’s safety plan is dependent on proper implementation and cooperation from students and staff. By combining advanced safety tools and community involvement, RJR can maintain its historic open-campus culture while ensuring the protection of everyone on campus.