On September 24, 2024, District 113’s Board of Education appointed Mr. Lane Linder as the new Director of Security at DHS and HPHS. Deerprints got the opportunity to interview Mr. Linder to get insight on what really goes on behind the scenes with our security measures.
As students at Deerfield High School, we all deserve to feel safe and secure coming to our place of education. Keeping all students safe is District 113’s number one priority and with that, updates to security members and systems are incredibly important. When taking into account the recent events that have occurred around Deerfield, students, not only here, but in schools all over America, have the right to feel confident that their administration is making sure the schools are safe and secure.
Mr. Linder has spent his career in this profession in several different environments including places of education. As some may already know, Mr. Linder is a retired police officer of many years and the former director of security and operations of six years in District 115. On top of this, he graduated from college with a degree in hostage management and went on to be a member of the emergency response team and a hostage negotiator at Northwestern University. His other areas of work include ten years as a school resource officer in both a high school and a middle school.
Coming into our district, Mr. Linder commented that our security program is incredibly innovative and cutting-edge, noting that his position seeks to enhance what we already have in place. Much of the work that has been put into the school’s safety systems is behind the scenes, which most students don’t necessarily see but experience daily.
What can we expect from Mr. Linder going forward? Primarily, students should expect to see K9 units present after the start of the new year as well as many experiences that remain behind the scenes. This includes: upgrading the security command center to improve emergency response protocols to operate seamlessly across all departments, thoroughly training security staff, and visitor screening process, improving the PA systems to communicate effectively during an emergency, as well as more measures that will be put in place as the school year continues.
Although our security team works immensely hard for our student population in District 113, students and staff also need to understand their shared responsibilities in school security. As Mr. Linder said, “I think that students have to understand and recognize that they are stakeholders in school safety and security,and what I mean by stakeholder is not only are they the purpose of a lot of what we do but they have a role and a shared responsibility. Staff are the facilitators to the procedures such as response drills and are key because they are the ones interacting with students during schools.” Whether it’s following procedures put in place or reporting suspicious behavior to avoid the escalation of situations, we all have a role to play.
In conclusion, Mr. Linder shared his message: “We are all here to serve and that is my message to not only the teams but also my message to our students, their families, and our staff. I’m here to serve and I think that a lost component in school safety and security is customer service, while we do all of these measures to keep the school safe our students safe and our staff safe, we still have to make sure our schools are safe and welcoming environments for everybody and we are trying to find that balance where everybody feels safe.”
Mr. Linder is a highly qualified addition to our district and our students, staff, administration, families, and guests are in wonderful hands in regard to safety and security going forward.
