When students come to school every day we don’t have to worry about our safety due, in large part, to our school security team.. Our security team is made up of individuals who not only look out for our safety but our well-being as well. They are people who students can just talk to if they need to.
The Paint Branch security team includes Team Leader Mr. Watts, Ms. Anderson, Ms.Ashley (or Ms. Fourcade, as she’s officially listed), Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Gonzalez, and Mr Pridgeon. We spoke with some of the members of the security team to get a sense of what role security plays at Paint Branch and get to know them a little.
Ms. Ashley is originally from Rockville and attended Richard Montgomery High School. She has been here with Paint Branch for a year and a half. Prior to working at Paint Branch, she worked in property management in Bethesda and at the Alzheimer’s Association in Frederick. In addition to her work in security, she also serves as the Girls’ JV Basketball Coach here at Paint Branch.
One thing Ms. Ashley wants students to know is that they “can come to me for anything,” and that she “always tries to see the best in every student.” Regarding how students feel about security Ms. Ashley wants students to know that “sometimes Security is strong on certain kids, and I think we all have to work together to understand each other and understand what everyone wants out of their day.”
Mr. Montgomery is originally from DC and has been with MCPS Security for just over two years, but this is his first year at PB. Before working security with MCPS, Mr. Montgomery was working loss prevention in a home improvement retail store for a little more than two years. As for what role he sees security in at PB, Mr. Montgomery says that security’s role at school is “to ensure a safe environment for students, and to protect school property and equipment.” He notes that the most important aspect is the “safety of the students first.”
Like Ms. Ashley, Mr. Montgomery knows that some students are not fond of security and this affects how he approaches students. “You can’t bark at them, that’s for sure,” he says. “You don’t wanna come at them in a negative way. You wanna show them that you’re here for them and that you care about them and attempt to kill that ‘hate’.”
One of the biggest responsibilities of security – and one of the biggest challenges – is getting students where they need to be. Ms. Ashley and Mr. Montgomery both feel this challenge, with Ms. Ashley sharing that “getting the students out the hallway [is the hardest challenge], because we understand that they want to take time in the hallways. Take a lap or two, but sometimes they’ll stay out for thirty minutes–which is crazy.”
Working security here at Paint Branch for the past few months has been a laborious time, with several altercations between students, incidents in the community, and an overall feeling of disturbance. Mr. Montgomery shares how these incidents and disturbances add to the difficulty of the job saying. “The incidents that happen as far as fights, and any of that stuff, adds on because now it causes us to step up and do our jobs even more.”
