The new fire doors are working well, according to
Frank DiChiappari, District Administrator for Student Services. He has
not been otherwise notified to the contrary.

"Right now, we
really don't know exactly what happened. So for me to say that it's not
going to happen, I can't say that," said DiChiappari. "The children are
non-verbal, so they couldn't explain what happened. We basically
guessed how they left the building."

Allegedly, after having
left the after school program, which is held on the first floor of the
school, the children used a side door down the corridor from their
classroom "and up the stairs, to exit the building," according to
DiChiappari. "We just assumed that that's the door that they used," he
said.

Each year, the total enrollment of the after school
program depends on the number of participating students. However, the
classroom in which the two non-verbal children were placed during the
program was a General Education Classroom with eight other children,
all of whom are typically-developing.

Following the incident,
the program director and the school principal held a meeting with staff
regarding safety procedures, according to DiChiappari. After having met
with staff, proper safety and classroom procedures were reiterated with
students.

Currently, additional preventative measures, aside
from the fire doors, are being taken to ensure the prevention of
another similar occurrence.

How will the school attempt to
prevent a similar problem from re-occurring? "What we try to do is make
sure that the doors are closed at all times," said DiChiappari.
However, "It is a public building. People do ring the bell or knock to
try to get in because there are activities."

"After this
happened, the question was, 'How can we make sure all exits are
secured?' I know that the after school staff talked about putting large
red stop signs on all of the doors in the after school rooms," said
DiChiappari. "The importance of [student's] staying with the staff, at
all times, will be stressed."

In addition, student's files were
scrutinized "to see if there were any children that have any special
needs that would require special monitoring," said DiChiappari.
Further, each student's emergency contact information has been reviewed.

Before
the episode, precautionary measures were already in place, and the
installation of the fire doors had already been planned, according to
DiChiappari. "It's a constant training, staffing, concentrating on all
the students to make sure that students are safe in the classrooms," he
said.

The school installed the doors "because we're required
to by the fire department, by state law," said DiChiappari. For two
years, the WSCS delayed installing the doors, although, "the school
department has no control over the physical plant – that comes under
the supervision of the Department of Public Works."