Every school year, junior Jake Mura walks through the back of PHS 180 times. That means 180 climbs up P.E. hill, 180 ascensions of the steps beside Binks Gym, 180 strolls into class. He picks up 180 sandwiches at Mulberry’s and eats his 180 lunches in the park with his friends. And at the end of each day, he walks back home the way he came.

Multiple entry and exit points at PHS have always made it easy for students like Mura to get around. Unfortunately, they also allow any unwanted visitors to move freely through the campus. PHS administrators, who have unveiled a new plan involving a fence around the high school, believe it is time that the high school implement proper safety measures, construction manager Pete Palmer said.

“After all of the recent school shootings, parents came to us and said, ‘What are you doing about it?’” Palmer said. “You want to be proactive, you don’t want to be reactive.”

The fence, which is meant to keep out such intruders, is only a small detail of the Safe Schools Plan, mandated by the California State Board of Education. It will cost about $300,000 compared to the $138 million maximum cost of the Facilities Master Plan, Palmer said. The Safe Schools Plan is a separate document from the Facilities Master Plan and will be implemented in June of 2018 at the earliest.

“Since Sandy Hook we’ve been working steadily, and now we’re at the point where we’re starting to implement the plans,” Palmer said. “It’s all very preliminary.”

The Safe Schools Plan is a holistic security plan for the high school, designed to prevent a range of catastrophes caused by earthquakes, fires and explosions, in addition to intruders. Besides the fence and the proposed security cameras at entry points, most of cost would not be money but time for drills and training. The Piedmont Police Department has already done two “active shooter” drills at Wildwood and PHS.

Facilities supervisor Irma Muñoz, who is also responsible for school safety as assistant principal, said the fence would serve other purposes: making sure students do not cut class and allowing for the school to monitor who comes in and out.

Additionally, Palmer said it would allow for PHS staff to possibly perform instant background checks on visitors, which was implemented in Head-Royce with “not a lot of money.”

The practical details of the fence have yet to be set in stone. The fence may only go across the back of the school, which faces Piedmont Park, or it may surround the entire campus. The number of entry points could vary from one to three. In fact, even the implementation of the fence itself is a matter of debate.

“If you guys don’t want a fence, and that’s the consensus, then we won’t put a fence up,” Palmer said.

Students and teachers who oppose the fence have three main complaints: it would not deter criminals, alter the unique openness of the PHS campus and send the wrong message to the community, Muñoz said.

Junior Jake Mura is among the opposition.

“It’s not like it has barbed wire over the top. It’s not going to keep anyone out who wants to get in,” Mura said. “Besides, there really isn’t a risk in the area where we are.”

Eighth grade Spanish Teacher Hannah Bjork, who is indifferent to the fence, agreed on this point, adding that the environmental situation at PHS is drastically different from that at schools like fenced-in Berkeley High, which are located in urban areas.

Bjork has a uniquely vulnerable situation: she is often alone in her classroom, which is the only one in the Morrison Gym building.

“It’s like a ghost town when I walk in there in the morning — I’m the only adult there,” Bjork said.

Despite safety concerns, she believes that the fence is “not necessarily what we need.”

‘“When you put up a fence, you’re sort of saying to people, ‘Stay out.’” Bjork said, though she acknowledges that there was a similar reaction to Havens, which is now a “beautiful site.”

Palmer wants the fence to be constructed in a similar fashion.

“I think aesthetics are very important,” Palmer said. “We did a pretty good job over at Havens to make it seem like it’s not this big, ten-foot high fence.”

At the front of the school in particular, Palmer wants to ensure that the fence is as unobtrusive as possible.

“I think there’s a way we can do it so our school doesn’t feel like a prison,” Palmer said. “We’d do it in a way that you would hardly notice that it was there”

As for the complaint of possible reduced accessibility and increased traffic, Muñoz believes that security should always be a priority.

“Convenience is no longer a luxury, and I don’t think we should be willing to take that risk,” Muñoz said.