East High to lock doors; police identify man sought in battery case

Wichita school district officials said Tuesday they plan to implement tougher security measures at East High, near Douglas and Grove, one of the city’s most open and expansive campuses.

The announcement came the same day Wichita police identified a person of interest in the sexual battery of an East High student last week.

Authorities are looking for Guy D. Harris, 28, in connection with the incident inside a girls’ restroom while classes were in session on Sept. 9, Lt. James Espinoza said. He said police need to question Harris, who has two felony warrants and a misdemeanor warrant.

In a message to East High families Tuesday afternoon, principal Ken Thiessen said beginning Monday, all exterior doors would be locked during the school day except for one – Door No. 4 – on the south side of the school near the gymnasium.

Parents and visitors will begin entering that door, rather than the school’s current entrance facing Grove, to check in with the Hall Pass system and receive a visitor’s badge, Thiessen said.

Officials chose Door No. 4 as the new entrance so East students can continue moving quickly between the main school building and Building B, which sits just south of the school and contains some social studies classrooms.

School officials also will move the attendance office to the current activities office, near the new entrance, to make it more convenient for students who arrive late or need to leave early.

Visitor parking spots on the east side of the building will be moved to the south side, officials said.

“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority here at East,” Thiessen said in the message.

East High is the district’s oldest and largest high school, serving about 2,300 students on a sprawling campus that includes a large main building with more than 30 doors and parking on all sides.

Under the current system, several of the doors are unlocked during the day so students and employees can move freely around campus. The multiple entrances also allow students arriving late in the morning or after lunch to enter the school close to where they park.

East’s main office, where visitors are required to check in as part of a new Hall Pass security system, is in the middle of the second floor. Various staff members monitor open doors and direct visitors toward the office.

Each of the district’s seven comprehensive high schools has one school resource officer – a Wichita police officer who works full-time at the school – as well as additional security guards. At Northeast Magnet High School, a Bel Aire police officer serves as the school resource officer.

In the incident Sept. 9, an 18-year-old student told school staff that the stranger approached her in the school at about 10:50 a.m. and asked her where the gym was, police said last week. He then followed her into the bathroom and sexually battered her as she attempted to return to the hall.

She immediately reported the incident to school staff, who contacted East’s school resource officer. The stranger had left the building by then, however.

Outstanding warrants

Court records show Harris’ criminal history stretches back to 1998 and includes felony and misdemeanor drug convictions, as well as juvenile convictions for aggravated robbery, theft, battery, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass, vehicle burglary and drug possession with the intent to sell.

His felony warrants include an arrest warrant issued in connection with a criminal possession of a firearm case from March, and a warrant for a probation violation in a 2014 felony marijuana possession case.

The misdemeanor warrant was issued by a Wichita municipal court judge after Harris didn’t show up to a scheduled court hearing in a traffic and marijuana possession case on March 19.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911, the investigations section at 316-268-4646 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker of The Eagle

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 11:44 AM with the headline "East High to lock doors; police identify man sought in battery case."