Editor's desk:Here's how we decided on our school security check

When news broke in Pennsylvania that yet another deranged person had entered a school to take the lives of innocent students, parents wondered about the security of their children in Anne Arundel County schools.

We wondered, too, and our news instinct prompted us to try to find an answer. Could someone walk unchallenged into county schools?

On Oct. 12, a dozen reporters fanned out into the community shortly after school opened. That morning they checked the security at 56 county elementary, middle and high schools.

The reporters simply walked past warning signs asking visitors to sign in. Some were stopped by observant...