By Rachel McDaniel
In the aftermath of the tragic shootings in Newtown, Conn., parents across the country have worried more about dropping their children off at school. Local school administrators and staff have taken additional security measures since they heard of the attack.
Schools look to tighten security
“Within minutes of being notified of the tragedy in Connecticut we had additional security presence on the campuses that extend through Christmas break,” said superintendent Dr. Michael Duncan. “Fortunately, we have a great relationship with the sheriff and he provided the officers to keep our schools secure. We encourage faculty and staff to keep doors closed and locked during the instructional day. We are all working together to keep our kids safe.”
Dr. Duncan said board of education members will be presented with costs for security upgrades at future meetings.
“We’re going to take some very specific proposals to the board to increase security at our schools. We’ll look at increasing security personnel and increasing our maintenance to ensure we can secure our buildings,” he said. “in light of the situation in Connecticut and the renovations projects we’re slated to accomplish with ESPLOST funds, we’re taking a more measured look at adding more safety features to our schools such as access control points.”
Visitors to the school would have to be buzzed into the building if access control points are installed. The board will look at the feasibility of such measures at future meetings. The school where the shootings occurred had access control point security measures in place.
“There are additional security measures we’d like to take if we could secure the funds to do it. There are things that are important to us and we’ll present a proposal for the next year’s budget and from E-SPLOST expenditures to provide for modifications to exterior and interior doors and to increase and modernize video surveillance equipment,” said Dr. Duncan. “ While there are increased needs for security personnel, it’s important that we make sure our schools continue to be places of learning and don’t become prisons for our children.”
“There’s a delicate balance we have to achieve to make sure we have a learning environment that’s positive for the kids while keeping them safe,” said Dr. Duncan.
The school system has resource officers on campus during each school day. The officer’s salary is paid by the school board but the sheriff’s office bears the expense of training and equipping the officers.
“This has genuinely affected families throughout the nation,” said Sheriff Jimmy Thomas. “Over the years, we have had many discussions with the superintendent and his staff on ways we can improve our operations. We’ve increased the visibility of patrols at the school system and coordinated with Dr. Duncan and his staff.”
The sheriff’s office, Pike County Emergency Services and GEMA held a training session about a year ago to practice responding to a situation similar to what occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary.
“We had great success with that training session,” said Thomas. “Our SWAT team, which is made up of volunteer members of the department, trains twice a month. It was a very unfortunate situation [in Connecticut] and I think while we have always trained for predicaments in this area, this has certainly intensified our awareness.”
The SWAT team trains at no cost to the county, unless it is activated.
School board members may look at increasing the number of resource officers and adding outside security officers.
“We have safety plans approved by GEMA and we work closely with emergency responders and the sheriff’s office,” said Dr. Duncan. “It’s not always about the response, it’s also about prevention. We plan to develop specific proposals to elevate our prevention measures.”
Dr. Duncan said board of education members will be presented with costs for security upgrades at future meetings.
“We’re going to take some very specific proposals to the board to increase security at our schools. We’ll look at increasing security personnel and increasing our maintenance to ensure we can secure our buildings,” he said. “in light of the situation in Connecticut and the renovations projects we’re slated to accomplish with ESPLOST funds, we’re taking a more measured look at adding more safety features to our schools such as access control points.”
Visitors to the school would have to be buzzed into the building if access control points are installed. The board will look at the feasibility of such measures at future meetings. The school where the shootings occurred had access control point security measures in place.
“There are additional security measures we’d like to take if we could secure the funds to do it. There are things that are important to us and we’ll present a proposal for the next year’s budget and from E-SPLOST expenditures to provide for modifications to exterior and interior doors and to increase and modernize video surveillance equipment,” said Dr. Duncan. “ While there are increased needs for security personnel, it’s important that we make sure our schools continue to be places of learning and don’t become prisons for our children.”
“There’s a delicate balance we have to achieve to make sure we have a learning environment that’s positive for the kids while keeping them safe,” said Dr. Duncan.
The school system has resource officers on campus during each school day. The officer’s salary is paid by the school board but the sheriff’s office bears the expense of training and equipping the officers.
“This has genuinely affected families throughout the nation,” said Sheriff Jimmy Thomas. “Over the years, we have had many discussions with the superintendent and his staff on ways we can improve our operations. We’ve increased the visibility of patrols at the school system and coordinated with Dr. Duncan and his staff.”
The sheriff’s office, Pike County Emergency Services and GEMA held a training session about a year ago to practice responding to a situation similar to what occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary.
“We had great success with that training session,” said Thomas. “Our SWAT team, which is made up of volunteer members of the department, trains twice a month. It was a very unfortunate situation [in Connecticut] and I think while we have always trained for predicaments in this area, this has certainly intensified our awareness.”
The SWAT team trains at no cost to the county, unless it is activated.
School board members may look at increasing the number of resource officers and adding outside security officers.
“We have safety plans approved by GEMA and we work closely with emergency responders and the sheriff’s office,” said Dr. Duncan. “It’s not always about the response, it’s also about prevention. We plan to develop specific proposals to elevate our prevention measures.”
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