School
School Safety: #1 Priority for CCSS Schools
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Above: Deputy Terry Carter is one of the resource officers for the Central Community School System. Carter works on the Central Middle and Central Intermediate campuses. Federal and state lawmakers are proposing offering incentives to school districts that hire more resource officers.
Submitted by Taylor Media
The Central Community School System is taking measures to beef up security efforts at each of its five schools to enhance the safety and well-being of its students and faculty, according to Superintendent Michael Faulk.
Faulk noted that investments in technology and resources to make schools more secure have been incorporated into the district’s construction and maintenance efforts for the past several years. In fact, taxes approved in 2009 to support the district included monies to address life and safety code issues at each campus. Still, with heightened concerns for school safety following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 people were killed, the Central Community School Board is revisiting the district’s crisis action plans and safety policies to seek ways to further strengthen campus safety.
“While our district is clearly about the job of teaching and instilling learning for each student, we know that teaching and learning in a safe environment is the ultimate priority,” Faulk said. “Creating safe learning environments at our schools requires a continuous investment of resources and an ever-present attitude of awareness.”
Faulk said the district’s new schools include restricted access features, giving school administrators more controlled access to those campuses. The district also partners with local law enforcement officials to provide security background checks on district employees and campus visitors. He said the district recently invested in having two full-time resource officers service the majority of the district’s schools and students.
At the same time, each school is required to maintain crisis plans and conduct frequent emergency drills for the threat of fire, storm and dangerous intruders. He said those plans are currently under review by officials who are seeking ways to improve them in light of the tragedy in Connecticut.
School Board President James Gardner said board members recently held a strategic planning session to review the district’s security measures and to ask Faulk for recommendations for improvements. The discussions were conducted in executive session to protect important security information from being released.
Faulk said he expects to present the board with his recommendations prior to the Jan. 28 meeting.
He has consulted with security experts and conducted several campus walkthroughs with them. Although he said there are many aspects of campus security that he will not publicly discuss, he did say access points at each school are being closely examined. He also noted that the school board has allotted monies to improve access controls in the district’s older buildings, and procedures regarding campus visitors are also being examined and reinforced with parents and employees.
“A crisis plan is a living, breathing plan of action that incorporates the latest information and available resources,” Faulk said. “Our school administrators and faculty understand the gravity of these plans and the need for these drills, and they are very vigilant about being prepared.”
Faulk said federal and state lawmakers have also become more active in seeking ways to make schools safer, like proposing incentives for greater investments in resource officers or security technology.
“This latest tragedy has caused school officials and leaders throughout the country to reexamine what schools are currently doing and what can be done to make them safer,” he said. “I know not all tragedies can be prevented, but our local leadership is making every effort possible to keep Central Community Schools a safe and productive place to be.”
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