As part of its Safe Schools Initiative, Shelby County Schools will be adding new safety measures in the upcoming school year. With the help of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the school system has reviewed vulnerable areas in each school and come up with ideas to improve safety.
Dr. Lewis Brooks, the Shelby County Schools assistant superintendent of administration and pupil services, said each school will have a new “safety entrance,” which keeps visitors locked out of the building until they have given a reason for their visit and have been buzzed through by a school administrator. The new entrances will also feature an extra security camera that will be installed.
The Safe Schools Initiative has been in place for about a year and has brought together city officials, local law enforcement and school administrators to improve school security. As part of the initiative, Shelby County Schools has already increased law enforcement presence, assessed school safety plans and added new safety drills and training. The most recent training was on June 30, when the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office gave a presentation on safety trends and the Department of Homeland Security’s “Run, Hide, Fight” crisis response system.
Each school also has a safety team made of teachers, administrators, school resource officers and parents. The teams meet to discuss safety trends, concerns in each community and current safety plans.
“There’s no perfect plan,” Brooks said. “You have to constantly reassess and evaluate.”
Brooks described the new entrances as “the last piece to that puzzle” for the initiative, but said that safety plans will continue to change as the school system learns more.
The sheriff’s office is also planning new training for its officers. Operations Sergeant Clay Hammac said every deputy, including those patrolling Shelby County schools, will go through Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) and be certified in the course by the time the school year begins. The FBI considers ALERRT to be the standard in first responder and active shooter training.
On July 23, the sheriff’s office also hosted speaker Phil Chalmers to talk to school administrators, board members, county commissioners and school resource officers. Chalmers has spent several years researching and writing about school shootings and teen homicides. His presentation, called “Why Teens Kill,” discussed the psychology and warning signs of teens who attempt to commit murder.
Hammac emphasized that it is the “good partnership” between the sheriff’s office and the school system that makes it possible to keep students safe.
“We have a great working relationship and that’s something we look forward to continuing,” Hammac said.
