Community members and school officials collaborate on school safety

Over 30 parents, school administrators and community members gathered in the state of the art cafeteria at Philips Simmons High School (PSHS) last Monday evening to talk about a weighty subject. As images of the smiling faces of students of the month, a group photo of coaches with the caption “Iron Horse Coaches Rock,” and other important and typical high school announcements scrolled across the many TV monitors hung throughout the room, parents and administrators tossed around words and phrases like “Parkland,” “Sandy Hook,” “active shooter,” and “Columbine.” They discussed whether they should teach their children and students to hide, run, or actively defend themselves against gun-wielding intruders at their school.

In what may have seemed like a surreal experience to many only a short time ago, the group played out a scenario that is happening frequently across the Berkeley County School District (BCSD), as well as in school settings around the state and the nation. Communities are coming together to discuss how to deal with safety and security in schools.

The meeting at PSHS was billed as a “Community Conversation on Safety & Security.” This meeting and others like it across the district were originally scheduled to discuss “21st Century Learning,” but the conversation changed in the wake of the Parkland shootings, explained BCSD Superintendent Eddie Ingram.

Ingram and BCSD Safety and Security Officer Tim Knight explained the district’s security measures, but also stressed several times throughout the meeting that they don’t reveal all that they do, so that the “bad guys” don’t know all of their plans.

Knight, who has children of his own in Berkeley County schools, explained that the district does extensive proactive Student Resource Officer (SRO) training, including active shooter and mass casualty training that is a multi-agency collaboration with first responders, and additional security training for teachers and administrators. They also train for natural disasters like tornadoes and earthquakes. The district recently purchased mass casualty kits and provided training for their use by SROs, he said.

Ongoing security initiatives include setting up anonymous reporting, technology and incident reporting procedures, a “clear bag/no bag” protocol at athletic events, and improving physical security, Knight said.

“I wish I could make a 100 percent guarantee, but I can’t,” added Ingram, in regards to a shooting happening at a BCSD school.

Ingram stressed the importance of community involvement and collaboration with the district, “craving intellectual talent” from the community, in helping to prevent an incident and injuries at BCSD schools.

The attendees broke out into groups of five or six to brainstorm ideas on how to make schools and students safer and then shared their ideas with the larger group.

Berkeley County middle school parent Heather Crites floated the idea of PODS in the classroom - a disaster proof, bullet proof, and ventilated space that can be used as a learning center and a quiet room when not being used as a secure, safety room. Crites explained she saw another district in another state put forth the idea on social media.

Another less costly suggestion shared by new Berkeley County resident Jean Atkinson was to tap into volunteers from the community who have military and police backgrounds to assist SROs as well as contractors to help with fencing and other needs.

Atkinson’s suggestion was repeated by many in attendance, as was increased mental health counseling and mental health training for teachers and counselors to help identify troubled students, including bullying. Other group suggestions included learning safety protocols from large local churches, installing blinds on windows, installation of panic buttons, cameras on buses, student lanyard IDs, increased parking lot security, metal detectors, more fundraising in the community to offset the cost of safety measures, and training students on how to react to dangers.

Berkeley County School Board member and Daniel Island resident Mac McQuillin, who participated in the roundtable discussions with his wife, Kim, said, “My number one priority is student achievement. But if kids aren’t safe, they can’t achieve.”

That’s why, he said, that his top budget priority for the year is to fund SROs in all schools. Currently, he said, SROs are only in middle and high schools. He would like to budget for all schools, including elementary. He explained that the state is also considering legislation to require it, but he is pushing to include the additional SRO funding in the upcoming budget because it might come down as an unfunded mandate.

“We might as well go ahead and budget it and plan for it,” he said.

Ingram explained that the additional cost to add SROs to elementary schools would be an additional $1million to the district in salary and benefits.

After the meeting, parent Brett Davis said he heard a lot of good ideas and learned a lot about what BCSD is doing. He thought the best idea was, “Get more volunteers. It’s low cost. They are vested in the community and you get more support.”

Kevin Shaw, a parent with two students in the district, expressed the bottom line: “When your kids leave home (in the morning), you want your kids to come back the way they left.”