Story by Miranda Carpenter, Staff writer
Safety has become a priority in the Marshall County school district administration for the 2018-19 year.
After the Jan. 23, 2018 shooting, school leaders made initial security changes that were expanded upon over summer break.
On June 4, 2018, the District Safety Committee met to make a final determination on updated school security measures. Students were able to be a part of the decision for the new security procedures as well.
“The students said, ‘We would like for you to do a book bag check, check all the backpacks that are brought into the school,’” Superintendent Trent Lovett said. “Starting on that Monday after, my staff from the central office, along with teachers and administrators from the high school, started checking every bag that was brought into the school.”
Starting this school year, students must walk through metal detectors when entering the school. They are also not allowed to carry bookbags at the high school or middle school. However, elementary students are allowed to have backpacks, but they must be clear or mesh.
“Students can bring purses and lunch boxes within a certain size, they can take the item through the metal detector with them,” Lovett said. “Athletic bags are also allowed. They can either take it through the metal detector with them, or they can take it to a station to be searched.”
If a student has something in their bag or lunch box that is metal, such as metal cleats or a soda can, the detectors will go off. Students will then be directed to a different line to have those bags checked.
More resource officers as well as cameras were implemented at the start of this school year. Marshall County High School only had one resource officer when the shooting happened. Since then, Lovett has hired four more for the county. Three of the resource officers are primarily stationed at the high school and two are stationed at the middle schools, while rotating to the various elementary schools.
The resource officers are responsible for checking all entrances and exits to ensure the building is secure and doors remain locked. Additionally, Lovett said a new buzzer system was implemented this year.
“We added more security measures on certain doors,” Lovett said. “The building was built in 1974 with 86 doors; you could go in or out all of them. We have added buzzers to certain doors, if someone lets someone in, a buzzer goes off to notify us that someone has opened the door.”
Aric Pickard, parent of a Marshall County elementary student, believes the school is taking great measures to ensure the students are safe.
“I agree that the middle and high school should implement a no-backpack policy,” Pickard said. “I do think the clear backpack for elementary is a little much, but I do see where the administration is seeking the best interest for the students.”
Another security measure the district is taking is adding more active shooter trainings to the various schools in the county.
“The high school had been through active shooter training prior to the shooting,” Lovett said. “Since then, some of our other schools have been through it, and now we have added additional schools to go through the training as well.”
Chad Alderman, 1990 graduate from Marshall County, said he thinks it’s awesome that the school has stepped up and implemented more training to ensure better safety measures are taken.
“I feel we should have plenty of funding to support more officers or individuals for our schools and buses,” Alderman said.
Gov. Matt Bevin and Secretary of Education Betsy Devos announced a grant called Project School Emergency Response to Violence, according to the Marshall County Board of Education website.
Project SERV provides support for the district after experiencing a traumatic event in which the learning environment is disrupted. The funds will be used for certain activities to restore a sense of safety and security within the school and help students go back to a normal school day.
Marshall County School district was awarded $138,213 to help implement Project SERV, according to the Marshall County Board of Education website.
The program funds short-term and long-term education-related services for local schools to ensure students feel safe in their learning environment.
The school has more than 1,300 students who have endured a tragedy. Through it all, the community has banded together.
“We have each other’s back, as you could say,” Lovett said. “It’s a great place to live, it’s the surrounding counties as well that have been great in their outreach to us and the support they have shown.”