Williamson County Schools officials called off school on Monday in order to work with school staff to review and improve school safety following numerous school shootings across the United States.
"I can't think of anything more important than making sure that the basic needs of our students are met, which is safety," Dr. Mike Looney, superintendent of Williamson County Schools, said.
Following the review of safety protocol in schools, the district immediately enacted some new security measures, including requiring all visitors to enter through the main entrance, present a photo ID, and check-in. School district officials and staff now must wear their badges at all times, and the SROs at the schools will be more visible on school campuses than ever before.
"We’re in an unusual time where our students are anxious, our faculty member are anxious about the events that have unfolded in recent days and months as it relates to school violence, so we want to make sure we’re as prepared as possible," Looney explained, adding, "We want to make sure that we are taking proactive measures to identify students that are in trouble that are considering harming themselves or others and making sure that we get them some support and some interventions in place before we get to that point.”
The school district plans to meet with parents on March 6th to discuss the security changes, and to introduce further security changes that are aimed at keeping the children and staff safe.
Looney said there will be more security protocols that are reviewed, and they even plan on updating current schools to improve safety, as well as keeping in mind safety when planning future schools.
“Long-term, we’re going to be rethinking how we build buildings and we’re going to start thinking about how we can modify existing buildings to make them as safe as possible," Looney said.
