School System Updates Parents On Safety

The Putnam County Schools Administration updated parents and citizens on its efforts to protect children during a town hall forum Monday.

Some 100 people attended the forum at Upperman Middle School. Director Of Schools Jerry Boyd said the system continues to look for ways to improve safety including single-entrance schools and re-enforced doors.

“We have to set a goal and if that is a goal we have then we certainly will work towards that,” Boyd said. “It would just be a community effort. But if we all agree that’s what needs to happen, I have great confidence that that’s what will happen.”

Attendance Supervisor Corby King said every school within the county has a Special Emergency Response (SERT) team that focuses on procedures.

“These are folks that look at the school plans and the safety plans at the school,” King said. “Every month they meet and look at the plans. They take recommendations from the SERT advisory team. They plan and coordinate drills and we do that on a regular basis with that group of folks.”

In addition, Putnam County’s Local Emergency Planning Committee facilitates disaster and safety planning in the schools as well as the community as a whole. King said the teams all coordinate with each other.

Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said nine of the 19 schools have school resource officers on campus.

“So the goal is to get a SRO in every school, and that’s what we are shooting for,” Farris said. “We hope we accomplish that this year, I guess the commission will determine that.”

Farris and Boyd began discussions earlier this year about adding SROs to the county’s elementary schools. The County Commissioners would need to fund the expenditure.

Questions from parents focused on SROs, how to adapt schools to make them more secure, and potentially arming teachers.

Four more forums will be held before the school year ends.