WADESBORO — The July 31 Anson County Board of Education meeting kicked off with fiery words regarding student safety.
“I want to say on behalf of the board, and primarily myself, we are concerned with the recent violence we’ve seen in our community….[and] actions we’ve seen with the young people,” said chairman Dr. George Truman. “I want to make sure everyone understands that we are going to take every precaution
“Weapons in our school system is something we won’t have,” Dr. Truman later continued. “We are not going to tolerate any violence or weapons in our school system.”
District Safety Director Corey Ross discussed with the board how a safety grant from last year is being put to use. Ross began by stating that additional SROs hired last year will continue to assist Morven, Lilesville, Ansonville, Peachland, and Polkton schools. There are part-time SROs at all schools in Anson County.
“Curriculum is the top priority for our district,” said Superintendent Howard McLean. “But also, we have to put safety up their as a number one top priority for our kids because if parents [don’t] have peace of mind that their kids are safe, the curriculum does not make a difference.”
There will be vape detectors and metal detectors at all secondary (middle and high) schools this year. Vape detectors will be located in the restrooms and will be connected via app to the principal’s phone. If the device detects vaping or loud noises in the restroom facility that particular restroom will begin alarming on the principal’s phone. In real time, they will be able to access the camera feed located outside of the restroom where the incident is occurring. Principals will see who is entering and exiting the restroom as the movements occur.
In regards to the metal detectors, Ross cautions, “One thing we are going to have to train the kids on when they go through initially, is to put the laptop on the table before they go through (the metal detector) because that will set off the alarm.”
The metal detectors will be arriving in multiple waves to the schools. “We have a wave of four coming any day now and another wave of four, we bought eight total for the district, they will probably come middle of September,” Ross informed the board.
Ross also outlined the procedure for if an alarm sounds; “Wanding (hand held detectors) would be the next step,” with a “pat down” of the student to follow. Ross adds there is written procedure in place allowing for the principal to begin a dialogue with the student prior to events culminating in a “pat down.” An example of such dialogue would be the principal asking the student to voluntarily reveal the item causing the alarm to sound.
Director Ross admits that there is no perfect plan, however Anson County’s was formulated by a blueprint provided by Hickory City Schools who already have some of these procedures in place.
County School District’s safety plan has been tailored to fit Anson County needs, according to Ross. “It’s not something we are flying into blind,” Ross assured district parents and students.
The Anson County School Board acknowledged that education was a top concern for parents while recognizing that student safety concerns are a priority of all district families. Truman also advised McLean to see if administrators are aware of the legal implications of a search.
To conclude the conversation, Dr. Truman echoed comments he heard made by Anson High principal Chris Stinson regarding student behavior at graduation.
“For all our administrators, let it be known to our young people early on and often, we will not tolerate weapons,” Truman said. “We will not tolerate violence at schools.”
Ross said their safety policies will be tweaked throughout the schoolyear as needed, and that signage will be posted around the necessary areas. “We don’t want to hide anything, we just want to make sure that we’re communicating in all the ways we can,” Ross added.
“It’s exciting that we’re moving forward to keep our schools safer,” Ross said. “I think it’s a good investment for our community and our schools. We’re going to have to go through training between our staff, administrations and SROs. We have a steep hill to climb to get these fully them operational and running before the school year, but we’re excited as we move forward.”
