CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) held a School Safety and Security Public Forum Monday which drew around 150 people to hear school and law enforcement officials discuss school safety.
Director of Schools Millard House II, Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson, Clarksville Police Chief Al Ansley along with school system Health and Safety Director Tommy Butler and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Sean Impeartrice answered questions from the public.
Most of the questions included safety and security of the school buildings and classrooms, the addition of more School Resource Officers (SROs) and teachers being allowed to carry weapons. Officials did state that for security concerns some information could not be made public.
House explained how school, law enforcement and emergency personnel communicate on a regular basis to discuss safety and security issues. He said each school is required to conduct intruder and active shooter drills.
House also talked about how every school visitor is instantly checked through nationwide databases, which warns of sex offenders and screens for custody alerts and banned visitors. Schools also have updated video security systems with more cameras being added in the coming school year.
Sheriff Fuson talked about the SROs, saying at this time there is an MCSO Deputy in each high school and middle school and one for every two elementary schools in the county. Fuson added that his goal is to eventually have an SRO in every school.
Chief Ansley told those gathered that he had a great deal of confidence in the officers of the Clarksville Police Department when it comes to how they train and how they would react to a school incident, emphasizing they take the safety of the children very seriously.
When it came to arming teachers while at school, both Fuson and Ansley were not in favor of teachers having weapons. Ansley said a teacher could be mistaken as a shooter and Fuson said teachers have enough to do without having to worry about having a weapon.
A national walkout is planned for Wednesday at 10 a.m. to protest school shootings. House said that no student in the school system would be allowed to participate in the event without permission from their parents.
For those who could not attend Monday’s meeting a video of the forum is scheduled to be available on the CMCSS YouTube channel and Facebook page on Tuesday.
