CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Although national attention is again focused on school safety after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, heightened conversation about school safety has been going on for several months now at Clarksville-Montgomery County School System.
During a year already marked by school violence problems, in April a parent with a student in the district was captured on security footage assaulting the principal at Glenellen Elementary School.
At the monthly School Board meeting on April 26, Interim Director Angela Huff told board members that a meeting was in the works with local law enforcement to address the issue.
CMCSS spokesman Anthony Johnson said that meeting has taken place, with officials from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Clarksville Police Department. The meeting was focused on refining de-escalation training for employees, developing a districtwide visitor policy, and discussing other ways to prevent assaults and improve school security, he said.
“Student safety has been, is, and will always be our top priority,” Johnson said in an email to Clarksville Now.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has requested additional school resource officers (SROs), but that was not a direct response to what happened at Glenellen, according to MCSO spokesman Lt. Mark Wojnarek.
“This was already in the works before the escalating behavior based on population and the number of students,” he said.
As for the security meeting, Wojnarek said he expects to have more information about school security changes in the coming weeks.
What’s in place already
Johnson said there are about 26 school safety plans and procedures in place already at CMCSS. He also said the district has completed safety-based renovations to the front entrances of the school buildings.
“The upgraded entrances provide enhanced security to the building entrances. Grant funding from the state has also allowed us to add ballistic window film, bollards, additional exterior lighting, exterior door numbering, Knox boxes, and camera stations,” Johnson wrote. “All CMCSS classrooms doors have been retrofitted with push-button locks. This allows staff to quickly lock a classroom door in the event of an emergency situation.”
Johnson said the district staff routinely participate in safety training. Johnson said even the buses are equipped with panic buttons in the event of an emergency.
As an added layer of protection, the district is under constant surveillance. “Hundreds of surveillance cameras are strategically positioned in all school system facilities,” he said.
Ongoing school shootings
News of school violence is always difficult for educators and school officials, Johnson said.
“I was a high school student when the Columbine High School tragedy occurred; a college student during Virginia Tech; an elementary teacher when Sandy Hook Elementary happened; an administrator when our neighbors at Marshall County High School faced a tragedy, followed by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Santa Fe High School in that same semester; and now Robb Elementary,” he said.
“As you know, there have been numerous other shootings and acts of violence in schools across the nation. Our staff, faculty and administrators do not take these tragedies lightly, and every act of school violence is gut-wrenching.”