Schools

Cherokee Schools Safety Committee To Assess Campus Security

The Ad Hoc Safety and Security Committee will perform safety and security assessments of all district campuses over the next month.

The newly formed Ad Hoc Safety and Security Committee will take the next step in its task to help the district protect its students, faculty and staff.

The committee will do safety and security checks of all district campuses over the next month, school district staff informed the Cherokee County School Board during Thursday's work session. 

After the assessments are completed, the committee will meet to review the findings and possibly issue recommendations to the district. 

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The committee met on Tuesday of this week and reviewed documents, key events and safety measures the school district has implemented since 1998, said District Spokesperson Barbara Jacoby. A review of what the committee went over during the meeting is attached in the .PDF document. 

The school board will also be given the chance to nominate individuals to serve on the committee in the near future.

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At its next meeting, Jacoby said the committee will also review President Barack Obama's executive actions on gun restrictions, which also included providing school officials with training for "active shooter situations," incentives to hire school resource officers and developing a model emergency response plan for schools. 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo established the committee earlier this month, which is made up of higher-level school district staff, representatives of the Cherokee Sheriff's Office and local police departments and various members of the community.

Petruzielo told the school board he was "thrilled" that Sheriff Roger Garrison and the local police chiefs decided to serve on the committee. 

“I think once you read materials that we’ve shared and has been shared, you’ll see that this is not an area that’s been ignored for Cherokee County over the last 14 years," he added. 

The superintendent also informed the board that Kenneth S. Trump, a school safety expert based out of Ohio, "concluded we were already a model for Georgia" and possibly the country. 

The district's School Police Department is also working with the sheriff's office and police departments to provide enhanced visibility and security on its school campuses.

The sheriff's office informed residents that will continue to make routine patrols on school campuses for the remainder of the year.

What improvements do you think should be made on district campuses? Tell us in the comments! 


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