Especially with the number of recent scary fights in the Guilford County’s school system, Guilford County Commissioner Alan Perdue wanted to call attention to the need for greater school safety and honor the men and women who are helping provide it.
To that end, on Thursday, Oct.20, the board proclaimed Sunday, Oct. 16 to Saturday, Oct. 22 as America’s Safe Schools Week in Guilford County.
Commissioner Alan Perdue read a resolution expressing the importance of safety in Guilford County Schools – and the board had invited some of the officers who work in the schools keeping students and faculty safe to attend the meeting, receive the resolution and say a few words.
There have been pretty scary videos in recent years and recent weeks on local news that show some horrific fights among students – and one county official told the Rhino Times that it was his understanding a lot of the fights that happen at schools go unreported by local media.
The resolution adopted stated that “schools make substantial contributions to the future of America and to the development of our nation’s young people as knowledgeable, responsible and productive citizens” and that “excellence in education is dependent on safe, secure and peaceful school settings.”
It adds that it’s the responsibility of all county residents to enhance the learning circumstances of students by “ensuring equitable and effective classroom management, providing behavioral and mental health supportive services, offering opportunities for conflict resolution and mediation,” as well as by “building quality school facilities that promote safety and security.”
Perdue, who was the county’s Emergency Services director for years, brought the resolution to the board and read it at the October 21 meeting. He became aware that this national focus week was upcoming and he was surprised Guilford County had nothing planned. He contacted county staff and said this was a very important issue and he hoped it wasn’t too late to get it onto the agenda as an addendum. That’s why, this time, the board adopted a resolution of attention in the middle of the week being recognized rather than before it started.
The resolution calls for all law enforcement agencies at local, federal and state levels to focus public attention on school safety and “identify, develop and promote innovative answers to this critical issue.”
The Guilford County Board of Commissioners and the county’s voters have already taken steps to address the safety infrastructure needs in the county’s school system by allocating $5 million towards improvements for in-building law enforcement, fire and EMS responder communications enhancements for the schools.
Plenty more money will be spent on school safety in upcoming years as the school taps into the $2 billion in school bond money that county voters have approved in recent elections.
The county has also beefed up the Sheriff’s Department’s School Resource Officer program so that those “SRO’s can be a “stabilizing presence in our schools that helps administrators, teachers and support staff promote a safe and secure environment for our students to achieve and learn.”
Clueless. The school board is clueless. The voters are clueless. Those that somewhat know are in denial. The school admin is complicit. Electronic media producers refuse to air it. Politics and power take precedent over our children. Thanks for the article but this hardly depicts the truth
Nine worthless hypocrites kissing each other’s rumps. Add the school board to that as well. If you’ve ever wondered what the swamp looks like, here’s a good example of the term. Drain it. Write in your neighbor’s 3 legged cat, Lucky, she is probably more capable than the status quo hos we have nowadays.
“Public” (govt) schools is an example of of the things that ails this country. Couple examples would be the breakdown of American families, and, the media that glorifies crude behavior; or, name your own.
Govt schools are public baby-sitters. Many colleges and degrees are worthless. The darlings make it thru 16 or 18 years of education, and can’t balance a checkbook or think for themselves.
For the umpty-umth time, metal detectors, and armed guards at entry/exit points. That’ll pretty much fix that problem. The left won’t even try it, as this would virtually eliminate school shootings. Then they wouldn’t have much of an argument about the 2nd amendment.
Nancy Pelosi has armed protection while at work, security systems and armed guards at her residence. She also has a concealed carry permit. If we don’t need a firearm, why should she?