HC hosts safety town hall meeting in the wake of recent incident

By Kennedy Foreman and Lauren Pennington

HC held a safety town hall meeting on Mar. 7 to discuss the events that transpired on Mar. 1. The meeting was open to all concerned members of the community. Parents and students alike came out to voice their opinions. The meeting served to give administration, parents and staff the chance to communicate about the safety events of the last week.

HC principal Paul Little led the meeting, allowing parents with concerns to voice their different perspectives. Many were angry that the media knew before parents, with people having to hear about the incident from the news.

“We have added a front desk person,” Little said. “People have to check in, and we have to know where they’re going. We have [metal detecting] wands. If students are excessively late to school, if they are out of area, skipping, if they’re off campus, even if they’re acting suspicious, these are the people we will be [checking].”

The public offered their version of solutions to the problem of safety. This included a member of the staff that would exclusively monitor social media, random metal detecting of students, locked doors always, one entrance and exit, and increased use of lock down drills. Little assured that everything is being considered and will be investigated further. However, roadblock to all improvements is funding.

“If we are to add metal detectors, that’s a cost,” Stephanie Spires, Fayette County Board of Education said in the meeting. “Right now, we are in a situation where our state budget is going to be cut 20 to 25 million next year. So, we are sitting here thinking that we are going to have to cut social workers, mental health professionals, as well as teachers.”

Even with concerns of funding, parents pushed to have more intensive safety precautions.

“What about random [metal detecting]?” parent Carolyn Blondell said. “Wouldn’t that be a great deterrent?”

The district will be reviewing safety in all schools. Fayette County Superintendent Manny Caulk and other board members will be meeting multiple times throughout March to reform safety procedures based on the advice of experts. Focus on at-home safety was also discussed. HC administration assured parents that outreach programs are available to help students at home as well as in the building.

“Something that we have identified here at HC is a group of thirty or forty students that have already been paired up with a teacher mentor,” Senior Reagan Smith said. “These students might be having a hard time at home or they are erring into a lot of trouble here at school or their grades aren’t where they want them to be. And now we have been able to pair [some of these students] with eight to ten other students so they can have a positive student role model in their life. So, if they don’t really have that strong community… they can have that [at HC].”

Frequent HC substitute teacher Pat Hill informed parents of her experience with students and faculty efficiency in the face of an emergency.

“I was here the day we had the boo boo lockdown,” Hill said. “The kids immediately jumped up and knew exactly what to do. For ten minutes, they didn’t even talk to each other. They were well-trained and knew exactly what to do.”

Little assured parents that above all, he wants to make sure that students get home safe everyday.

“You’re children’s safety has been my number one priority,” Little said. “And always will be.”