The Fayette County Board of Education received an update Monday night on the school system’s School Safety and Emergency Plan designed to respond to a wide range of emergency situations.
Presented by Safety, Discipline and Athletics Coordinator Steve Greene, the school system’s emergency plans were developed several years ago, prior to the legislative requirement to implement them.
School safety procedures include access control in elementary schools, quarterly meetings with local law enforcement and EMS, cameras and a school resource officer (SRO) in middle and high schools along with safety checklists and emergency plans in all schools.
Elementary school access control was implemented nearly a year ago and requires that all visitors enter through the front door, that all other exterior doors remain locked at all times and that access is allowed by employees’ badges, said Greene.
Greene said the upgrade of the old camera system in the system’s middle and high schools has been completed and provides higher quality images than the previous system from a decade ago.
School emergency plans include procedures for various natural and manmade emergencies. The plans are reviewed and updated annually, Green said. A part of the plan includes holding monthly fire drills and other drills as needed.
Greene said alert codes used in the emergency plans carry a color designation that indicates the nature of the emergency.
The plan was updated over the summer and has been submitted to the Ga. Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) for review and recommendations, Greene said.
