Walker County Public Schools Superintendent Damon Raines (right) and Schools Facilities and Maintenance Director Chris Jones address commissioners about school safety.
Walker County Public Schools Superintendent Damon Raines (right) and Schools Facilities and Maintenance Director Chris Jones address commissioners about school safety.
Walker County Public Schools Superintendent Damon Raines spoke to county commissioners at their July 28 meeting to give them an update on how security works at the schools and to request a partnership on adding four safety officers to the already existing security staff.
With Raines was Chris Jones, the school system facilities and maintenance director and head of the security team.
All visitors to Walker County schools, Jones told the commissioners, have one point of entry and must have their identity verified before being allowed in.
All outside doors are kept locked, Jones explained, and teachers are instructed to keep classroom doors locked.
The school system has a Crisis Instant Management System tied into 911, Jones said. All school cameras pop up on 911 screens when a call is made to them. In schools, cameras are trained on every door leading to the outside.
Jones said the school holds regular fire and severe weather drills, as well as four intruder drills a year.
The school system, said Raines, partners with the Walker County Sheriff’s Office and the city of LaFayette to keep one resource officer at each high school and some safety officers rotating throughout the system.
Raines told the commissioners that he would like to add four safety officers to the security team. He said three would come from the Sheriff’s Office and one from the city of LaFayette. He estimated the cost at $200,000, which he said the school system would pay two-thirds of and the county one-third.
Raines left information with the commissioners and told them they could get in touch with him if they needed more.
Tamara Wolk is a reporter for The Catoosa County News in Ringgold, Ga., and Walker County Messenger in LaFayette, Ga.
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